Fighting Together
One
Fighting Together
Christ instituted a Kingdom and He instituted an army. That’s why we are the Church Militant. We are a community that fights together against a common enemy. That Enemy we’re fighting is sin and Satan, the enemies Christ Himself came to fight, the enemies He leads us in fighting. But the point here is that we only fight that common enemy effectively if we fight him together. If we don’t fight together, if we tackle the battlefield of the Christian life on our own, Satan will pick us off one by one. So we have to commit to not letting that happen.
Two
Satan Wants to Sift You Like Wheat (Luke 22:31)
Shortly before his passion, Jesus warned Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat” And the “you” there is a “you” plural. In other words, Jesus says that Satan wants to break up the group of Christ’s community. Satan wants to, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter.” (Zechariah 13:7)
Why does Satan want to break up the group of Christians? Why does Satan want Jesus’ disciples to be isolated? Obviously, because it’s easier for Satan to take out isolated Christians than Christians who have each other to rely on. Just like you can break a thin stick with your bare hands one by one, but you can’t break a large bundle of thin sticks all bound together with your bare hands.
So Satan can break us easier, one by one, while we’re isolated and it’s much harder to break us when we’re together. So the trick to fighting well and beating the devil is to find virtuous friendships and fight together.
Three
Virtuous Friendships
Christ founded a Church, He founded a community. That means He wants us to live the Christian life together, He wants us to fight the battle together like soldiers do. So you need to have virtuous friendships. You need other faithful people in your life. If you don’t want Satan to pick you off easily, take you down
Then don’t get isolated. Priests who get isolated, married couples who get isolated, and certainly single people who get isolated, you know the cases. They don’t have anyone watching their back. They don’t have anyone warning them that they’re about to step on a grenade, or that they’re exposing themselves unnecessarily to enemy fire.
It’s a fact of experience, Satan has an easier time tempting isolated people. So don’t get isolated. Surround yourself with faithful people. You’re in an army. Fight with your fellow soldiers.
Four
Respect the Ranks
This Church is an army, it is the Church Militant. It’s a military Church, at the spiritual level. And every army has officers. So too with Christ’s army, He has implemented officers. There are those who have been put in spiritual command over us.
The Letter to Hebrews says, “Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account, that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (13:17).
So that means, for instance, the heads of families, priests, bishops, popes. Respect the ranks. Don’t cause dissension in the ranks, don’t spend your time resenting or complaining about or resisting the spiritual authorities God has placed over you. Listen: resistance to authority will destroy an army. Insubordination is exactly what Satan wants. So don’t fight against God-given authority. Just focus on the battle, so we can all fight together.
Five
Christ as Our Leader
Remember that we only win this battle against Satan if we have Christ with us. On our own, we’ll lose every time. So how do we know whether we’re fighting with Christ or not?
Well, one of the ways Christ has told us we can be confident that He is with us is if we’re together. Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.” In other words, Jesus says that we can be confident that when we are with other faithful people, He is with us. And that means, when we are fighting for holiness, against Satan, and against sin, we know that if we are fighting with other people, Christ is there fighting with us too. And that means, we’ll win. So let’s fight like an army. Let’s fight together.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Don’t spread dissension within the ranks, don’t gossip about authority figures or branch off into packs.
Don’t fight against your fellow Christians, but know that this is a battle we have to win together.