The Call of Christ and Spiritual Warfare

"The call of Christ, his baptism, sets the Christian in the middle of the daily arena against sin and the devil.  Every day he encounters new temptations, and every day he must suffer anew for Jesus Christ's sake.  The wounds and scars he receives in the fray are living tokens of this participation in the cross of his Lord."
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (Ch. 4, Discipleship and the Cross)

A Theology of Combat: The Police and Military as Common Grace

I usually try and obey the posted speed limit when I'm driving.  This is something I did even before I was a cop. Now, as anyone who drives the speed limit can tell you, this immediately makes you a nuisance to most of the other drivers on the road.  In my travels there is often a line of cars behind me, and I can feel their silent wrath as they sway to the left to see if it's finally clear to pass.  But an interesting thing happens while I'm at work and I trade in my personal vehicle for a squad car.  All of a sudden, (most of) my fellow drivers no longer feel the need to pass me because I'm going the speed the limit, even if there is more than one lane in our direction of travel.

Common Grace 

This is God's common grace in action, where the mere presence of authority and the possibility of punishment restrain law-breaking behavior.  Let's talk about this term 'common grace' for a minute, just in case you're unfamiliar with the idea.  Theologian John Murray defined common grace as "every favour of whatever kind or degree, falling short of salvation, which this undeserving and sin-cursed world enjoys at the hand of God" (quoted in John Frame, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief).  So common grace is the grace God gives to everyone, believer and unbeliever alike. It's not grace in the sense that their sins are being pardoned and they are reconciled to God, but it is grace in the sense that it is given by God and it is undeserved.  This would include things like food, rain, shelter, friends, family, and safety.    

Now, one of the neat things about God is that he is a God who uses means.  God could provide me with food in a miraculous way, like daily raining down bread from heaven or giving me a never ending basket of cheeseburgers to keep at my house for me and my family (which would be awesome). He could do that, but he doesn't.  He provides food for me and my family through the means of giving me a job, which provides us the resources to get food- food that did not just miraculously appear but was grown or killed by another human.

The Means of Safety 

Our safety is also a common grace from God.  None of us deserve to live peaceful lives (many don't).  I am aware, as John Piper says in Don't Waste Your Life, that safety is an illusion and that none of us are really safe.  However, by and large it is a grace to live in a stable, relatively safe environment as opposed to an unstable or war-torn one (I say by and large because living in an unstable environment may actually be a blessing, as it forces one to consider the important aspects of life).  

If safety is a common grace from God, then a country's law enforcement and military are the means of that grace.  God could provide protection and safety for people, believers and unbelievers alike, through some miraculous display of power.  The Bible records instances of this.  God brought Israel safely across the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh's army all by himself (Exodus 14).  When Ben-hadad laid siege to Samaria, it was God who drove the Syrians back from Israel (2 Kings 6-7).  In both these situations, no Israeli took up arms to defend his country.  But that is typically not God's style. Many other times, Israel had to engage in intense combat to defend her people and be obedient to her God.  More often than not, God works through the warrior, keeping a people safe through men who combat the foes of that people.

Police Work as God's Work                           

This means that when it is just and righteous, police and military work are God's common grace work in this world.  I don't mean this in a God, guns, and freedom sort of way, where the ideal Christian man is a good ol' boy who rides around with a shotgun in his truck and has replaced Scripture with the U.S. Constitution.  What I mean is that in every stable country, there are people whom God uses to keep the peace. Someone is needed to keep the citizens safe as they go about their daily lives, and someone is needed to keep a country safe from unjust aggressors.  God uses people to do this.  

For those of us in law enforcement and the military, as long as our wars and our actions are just, we are doing God's work on earth, providing a stable society where the gospel can be preached and believers can be discipled.  However, lest we be like another group of warriors whom God used to judge his people and ultimately faced judgement themselves (i.e. Assyria, see Isaiah ch. 10), this should not fill us with pride, but with a humble sense of responsibility, viewing our jobs as a ministry to the people we serve, providing help and safety to our people, for the glory of God.

For those who live under the protection of military and law enforcement, we should be thankful, if not to those who put on the uniform, then at least to the God who uses them.  I am all for thanking our military and police, but let us not trust "in the multitude of [our] warriors" (Hosea 10:13).  God had to continually remind Israel not to trust in military power, whether her own or another country's.  Regardless of how you feel about the military or police, be thankful they are there, and ultimately direct that thanks to the God of grace.

Other blogs in this series:

A Theology of Combat: Introduction

A Theology of Combat: Why Combat Exists

The Significance of Spiritual Warfare

For all that the movie The Hurt Locker got wrong, it did get at least one thing right.  At the end of the movie, the main character (played by Jeremy Renner), who had been recently deployed to a combat zone, stands in a grocery store cereal aisle.  The look on Renner's face, the emptiness of the store, and the dull music in the background all communicate one thing: picking out cereal seems massively trivial and inconsequential compared to defusing bombs in a war zone.  The next few scenes show Renner's character struggling to find meaning and joy in daily tasks: cleaning the gutters, making dinner with his wife, and playing with his son.   

I think this mindset can be fairly characteristic of returning veterans and even police officers.  The temptation is there, even if only slightly.  On deployment or on duty as a cop, the job takes first priority.  People's lives, yours and your friends', are on the line.  The work is serious and important, and the temptation is to think that this is real life, this is what really matters.  Our appetite and desire for the normal things in life can fall by the wayside as we think they are trivial and boring pursuits.  No one's life is on the line when our days revolve around grocery trips and mundane household chores, or so we think.
      

But the Bible describes a war far more dangerous than any American city street or insurgent held city- a spiritual warfare.  From the enmity between man and the snake (Gen. 3:15) to the snake's undoing in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10), the language of the Bible is the language of warfare.  The various biblical authors did not borrow ideas from physical combat to help explain the nature of spiritual warfare.  Rather, physical combat exists because spiritual combat exists.  Spiritual combat is the original; physical combat is the shadow of the deeper reality of spiritual combat.  

That being the case, spiritual warfare is much more worthy of our time and energy than physical combat.  There is a strong temptation and tendency for Christian police or military members to spend time and energy training and preparing for the latter while neglecting the former.  Here are three reasons not to do so:

Spiritual Combat Occurs Much More Frequently Than Physical Combat

I have been deployed to two different combat zones (Iraq and Afghanistan) as an infantry Marine, and not once did I pull the trigger in combat.  I never had to.  Other warriors have not had the same experience.  It is not that uncommon for contemporary warriors to have four or five combat tours of duty where they have been involved in serious fighting.  Modern warfare being what it is, this fighting can last for weeks or months at a time with little to no break.  However, no matter how long or intense one's combat experience may be, it pales in comparison to the longevity of their spiritual combat experience.  Spiritual combat is a certainty day in and day out.

The Enemies in Spiritual Combat are More Powerful Than Any Enemy in Physical Combat

The Taliban or that 6 foot 220 pounds of solid muscle criminal may be formidable opponents.  But (assuming you are on the right side of just combat), they are simply servants of a much more powerful master.  These earthly enemies follow and serve "the prince of the power of the air [the devil]" (Eph. 2:2).  How many police officers can subdue the criminal but are powerless against the schemes of the devil (Eph. 6:11)?  Or how many subdue and arrest the criminal but fail to see that, in the ultimate spiritual war, they are fighting for the same side and serve the same master as the criminal?

In addition to the devil, who is constantly on the hunt for prey (1 Peter 5:8), spiritual combat has the added enemies of the world and the flesh.  We are essentially in enemy-held territory, as "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19).  Obedience to Jesus puts us in conflict with the mindset of the world; the Word tells us in unambiguous terms there will be opposition (2 Timothy 3:12).  

Our flesh (the old, unspiritual person we were before being born again), in one sense, has been crucified and is dead (Col. 3:3; Romans 6:8).  In another sense, however, he remains alive, conspiring from the inside with the world and the devil to bring about our destruction.  Paul describes a vicious battle between the old and new man in Romans chapter 7, a battle every believer knows all too well.

The Stakes are Higher in Spiritual Combat

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).  What's at stake in physical combat is your life; with spiritual combat it is your soul.  What good does it do for the world and your soul if you arrest dangerous criminals but spend your career ignoring your family?  Who cares if you help liberate an oppressed country with military force if you never act in obedience to Christ, thereby showing the genuineness of your professed faith in him?  You may be an excellent warrior, able to accomplish your mission and stay alive at the "moment of truth," but it does no good if you lose your soul in the end.    

Part of the thrill and joy of being a warrior is that you feel you are a part of something meaningful, some cause greater than yourself.  You are fighting for your country or protecting your citizens.  This is absolutely a good and God-honoring passion, but it is a testament to the power of our enemies (the world, the flesh, and the devil) that we can be blind to the greater warfare occurring all around us.  Being a warrior is a honorable calling, but it should not be your main pursuit and passion in life.  Many a great warrior who fought for a righteous cause is in hell.  "His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love" (Psalm 147:10-11).  The Lord delights in those who fear him; let him be our main pursuit and passion in life.

Spiritual warfare does occur while doing your job as a warrior. Will we be brave or cowardly? Will we act honestly and justly?  Will we be lazy and turn a blind eye to evil?  Are we acting through faith in Christ or are we seeking human approval and glory?  However, spiritual warfare occurs much more often and can be much more intense in the everyday areas of our lives.  The Bible is full of stories about warriors and combat, but it teaches that our growth in godliness is more important than our combat effectiveness.  "Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32).  It can take more strength not to grumble when you have to take out the trash than it takes to win a gunfight.  We should train extensively for combat, but let it not be our all-consuming passion.  There is a greater war and a greater cause out there.  Through the strength, freedom, and grace that Christ provides, let us fight the good fight of faith, knowing that because of the gospel, all things are ultimately working together for our eternal good.