We are in a spiritual war. To understand the best way to fight this war, let’s look at another war, one that never happened.
In 1897, English author H. G. Wells imagined a conflict between two worlds, Earth and Mars. In 1938, American producer Orson Welles presented the story in a radio broadcast, frightening half of America. Since then the imaginary war has been fought in multiple movies.
In Wells’ tale, the Martians are vastly more powerful than humanity, and they sweep in and decimate man’s feeble attempts to defend himself. It’s only at the end of the story that we learn the Martians are no stronger than we are, only augmented by their machines of iron. Once their defenses are breached, they begin to fall like flies.
Their strength is in their augmentation. Without it, they cannot fight against us.
Spiritually we are the same. To become strong in our faith, we have to become augmented for Jesus. We have to put on the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, and carry the shield of faith. With the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, we become mighty warriors for him.
How does it all work? Everything we need to know can be found in the book of Matthew.
Matthew 10:16 tells us:
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Matthew 8:10 pats us on the back:
“When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.’ ”
Matthew 7:21 gives us a clear warning:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:33 orders our priorities:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:24 gives us focus:
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Matthew 5:44 is how we draw others to him:
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Those Martians in Wells’ book? Go back and reread the story. In the 1897 original, when they landed, they were so weak they couldn’t crawl out of the pit into which they’d fallen. It was when they donned their suits of iron that they stood tall to become more powerful than humanity.
As humans, we cannot climb out of our pit, either, not until we don the whole armor of God. Then we will rise above the sinful world that surrounds us, and we will proclaim Christ unto all creation.
We will have become augmented for Jesus.
It is the power of Christ that allows us to stand tall when the evil one comes our way.
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