Do You Know How to Fight? -- Final

 

Ok, let’s finish this thing.

If you missed part one, go here. If you missed part two, go here. If three, here, and four, here.

Now, on with the conclusion...

So there stood Shawn and me—eye to eye—each of us weighing the other to see who would flinch first.

This was new territory for both of us. I was a professional flincher up to this point, and he, an Olympic bully. Almost (but not quite) it seemed the rolls were switching right before our eyes. For a moment, I believed he would just walk away and leave me victorious without ever having to throw a single punch.

That lasted about five seconds.

Then his hands went up and he sucker punched me…

Or tried.

What was this? I didn’t quite block it, but I did manage to deflect it so that it did little damage. That REALLY threw him! And he reacted angrily. And, much to my delight—spastically. He was punching like a girl now (sorry ladies, but you really do punch like yourselves). I was surprised at how easy his awkward strikes were to block, but I still hadn’t thrown a punch of my own. Was I simply looking for an opening, like I’d been taught? Or, was I afraid to actually punch someone? The whole thing seemed a bit like an out of body experience in that I was fighting and analyzing the fight all at the same time—I felt like Howard Cosell—and probably fought like him too.

I knew it would go on forever like this unless I chose to use what I’d been taught, and put an end to the abuse.

I spotted an opening, thought it might be my last…and took it. Hauling back with a right cross, I aimed straight for his jaw—I put everything I had into that one punch.

And it landed.

Then so did Shawn—on the ground.

Everyone seemed shocked but no one more than I. Well, almost no one. I do recall Shawn seeming a bit dazed.

But here’s the important part. Shawn rose slowly to his feet, but not to fight. In fact, he wouldn’t even look me in the eye. All he did was mumble something derogatory about me and walk away, pretending like he had something more important to do, like cry I’m guessing.

So, just like that, it was over. Not only did Shawn never mess with me again, but neither did any of the other guys. Believe it or not, Shawn and I actually became friends (sort of) after that.

I’ve often thought about that experience over the years, recalling how much agony I caused myself simply because I had no idea how to combat the particular warfare I was facing. Once I learned how to fight, the bullying all but ended. I wish I’d learned a whole lot sooner.

And I’ve thought a lot about the spiritual battles I’ve faced over the years as well. How many of them got the best of me due to not knowing how to fight? How many times have I brought a spiritual knife to a spiritual gun fight? And this bears a lot consideration whether we realize it or not—the stakes are far greater in the spiritual realm than the physical. Whoever said, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,’ must have been a toddler. Because anyone who had been the victim of gossip and slander knows all too well the deep and scaring wounds that sharp tongues can inflict.

Bottom-line? Know what you’re up against. The apostle Paul said it best as he tried to explain this to the Corinthians,

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Bad News? Many of us are wielding the wrong weapons and going up against the wrong opponent—often times, Christians even fight with each other as though our own brothers and sisters are the real enemy. The only winner in these scenarios is the evil one.

Good News? Because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to all Christ followers to live victoriously, we can not only win these spiritual battles—we can devastate the evil one, and take huge swaths of territory right from under his nose! That’s a far cry from the knees clanging, fearful, defeated and anemic lives so many “Christians” live today.

More Good News? There’s an unlimited supply of body armor and superior weaponry available to all believers. All we need to do is put it on. Once again, the apostle Paul tells us about this.

“¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For 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. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Eph 6:10-17

So, now that you know how to fight, what are you waiting for? Get in the battle and know that one outcome awaits the believer who truly loves the Lord and who are called according to His great purpose…

You win!