Within Christianity there appears to be some, who have designated themselves as snipers. Waging some kind of holy war, these spiritual guerillas fire deadly shots straight into the hearts of unsuspecting believers who try to keep their faith simple.
I understand the need to speak the truth in love. I understand the need to “warn every man” . I understand the need to seek perfection in one's individual walk with God. It is not that I do not understand these things, for I do. It is that I don't agree with the way they are done by some.
When Ephesians 6 lays out the whole armor of God, there is only ONE offensive weapon, and that is the “sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God” . Everything else that is listed is defensive in nature with the purpose of protecting oneself from the fiery darts of the wicked one and to be able to “having done all - STAND” .
Not listed in Ephesians 6 are bows and arrows, slingshots, cannons or high powered sniper rifles. The predominant purpose of the armor of God is protection against the attacks of the enemy and not to attack other believers. Yes, we have the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God which allows us to engage in hand to hand combat with the enemy and his agents. The sword of the spirit is not to be used to pierce or destroy fellow believers.
The oldest tactic in the enemy's bag of tricks is to set brother against brother or sister against sister within theBody of Christ. If the enemy can succeed in getting Christians to take out their swords on each other, he is given a free pass to enter the assembly and wreck havoc with no one to stop him.
During World War 1, years were spent with the two side firmly entrenched in foxholes. Over time, due to the horrendous conditions, men started turning on each other instead of focusing on the enemy. Many soldiers were killed by the knife, sword or gun of the man next to him in the foxhole.
Much of what the enemy does is designed to turn believers against each other and in so doing introduce division and deception within the Body. The Great Mystery according to Ephesians 3 is that Jews and Gentiles are ONE BODY in Christ. The unity of the Body is of vital importance if we are to defend and advance our beloved faith.
I fear that at times we all fall into the trap of confusing honesty with criticism and the desire to help with the desire to injure or harm another. We must NEVER become so upset with a brother or sister in Christ that we seek their destruction. We must ALWAYS remember that we all are sinners saved by grace and we are called to the unity of the one Body of Christ and to walk together yoked in love and mutual respect.
Author: Kirk M
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