It seems few of us live our lives with any recognition of the very real spiritual battle raging all around us. Real angels and real demons clash in ways that affect our physical world in tangible ways, but we carry on oblivious to it. In his book, “You and Me Forever”, Francis Chan says, “He has given us a clear mission – to make disciples. Yet Christian[s]… can most typically be found… skipping through life, ignoring the battle that rages around them. We have made happy families our mission. That is not the mission Jesus gave us.” We are to tell people about the trustworthy character of God, the sacrifice of His Son, and to make them aware of the battle that rages around us all. We are to help them follow in the footsteps of Jesus and strike back at the forces of Satan.
Every moment we spend consumed with ourselves, our happiness, our comfort, or our safety, another soul is lost. Our mission is to pursue nothing other than Jesus and to obey His commands. Somehow we have perverted that timeless truth into making everything about us. What if the person who brought you to Christ had been too selfish to take the time to do so? Where would you be now? Yet we don’t ‘pay it forward’. We’re secure with our ticket of salvation and so the fate of others seems to matter little to us.
The raging war around us centers on a distortion of the irrefutable character of God. As followers of Christ we know that God is altogether trustworthy, loves with an uncontainable perfect love, and seeks for all to know Him. Satan has made it his goal to convince the world that God is not trustworthy, that He is full of wrath and quick to punish our every misstep. Satan has done such a good job of deceiving people that the very picture of God he perverts has found its way into the doctrine and teachings of many churches around the world.
But we know the truth. It is through our efforts to tell others this same truth that we play a role in the war raging around us. Our prayers and devotion, our commitment to the mission of making disciples, are what fans the holy fire that is used to repel the forces of darkness. This isn’t some fantasy novel or movie. It is the reality in which live. So why don’t we live as if it’s true? Why are we so consumed with our narcissistic mission instead of the one given to us by Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20)?
Satan would like nothing better than for you to live as if there were no war raging around you. The devil loves it when you are content to sit on the sidelines, ignoring the action. Nothing this side of Heaven terrifies Satan more than a Christian living out the mission of Jesus. He cannot overcome the power of that. We play a significant role in the battles being fought around us. Today’s victor may well depend on whether or not you engage in the mission of Jesus or lie down unconcerned at the feet of Satan. The war is raging. We have our mission. Isn’t about time we all jumped in?
Recommended Resource: “You and Me Forever” by Francis and Lisa Chan