What follows is a slightly modified paper from my Spiritual Warfare class in which I briefly addressed some areas related to the topic. I haven't heard much serious discussion about this in my church context. Most people I've met either think it's weird and best ignored or they are uncomfortably passionate about it. Here are some of my thoughts. What do you think about spiritual warfare?
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The Importance of Spiritual Warfare for Ministry Today
Contemporary Relevance
Spiritual warfare is a blind spot to
the Western world and church today. A
large number of people go about their lives completely oblivious to the deeper
spiritual reality that lies beneath the surface of their activities. There can be good reasons behind this
ignorance. As Clinton Arnold notes, the
idea of spiritual battle typically leads Westerners to think about the odd,
sometimes macabre religious rituals of foreign, “primitive” people (think animal sacrifices), or the
Hollywood depictions of demon possession in movies like The Exorcist or Paranormal
Activity (17-18). Then there are the
fanatical religious types within Christianity, who seem to find demons under
every rock and are more preoccupied with binding Satan than with loving and
obeying the Triune God. There is another
factor that has had a major influence on the West: a materialistic philosophy
combined with science as the only true epistemology has led many to believe that
what people used to consider demonization was really misunderstood mental
illness. This has led to the demythologizing
of the demonic, and truth be told, sometimes rightfully so.
The combination of these pieces can make spiritual warfare seem quite a
bitter pill indeed to the modern Westerner, best to be avoided.
Yet, in spite of all these difficulties,
people everywhere cannot avoid the spiritual dimension, for though some
Westerners try to deny it, certain phenomena seem impossible to explain apart
from it. It is
important to note that “reports of something like ‘demon-possession’ and
‘exorcism’ can be found in most cultures and religions throughout history”
(Boyd 143). More and more
anthropologists are reporting the reality of the spiritual realm as they
immerse themselves in the religious practices of the people groups they study
and encounter things that do not fit their materialistic paradigm (Boyd
143-147, see famous example of anthropologist Edith Turner's encounter with shamanism here), not to mention the reports of the miraculous, curses, and power
encounters that Christians bring from all over the world. “To think that a Christian could avoid
spiritual warfare is like imagining a gardener could avoid dealing with
weeds. Our goal should be rather to gain
an accurate and sober-minded understanding of spiritual warfare–not a view
tainted by frightening superstitions and odd practices” (Arnold 19). Though uncomfortable to a Western mindset,
this is an issue with which everyone, Christian or non-Christian, needs to grapple. It is not going away.
Scriptural Foundations
What resources does a Christian have for understanding the spirit world? Foundational to the Christian religion is that God is Spirit (John
4:24), that his existence is on a plane of reality we cannot see. While the Old Testament does not have as
developed a demonology as the New Testament does, YHWH still is depicted as
battling cosmic powers represented in the waters of chaos (Job 38:8-11; Ps.
29:10), Behemoth and Leviathan (Job 40:15-41:34), and foreign deities like Baal
(1 Kings 18). YHWH hedges in and limits the Satan (Job 1:10),
and hostile spiritual forces seem to be signified in Daniel, with the Prince of
Persia and the Prince of Greece (Daniel 10:12-13, 20-21) doing battle with
God’s messenger (Boyd 132-134). All
throughout the New Testament there is the assumption that there are two
kingdoms at war (Rev. 19:11-21): the Kingdom of God led by Christ, and the
kingdom of this world led by Satan and his minions (Arnold 19-20). Jesus’ acts of healing and deliverance were a
sign of the advancement of the Kingdom of God (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20). In fact, Jesus was incarnate in order to
drive out Satan (John 12:31) and to destroy his works (1 John 3:8). Jesus has already won the decisive victory
over all hostile forces by his suffering and death on the cross (Col. 2:15),
and soon he will put all his enemies under his feet at his return (1 Cor.
15:25).
So yes, there is a cosmic battle under way, but how does the
average Christian fit inside this drama?
Christians are not to stand idly by, but have an important part to play
in spiritual warfare. In Ephesians
6:10-18, Paul says that we must stand against the machinations of the devil,
and that “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” (NIV). Satan desires to devour us (1 Pet. 5:8-9) and
to establish footholds in us that tempt us toward disobeying God (Eph. 4:27). We wage war by prayer and drawing near to God
(Eph. 6:18; Jas. 4:7-10), taking a firm stand against the devil in the strength
of the Spirit by deciding to live the holy lifestyle that God desires. We also are empowered by the Spirit to be a
means of deliverance to the demonized, just as Jesus was (Matt. 10:1; Acts
16:16-18).
Not all temptations arise from the spiritual realm, however. Scripture also reveals that there are other
forces at work for evil. James notes
that we have foul desires that arise from within us (1:13-15), Peter writes
about not living for evil human desires (1 Pet. 4:2) and Paul says that the
flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). Other people can also entice us to sin, and
the writers of biblical Wisdom Literature often warn about not going along with
these tempters (Psalm 1; Prov. 1:10-19).
John writes of entire systems being at cross-purposes with God (Rev. 17-18),
and the prophets write of nations being opposed to God (Amos 1-2). So there seems to be an unholy triumvirate
that leads people to sin: the world (wicked people and crooked systems), the
flesh (our own inner leanings toward wrongdoing), and the devil (the spiritual forces of evil).
Helpful Approaches to Spiritual Warfare
There have been several approaches
given on how the church should engage in spiritual warfare. One position is that of Walter Wink and others
like him, who demythologize Satan into a metaphor for “the symbolic repository
of the entire complex of evil existing in the present order” (57). Wink holds up a mirror, forcing us to
realize that we ourselves are complicit in the evils
we see today, and we have helped produce vile systems by our collective wrongdoing. While this position has
several important things to say about the nature of human evil and the
corruption of structures, it is founded upon questionable exegesis and
contradicts itself by holding a materialist paradigm when it comes to Satan and
yet denying that materialist framework by affirming the spiritual reality of God.
Still, this approach is correct in asserting that how we live our lives
ethically is part of how we wage spiritual warfare–any framework that is worth
its weight in salt must have this component.
Approaches that affirm the reality of evil spiritual beings are
most helpful for us today, and there are several important things that we
should know as practitioners who encounter spiritual oppression. When engaging in spiritual warfare, we are
coming against forces that are stronger than us. Fortunately, Christians are deeply connected to the omnipotent God of all existence! We must acknowledge that apart from God, we
have no chance of success, and we need him to fight for us. Such a recognition of our own dependence and
weakness drives us to God in prayer; in fact, Clinton Arnold notes that “prayer
is the heart of spiritual warfare” (43).
Going forward means we must rely on the strength of the Spirit. Tom White adds some further insight into
spiritual warfare:
While many of the devil’s devices may appear complex, breaking them
is scripturally quite simple. Faith in
the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus’ name (see Mark 11:22-24; Matt.
18:18-20), confidence in the power of his atoning blood (see Rev. 12:11), courage
to claim and use our authority in resisting evil (see Luke 10:19), and total
trust in the immanent power of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 10:38) will break
oppression (70).
When counseling a person who might
be demon-possessed, do not rule out mental illness as a possible cause–“avoid
the temptation to quickly [sic] attribute demonic activity to any given
problem” (White 36). Instead, it can be
helpful to “shoot in both directions” when counseling people–simultaneously
explore the possibilities of past emotional woundedness and demonization (Boyd
155). There are times when both are
present and are holding a person back from the fullness of life that God has
for them, and ministry to both areas may be required. If you do think demonization is occurring, boldly
proceed in the faith and power of Christ, commanding the demon(s) to
leave. “You do not need to be
oratorically correct and say things ‘just right.’ Just cry out to the Lord from your heart, as
King David so often did, and ask Him to put your enemy to flight” (White 74).
Another aspect of spiritual warfare is what Paul refers to as the “demolishing
of strongholds” in 2 Cor. 10:3-5. Arnold
argues that this involves “changing wrong ideas about Christ in the minds of
believers who have been influenced by demonically inspired teaching” (55). There is a pedagogical, Christological aspect
to this passage when set in its original context. The teaching and spread of right thinking about Jesus can be understood as engaging in spiritual warfare.
Additionally, several Christians are
big proponents of engaging territorial spirits in the practice of spiritual
warfare. While there appears to be some support for the reality of territorial spirits in the Bible and there are some
examples of early church members engaging in territorial warfare, “there is no
example in Scripture of God’s people engaging in this type of spiritual
warfare, and this must surely be considered relevant” (Boyd 156). While some good may come from ministries that engage territorial spirits, I agree with Boyd–Jesus and the New Testament
church do not seem to have their focus on such things. We would be wise to follow in their footsteps.
Relevance for My Ministry
I see practicing spiritual warfare as
very important for my ministry as a pastor. It is an
encouragement to me to pray for God’s grace to break into the lives of friends
and family members who do not believe and are struggling, for there is more at
play with them than innate human desires.
It gives me some more tools to use when I counsel others who are going
through hard times, knowing that demonization may be a possibility as to what
is ailing a person, even a Christian. It
helps me understand that living righteously in the power of the Spirit can
shine Christ’s light on dark places and serve as an encouragement to other
sisters and brothers in Christ. It
reminds me that teaching Christian orthodoxy is a way of demolishing devilish
strongholds and demonically inspired heresies that lead people away from the true Jesus, the author and perfecter
of our faith (Heb. 12:2). It helps me be
on guard against attacks from the enemy and understand that sometimes there can
be more to difficult emotional states and circumstances than appears on the surface, though I do not plan
on looking for a demon under every rock.
I also feel more prepared to function as a global Christian, since
Christians in the Global South have no problem with the spiritual realm and do
deliverance ministry all the time. For
all of these reasons, I see spiritual warfare as a useful tool for how I
desire to operate and minister in the future.
Works Cited
Arnold,
Clinton E. 3 Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare. Grand Rapids,
MI: Baker
Academic, 1997. Print.
Boyd,
Gregory. “The Ground-Level Deliverance Model.” Understanding Spiritual
Warfare:
Four Views. Eds. James
Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic, 2012. 129-157. Print.
White,
Tom. The Believer’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare. Ventura, CA: Regal,
2011. Print.
Wink,
Walter, Gareth Higgins, and Michael Hardin. “The World Systems Model.”
Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views. Eds. James Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy.
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012. 47-71. Print.
