"Then war broke out in heaven."

Revelation 12:7

"God has everyone and everything that's surrounding you surrounded."

Louie Giglio

"The nature of the enemy's warfare in your life is to cause you to become discouraged and to cast away your confidence. Not that you would necessarily discard your salvation, but you could give up your hope of God's deliverance. The enemy wants to numb you into a coping kind of Christianity that has given up hope of seeing God's resurrection power."

Bob Sorge

Happy New Year folks.

One of my major goals in 2024 is to learn to fight well. And I hope you will join me.

Most of you know I am a Charismatic by theological background.

I became a Christian in the AOG and have never been able to shake, dismiss, or deconstruct the power of God I encountered in my formative years.

Yet it’s tragic how much damage has been done to people and churches because of bad charismatic teaching on spiritual warfare.

Many narcissistic leaders call accountability "spiritual attack."

Challenging toxic cultures is labeled as "spiritual attack." 

Normal hardships are labeled as "spiritual attack."  

The tragedy of much of this is that it has made us cynical about genuine spiritual warfare.

Yet when you look at the way Satan is described in the bible, you can see his devastating impact on the lives of so many men today. Satan is still at war; he’s at war with you.

Satan is called the tempter.

He has had thousands of years to study the human condition and knows exactly what works. In Luke 4 he came when Jesus was weak and left for a "more opportune time."

Satan is called the accuser of the brethren.

When we do fall into temptation, he rubs our face in it, trying to get us to hide and wallow in a cycle of shame. 

Satan roams around looking to devour men.

When we are isolated and hiding, he piles it on and begins to devour our lives piece by piece. Vision goes, intimacy with God goes, integrity goes, relationships go, and then our lives feel irreparably broken.

Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

He wants to take what’s yours, kill life where he can find it, and wreak havoc on the work God has done in you.

There is such a thing as legitimate, devastating, spiritual attack. 

JESUS CAME TO FIGHT

We have to learn to resist naïve spiritual passivity. I’ve written about this before (violent with the spirit and gentle with the person). Fighting was central and not incidental to the mission of Jesus. He wasn’t just a teacher walking around with a new take on the scriptures. He was in a war, and the stakes were high.  

1 John 3:8 says, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work." 

Jesus came to give life and Jesus came to destroy. Jesus came for a fight. 

BUT HOW?

Often this is the point where it gets weird quickly. People start making prophetic pronouncements about presidents. People start binding and loosing and making decrees.  

Or they map the demonic onto people and misdirect their spiritual energy. I have said before if you don’t believe in demons, you demonize people. If you don’t believe in spiritual war, you’ll give yourself to cultural war. 

Or we get so cynical about any of this stuff that we end up tolerating the things that kill us or take shrapnel along the way. 

So how do we respond? 

The best advice I’ve received on how to fight well is so simple yet so profound.

Spiritual warfare is living in the opposite spirit of the attack.

This is in so many ways Jesus’ approach to warfare.

Satan told Jesus to eat; he fasted.

Satan told Jesus to throw himself off the temple; Jesus washed feet.

Satan told Jesus he could have the world; Jesus chose the cross.

The Pharisees wanted purity; Jesus befriended sinners.

The Seduces wanted power; Jesus was a servant.

The Essenes wanted separation; Jesus shared his table.  

The Zealots offered violence; Jesus turned the other cheek.

When we are tempted, we should live in the opposite spirit of the attack. 

This is the way of Jesus and warfare.

If you feel lonely and isolated, don’t turn inward. Reach out to 3 or 4 people and check in. 

Feeling beat down? Text 5 people a word of encouragement immediately.

Feeling greedy? Go online and give to a ministry you care about right then.

Feeling angry. Do something kind to the next person you see.

Struggling with lust? Pray for the women in your church to flourish in their faith.

And do this with holy defiance.

Spiritual warfare is living in the opposite spirit of the attack.

Satan wants to destroy you by getting you to live in the opposite of your calling.

-Ravi Zacarias was an apologist who ended up discrediting the faith. 

-Driscoll yelled at men to take responsibility, and then he bailed on Mars Hill.

-Carl Lentz reached celebrities for Jesus, and he became famous for his sin.

I only mention this as a warning of the way the enemy works. 

He wants you to live the opposite of your call.

You need to live in the opposite spirit of his attack. 

THE FIGHT AHEAD

Matthew Perry was a man who knew about fighting his shadows. Behind the veneer of success, he wrestled with addiction, shame, and despair. Yet he was woken up to the importance of his war in a comment by Martin Sheen. In his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, he writes, 

Martin Sheen turned to me and said, "Do you know what Saint Peter says to everyone who tries to get into heaven?" When I looked blankly, the man who was once president said, "Peter says, 'Don't you have any scars?' And when most would respond proudly, 'Well no, no I don't,' Peter says, 'Why not? Was there nothing worth fighting for?'"

There is so much worth fighting for this year.

Fight for intimacy with God. Fight for your marriage. Fight for your kids. Fight for your community. Fight for integrity. Fight despair.

1 Peter 5:8-9 says this:

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.

I pray that you will learn to fight in the way of Jesus this year. 

The way of love, courage, sacrifice, and joy.

And remember, you don’t just have the opposite spirit; you have the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, the Spirit that empowered Jesus’ ministry, the Spirit of truth.

Let’s walk in that Spirit, in 2024.

Here to fight alongside you.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers.

Jon. 

P.S. If you are looking for a book on Jesus’ way of warfare to start 2024, you can check out Beautiful Resistance. I cover how to fight exhaustion, apathy, fear, hate, cynicism, and more.