Fight Forces, Not People

As Christians, we are a part of the family of God, but I can’t help but notice just how dysfunctional of a family we are. When our focus strays from Christ to ourselves, we fight all the wrong battles, and the end result is chaos that hinders God’s work. We shun people just because we don’t agree with them, but bickering and fighting with one another is not what we were put here for. We are called to unity through humility, and that is only accomplished when we shove our agenda aside and pick up Christ’s. Our fighting should not accomplish pulling one another down; it should end with the evil strongholds in this world being destroyed.

Our biggest source of conflict seems to be simply due to the fact that we are all so different, but diversity is a really beautiful thing and we are so much stronger and effective when we embrace this God given reality. He made us all differently so we can 1) be drawn to Him through His creation and 2) learn from each other. I’m not denying that there is no time or place for challenging one another in the Lord, but why are we so divided by minor differences? Why can’t we focus on the areas we agree on more instead of being so offended because we disagree in areas that really aren’t all that important? We’re just shooting ourselves when we behave like this! God gave us each other for support, but we won’t have that backup support if we push each other away. We have been called to fight together, not against each other. Satan’s strategy of ‘divide and conquer’ is all too effective in keeping us from the real battles. It breaks my heart to see the church so divided by this issue, but the only thing I can do is pray about it, and pray for strength and discernment so I can fight the battles of real importance. Because I know that when I get caught up in fighting my own battles, I am too busy to fight the spiritual battles that are of far more importance.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Ephesians 6:12