Enemy one, the flesh, the traitor within, has been eliminated, but now we face enemy number two, the world. Our enemies grow in strength as we move outside of the walls, but in order to properly combat this one, we must first identify what it really is. John asks, "What is this enemy that Scripture calls 'the world'? Is it drinking and dancing and smoking? Is it going to the movies or playing cards? That is a shallow and ridiculous approach to holiness. It numbs us to the fact that good and evil are much more serious."
Part of the reason our strength has been hit so hard and part of the reason there are so few men, is because we have watered down this enemy called the world. We've attacked the wrong enemy, a decoy so to speak, while the real threat has taken us out in droves. We must regroup and refocus on the real threat, "'the world' is not a place or a set of behaviors - it is any system built by our collective sin, all our false selves coming together to reward and destroy each other... The world is a carnival of counterfeits - counterfeit battles, counterfeit adventures, counterfeit beauties. Men should think of it as a corruption of their strength.".
The world is the "anti"-Christ of the unholy trinity we are at war against. Where as Christ is truth, and the source of our real strength. In Christ we have life, with the world, there is simply existence masquerading as life. As William Wallace said in Brave Heart, "Every man dies. Not every man really lives." Too many of us are fighting the wrong enemy. To many of us are focused just on morality and being "nice guys", and so many of us aren't really living, just existing until we finally die. The Man of God doesn't exist, he really lives from true strength.
The world would have us be mercenaries for hire, guys who fight for pay and self-preservation. The only battles are clawing our way to the top for our own gain and prestige. We become adventure addicts with nothing more than some worthless hobbies that don't really test us or fulfill our deep longings. And we focus on superficial beauty that is only skin deep. "The world offers a man a false sense of power and a false sense of security."
As I read that last quote in the book my mind went to John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. It's the story of Christian, a man in the City of Destruction bearing a heavy burden, who, under the guidance of Evangelist, sets off on a journey to the Celestial City. Along the way he meets up with people who try to distract him and lead him astray, the one who came to mind was Mr. Worldly Wiseman.
2 Timothy 4.1-5 says, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
The world will point us in every direction to distract us from truth. It will point us away from Christ because "Without Christ a man must fail miserably, or succeed even more miserably." Apart from Christ life really has no meaning except for self-preservation, failure is devastating and success never fulfills. But with Christ "failures" are simply training exercises that teach us to be more dependent upon Him and mold to be like Him. And with success there is satisfaction because we have lived, worked, and fought for something greater than ourselves, and to Him is all the glory.
The question we must ask ourselves, often John points out, is "Where am I deriving my sense of strength and power from?" Is if from your career? What happens when you get laid off? Is it from your hobbies? What happens when you're too old to continue to do them? Is it from what your wife looks like? What happens when that outward beauty fades, or someone more beautiful comes along?
Or is your power found in Christ? I'm learning that my life is bigger than what I do to make an income. That I'm so much more than what I do to get paid and provide for my family. My hobbies are chances to escape and be alone with God, they are chances to hear from Him without all of the business and distractions the world throws at me. The adventure is not a momentary thrill, but an intimacy with God that reveals the real purpose and adventure that is life. And my wife, as beautiful as she is outwardly, has so much more to offer aside from looks. She has a beautiful spirit, a kind and gentle demeanor that really cares about people, and a humor that allows her to really enjoy everything in life.
"The world of posers is shaken by a real man. They'll do whatever it takes to get you back in line - threaten you, bribe you, seduce you, undermine you. They crucified Jesus. But it didn't work, did it? You must let your strength show up. Remember Christ in the Garden, the sheer force of his presence? Many of us have actually been afraid to let our strength show up because the world doesn't have a place for it. Fine. The world's screwed up. Let people feel the weight of who you are and let them deal with it."
"Every man dies. Not every man really lives." When we really live, when we let our strength show up and be felt, the world is defeated.
Two down, one to go.
"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3.20-21
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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