Wars Can’t be Won by Toy Soldiers
The title above is a quote by my pastor in yesterday’s sermon: Reach Across the Table: When Your Household is a Stronghold.
Lately David’s sermons have been speaking to me on multiple levels because he’s had a deliberate missionary focus. This one spoke even more because it was about how to reach our families for Christ. Even though everyone in my family is saved, I’m the only one that I can honestly say is serving the Lord.
Ken’s always struggled with the specter of his mother’s strange Christianity:
I’m a DAMN Christian! I can do what I want because I’m forgiven. You’re nothing in the eyes of God. (yes, folks, she actually said that. This is the same woman who only grudgingly accepts that I’m allowed in the Kingdom - on her good days - most of the time she thinks I’m still off sacrificing cats and boiling baby fat for ritual use…
Kayti became discouraged a long time ago when her teacher berated her in front of the class for bringing a Bible to school, and hasn’t been right since despite everyone’s best efforts - tho lately she’s starting to show signs of interest in Him again. And Bobby - he has his days where he is so close to God… and other days when he’s so far away. It’s an autism problem. Nothing that God won’t solve in due time.
So Pastor’s sermon absolutely riveted me. He made four points in the sermon.
#1 - We need spiritual insight/revelation. We can’t go around blind to the problem. He pointed out that when we take the FIRST STEPS to fixing the problem, even when we can’t see what the end result will be, God will take care of the rest.
Isn’t that what faith is all about? Stepping out - “walk by faith and not by sight”… actually *trusting* Him…
#2 - Personal integrity and authenticity. We cannot be inconsistent. This is where the “wars can’t be won by toy soldiers” quote comes from. He made the point that no dad should think his kids will grow up to be any more faithful than HE is.
#3 - Spiritual intensity, fire in the furnace, good-old-fashioned passion. He made a point that we are INFECTED with passionless Christianity, and I agree.
Where there is no passion, the immense power of God cannot flow. Love = passion. Miracles and faith require passion. Trust requires passion.
We should have the kind of spiritual fervor that Paul possessed when he said, “follow me as I follow Christ”. John Wesley said something to the effect of, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” David said yesterday that NOTHING happens until we become impassioned gap-standers for our families.
#4 - Alliance Reliance. We need to patiently trust God. Faith with all our hearts, leaning not on our own understanding. Ps. 3:8 - Salvation belongs to the Lord. We need to trust Him so much that we’ll be shocked if our loved ones are not saved…. not when they are!
We have to lift up our eyes and see the harvest - not the chaos (wow, that hit me hard. I live in chaos perpetually!) We also have to see the very real spiritual war that wages around us. (That’s not so hard to see.)
We have to (and this hit me right between the eyes too, because God has been speaking this to me!) become:
- integral/walking in integrity
- disciplined
- intentional
- have unconditional surrender
Wow. Good stuff there.
