To the Sound of the Guns

I have been studying Ephesians recently and am almost at the end. This morning I started the “more than famous” armor of God section in chapter 6. I’ve seen enough dudes doing talks wearing bed sheet tunics and plastic armor to expect to pretty much blow through this last chapter having heard about the belt, breastplate, helmet, sandals, shield, and sword before (of course I’ll be wrong).

But this morning what arrested me and got me to thinking was the invective Paul gives three times in vs. 10-13 to “stand firm”.  Going back to the Greek the word there is Histemi: To cause or make to stand in place before others or in the midst of/to make firm or establish/Uphold or maintain the authority of. To me it serves as a pretty good word to describe what an army, a soldier does (even if he is wearing a bed sheet). But what struck me was not the firmness of stance, something we all hope we would do do when faced with a challenge, but the aggressiveness of the stand as it is described in scripture. Paul talks about our resistance in the struggle, not endurance of a siege and therein lies my challenge:

If we’re talking soldiers and armor it is one thing to be well armed trained and equipped, that’s good, but if you don’t use that army, if you don’t put your soldiers in the right places, if you allow the enemy to move around you and dictate the terms of engagement all the equipment in the world is not going to bring victory (as an avowed history nerd I could site example after example but will spare you the ennui and me the embarrassment). There is an old military maxim used to describe how to effectively command forces in battle that states simply “march to the sound of the guns.” In essence this statement of bravery is saying use your troops where the battle is being fought. If I am to resist, if I am to stand, how often am I standing and resisting where there is no battle in the first place? If that is the case then how valid REALLY is my “steadfastness” and how pleasing is that stand really to my God?

As stated in Ephesians our struggle and our resistance is to the enemy, to Satan and his evil schemes. Every day I see and hear that battle raging, and not just on the front page of my favorite news site, but among my family members, at my workplace,  and in the lives of my friends. That struggle hardship and suffering IS the battle, and how often am I content to observe, take notes, and maybe even offer “logistical support” instead of marching to where the battle is fiercest and resisting in a way that may be dangerous to me but that actually means something?

I’m not sure exactly why I shy from that conflict be it a desire for ease, distraction of self, or a lack of faith in my equipment and my God that strengthens me to stand. But the fact is that I am too passive, too self involved, too mis-deployed. Prayerfully I want to change that, and look forward to seeking how.

Vive la Resistance!