Attrition

 It’s a sad day when the children of darkness outlast the children of light in their endeavors. The enemy is well aware that this battle of ours is one of attrition, and if he can wear down the children of God, he will have the upper hand. I’m assuming you’re well-versed enough in the Word to understand that his advantage is temporary, but just because Jesus wins in the end, it doesn’t mean we’re no longer meant to occupy until He comes.

Just because we know how the story ends, it does not nullify our responsibility to our King and His Kingdom, nor does it mean we should stand on the sidelines, hand on hips, watching the world burn and wondering if there are any more marshmallows.

At least Jonah entered Nineveh and cried out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” before making himself a shelter and sitting under its shade. Most Christians today can’t even be bothered to do that. Is it laziness, cowardice, or indifference? Why is the average believer so reticent in standing up against the enemy?

The sad reality is that it’s not the devil that’s gotten stronger; it’s the believer that’s gotten weaker over time.  It used to be that believers relished being in the presence of God. They would gather together in prayer and supplication without the need to be dazzled or entertained. Nowadays, if a prayer lasts for longer than three minutes, you can see people starting to fidget, get restless, and have that sour look on their faces as though they just bit through a lemon.

If your adversary is more committed to their cause than you are to yours, you will fold.

When Paul threatened to turn off the money supply to the shrine makers in Ephesus, they got the people so riled up against him that for two hours, a throng of people cried out, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Two hours! When was the last time you were in a two-hour prayer meeting? And you wonder why evil is spreading like a malignancy?

I am well aware that this is an issue we would rather ignore or pretend is not as crucial as it is, but the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding is vile. Because we thought it would draw a bigger crowd, we substituted the essentials for the irrelevant, and we ended up with churches full of lukewarm people ignorant of the power of prayer, supplication, and even of God Himself.

We look upon the hoards, and rather than declare there are more with us than there are with them, we cower in terror, hoping they’ll leave us alone for just a while longer so we can open the café in the church lobby as another income stream. Endurance is a cultivated virtue. It is not something you are born with; it is something you build up over time. That we lack the endurance to push back the darkness and grow weary before the other side even warms up should be an indictment against contemporary Christianity.

That the need for endurance, or prayer for that matter, isn’t taught in most mainline churches should tell you how inefficient and useless most mainline churches are. We are in a spiritual battle and aren’t taught how to wield spiritual weapons. Some, more than we would like to believe, aren’t even taught that they exist. You just take the mauling and hope you survive. But that’s not what the Book says. If they’d bothered reading it, they’d know.

We know the verse in Romans about being more than conquerors well enough but conquering a foe presupposes you fought him. It presumes that you stood toe to toe, gave better than you got, and saw your enemy felled.

We’re singing songs of victory before we’ve even engaged the enemy in battle. We walk about, puffing out our chests as though we singlehandedly defeated the hosts of hell when we haven’t bothered to put on our armor.

We can’t be bothered to defend the truth, never mind going on the offensive, but somehow we have the temerity to look upon those who came before us with disdain. They were too blunt, too direct, too unyielding, too uncompromising, too rough around the edges. They didn’t understand diplomacy the way modern preachers do. They didn’t subscribe to the adage that you attract more bees with honey than you do with vinegar.

The only problem with that proverb is that you’re not trying to attract bees, you’re trying to win souls, and the vinegar you speak of is only vinegar to those who are perishing. To those who are being saved, it is the power of God. 

We keep trying to fix something that was never broken. We keep trying to find new ways to circumvent the old path, thinking that we know better than God and concluding that the number of bodies in the pews is confirmation of our supposition. If all they’re good for is supplementing the building fund and fueling egos, then all those bodies are a detriment to the Kingdom and not a benefit.

“How many soldiers are in your battalion?”

“A thousand strong,” answers the colonel.

“How many can fight?” asks the general optimistically.

“None. But they can lip-sync Hillsong like nobody’s business.” 

Battle doesn’t get postponed because soldiers aren’t ready. The enemy won’t take it easy on you because you haven’t trained with the weapons you’ve been equipped with. Soldiers must be prepared, fully expecting the battle to commence at any moment. For many, the battle started long ago. Welcome to the fight.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.