February 18, 2009
Wearing the Armor
There’s a young adult man in my neighborhood who sometimes dresses up in costume. In his childlike creativity I’ve encountered him as a park ranger, a US Marine and an NFL football player…and he actually looks pretty convincing, even down to his physical mannerisms. Paul encourages us to do some dressing up of our own. Just think if we actually followed Paul’s instructions and put on the full armor of God – we might look pretty convincing too. (Eph 6:11)
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Gail;
-----This young man you speak of would be very interesting to know. It is anyone’s guess why he dresses up. But that he is convincing even in his physical mannerisms reveals the depth of the costumes he wears. He is evidently putting on the frame of mind fitting each roll. Then from it the appropriate character shows through his actions.
-----Since we do not have an actual breastplate, shield, or helmet to put on, Paul is obviously talking about putting on a frame of mind. He is talking about becoming truthful in our assessments, choosing ambitions that are right, expressing the plan of salvation, applying our beliefs to our difficulties, thinking from the perspective of our new lives, and using the Word of God to dissect and weigh everything. With each of these pieces in place we become capable soldiers for battling the forces of evil spirits back from their places of influence among men.
-----The effectiveness needed for the battle is not in some armor. It is in the whole armor. It all acts as a unit like this young man’s mannerisms and costumes. A person can be truthful in his assessments, expressive of salvation, active from his belief, considering his new life in all his thinking, but if his ambitions are not right and if he is not using the Word of God to dissect and weigh, then the adversary has a useful example to make of him.
-----We have seen most of the battleground lost in the culture war because too many of the soldiers are wearing partial armor. Priests and televangelists have become entangled in immorality and been exposed. Newt Gingrich was shunned from his battle station because he crudely abandoned his needing wife. The wiliness of the adversary, his capability to use for great effect the slightest flaw at the most critical points on the battlefield, is astounding. George Bush senior sincerely called on the American people to pray for God’s help in pushing Iraq out of Kuwait. The Americans responded to the call. The victory was one of the most decisive in history. From the first word of President Bush’s televised victory speech to the last there was not a mention of God’s roll in that success, nor even a thank you to Him. At the moment his speech was concluded, I felt to the morrow of my bones that his Presidency was over. This country suffered tremendous damage at the hands of the man who succeeded George Bush senior. And again, the purveyors of deceit built a great bulge of pressure in the political front lines by accusing George Bush, Jr. of anything and everything they could possibly deceive the public into believing. The situation was so tightly ballooned with President Bush’s gaffs and blown up stories of an outed CIA agent, flirtatious emails, footsy in the bathroom, and on, and on, and on, it needed only one effective pinprick to burst. The adversary found that pinprick in one word of an obscure campaign speech in a small park one Sunday afternoon of the 2006 Summer. George Allen said, “Makaka.” The Democrat aspiring media ranted for weeks. The polls shifted to Democrat. The House and Senate control fell to Democrats. Then the economy began its downturn. Economic concern was whipped into panic. The iconic Messiah of collectivism, globalism, and environmental earth worship now sits at our controls. The battalions on our side of the culture war have been only partially armored. And the battle is on the brink of being lost.
-----Momentarily. For the nuts and bolts of the war happen with you and me and multitudes of other little peons like us. None of us wear perfectly spit-polished armor. It even has tatters, dings, and tears, sometimes pitifully bad. But we wear it all. And we wear it rather straight from our hearts. We can’t replace our governments lost respect for the Lord. But we live our days in character with our armor, and we become evidence. Then after we’ve defended a few scant, remaining pieces of battlefield, Jesus Christ will burst through the clouds and show us once again how whole armor, spit-polished, spotless, straight, and seamless is used.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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