Spiritual Warfare

     Western culture has radically changed in the past twenty to thirty years. The number of people that believe in absolutes has dwindled. The battle between good and evil continues on, but if you listen to society the good side is on its way to defeat. This has an effect on how we see the culture. Television news is a business and newscasts are rewarded monetarily by higher ratings. Bad news brings higher ratings. We sometimes forget about the good things in our culture.

    We must also remember that our personal opinions do not always represent good. There are some types of music that I don’t prefer. That doesn’t necessarily mean that God and I have the same preferences. When we sing hymns at church I always look at the bottom of the page to look at the date it was written. I have a tendency to think these hymns have been around forever. I sometimes think that these hymns are more pleasing to God than some other current music. By looking at the date written, it makes me think back to when it was written (not that long ago) and I’m sure there were people at that time thinking the same thing that I’m thinking now- only that the hymn that we are now singing is the less pleasing to God.

    I consider looking at the culture situation as a battle. A war is made up of a series of battles. We don’t have to worry about the overall “war” but do consider the battles that we are presented with. (The war is already won- I just can’t put the date on it.) These battles between good and evil are not always as clear as we would like them to be. On a smaller scale they can be individual battles inside of a single human being. The battle isn’t with flesh and blood but inside, a battle for the soul of a person. It used to be that movies would have a good guy and a bad guy- the good guy won. Many movies today don’t make it that clear. Even when you do know the good guys, they sometimes use suspect ways to win the battle. We need not use suspect ways to win the battle. In dealing with the culture, we need to first and foremost be prepared for the battle ahead. 

    The one thing that has made the US a dominate country on earth is its military force. The US has had a strong military force because of the amount of training that has been put into it. Training for anything is valuable. We also need to be trained for the struggle set before us to win followers for Christ. I am prepared for many situations but at the same time realize that there are some situations that I need to avoid.There are situations that I could be taken into a certain lifestyle because I know my tendencies. The key word here is “could”. I think Paul understood this concept. He knew he was a sinner. He knew he was weak and could be tempted to sin once again. When we go into these situations we must remember that we are sinners and aren’t above sinning. If only the people we are trying to reach understood that we don’t see ourselves above them. All have sinned……If they only knew what we know