Gospel Shoes versus Gospel Slippers
Shoes are for walking: “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” implies well-made shoes and a readiness to go. How often have we said, “Wait! I am coming! I just need to get my shoes on!”
Bad shoes mean disabled soldiers. Think about how painful even a short walk becomes with a nasty blister; how a hole in your shoe lets water in, making your feet cold; how shoes that are too small make your feet ache; how shoes that are broken down will injure your feet and you can’t walk or run for a long time until you recover.
The Gospel isn’t just about sharing words. It is about walking alongside someone, understanding their pain and trying to do what is best in the situation. It’s being in the mud and the blood of the battlefield. Satan leaves quite a trail of destruction as he moves through this planet. That’s where we come in.
The Gospel goes out, because the lost don’t always come in: "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?" (Matt. 18:12 NIV)
You go where the need is. The need is out there, because that’s where the wounded are.
The Gospel means shoveling a neighbor’s driveway; helping a friend of a friend move; watching a toddler while a young mom gets her hair done; going and picking up the person you invited to church. The Gospel means movement. Shoes that are well-made (well-grounded in the Word) and a willingness to go (Lord, send me!) are a far cry from Gospel slippers.
Slippers are comfy and are meant to wear at home. If your Gospel is comfy and only found inside the walls of your church home, then how will people hear the Good News?
"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" (Rom. 10:14 NIV)
Why Our Gear Won’t Work
Wearing footgear that is not intended for outdoor use is useless. Not being prepared to go out and share the Good News is useless to the Kingdom of God. If our feet get pierced (we fall pray to Satan’s deception) because of shoddy footwear, we are sidelined. Let our shoes take the hit: God’s Word is strong enough to take all that Satan and the world can throw at it.
The Shield of Faith versus The Shield of Christian Culture
Faith in what? Is it in our faith? In Jesus? In our denomination? Our pastor? Our leaders? I know what you are thinking: “I have faith in Jesus Christ!” But, here’s the test: Where do you run when life and the enemy throw fiery darts at you? Do we raise Jesus’ Word in front of us, or do we raise something else?
The Shield of Faith means we believe those fiery darts will be quenched by the power of Jesus. We do not doubt that our faith will hold.
Jesus used the parable of the man who built his house on the rock using His words as compared to the man who built on the sand, using what the world says. The rain and storms hit both houses. Only the one built on Jesus and His words stood the battering. (Matt. 7: 24-27)
So, when we raise our Shield, we are showing that we trust in Christ alone. Not just in our faith, or a faith in faith, but faith in Christ, His love and His provision. Such a soldier believes that Shield will extinguish the darts (the lies) of the enemy and it will hold up battle after battle. That’s why it’s raised. The very act of raising it shows the soldier’s confidence in its capacity. It is faith is action.
A shield, sitting in a dusty shed somewhere, may look fine. But this Shield must be raised, wielded and never left behind. Why? The more it is used on the battlefield, the greater its value to the soldier. Every dart that is extinguished will increase the soldier’s confidence in the Shield.
Faith that is battle-tested is strong. We have learned that Jesus never leaves us, gives us strength and helps us fight the battle. So, as we face a new battle, we remember how He has been with us in the past: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, [your enemies] for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deut. 3:16)
But, if we raise the Shield of Christian Culture, now we have a problem. Why? Our confidence will be short-lived, because this culture is short-lived. It changes all the time, following after the dictates of Christians who don’t want to offend anyone. These Christians appear to believe that because the world and Christianity have had a falling out, it’s up to them to fix the damage. They compromise the Word and apologize for its perceived “intolerance.”
Many Christians are training with the compromised Shield of Christian Culture as opposed to the Shield of Faith grounded in God’s Word. Culture changes, trends and ideas come and go, but: "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever." (Is. 40:8)
Many Christians today take their cue about what is right or wrong from the larger culture. It’s as if morality is determined by the 51%, not by God’s Word. If enough people in church think that the Biblical position on an issue is too outdated, uncompassionate or insensitive because the larger culture does (and being relevant is the goal, not the truth) then out comes the Christian Cultural Shield. It’s so much lighter and easier to handle.
But, once out in the battlefield, we notice a curious thing. The darts do not go out. They grow stronger and stronger. This Shield becomes more and more battered. It doesn’t stand up well to the lies that the enemy is directing at us. So, we run to the next Shield, the next compromise, hoping it will be able to just dim or divert the darts and not offend the other side. But that doesn’t happen. We lose faith in this Shield. Soon, Cultural Shields are scattered all over the battlefield. None of the compromises have worked. The world continues to grow hostile to Christianity. Why is that? "You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4)
The enemy’s plan is to make us doubt faith in general; doubt that we are at war; doubt that our side is the victorious one and doubt that we should even fight. He whispers that perhaps we need to lower our Shield altogether and not be so hung up on God’s Word: Embrace the other side! Faith is far less satisfying than a group hug!
We are at war. Period. If we lay down our Shield of Faith in God’s Word and His Son, replacing it with the well-intentioned but totally misguided idea that we must accommodate the culture and its trends, the enemy’s darts will come, no matter what we are holding. Our compromised shield will not be able to stand under fire. And you? Perhaps the better question is: Regular recipe or extra crispy?
Why Our Gear Won’t Work
Faith is not something we try to psyche ourselves into or work hard to feel deep in our souls. This Shield is a gift from God Himself: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV)
Jonathan gave David his garments and his weapons to show that they were in covenant with each other. (1 Sam. 18:3-4) We have been given God’s armor to show that we are in covenant with God.
If we set aside this Gift and walk out thinking it’s all good because we are now culturally relevant and tolerant, one day we will be on the sidelines, nursing a broken heart and wondering how it all went so wrong. The world will be one step closer to Hell and we helped.
The old saying that “If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” then it is maintained by compromise.
To be continued...
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