Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:10-18
“William Wallace, if you’ll recall, is the hero of the film Braveheart. He is the warrior poet who came as the liberator of Scotland in the early 1300s. When Wallace arrives on the scene, Scotland has been under the iron fist of English monarchs for centuries. The latest king is the worst of them all — Edward the Longshanks. A ruthless oppressor, Longshanks has devastated Scotland, killing her sons and raping her daughters. The Scottish nobles, supposed protectors of their flock, have instead piled heavy burdens on the backs of the people while they line their own purses by cutting deals with Longshanks.
Wallace is the first to defy the English oppressors. Outraged, Longshanks sends his armies to the field of Sterling to crush the rebellion. The highlanders come down, in groups of hundreds and thousands. It’s time for a showdown. But the nobles, cowards all, don’t want a fight. They want a treaty with England that will buy them more lands and power. They are typical Pharisees, bureaucrats … religious administrators.
Without a leader to follow, the Scots begin to lose heart. One by one, then in larger numbers, they start to flee. At that moment Wallace rides in with his band of warriors, blue warpaint on their faces, ready for battle. Ignoring the nobles — who have gone to parley with the English captains to get another deal — Wallace goes straight for the hearts of the fearful Scots.
“Sons of Scotland … you have come to fight as free men, and free men you are.” He gives them an identity and a reason to fight. He reminds them that a life lived in fear is no life at all, that every last one of them will die some day. “And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!” He tells them they have what it takes. At the end of his stirring speech, the men are cheering. They are ready. Then Wallace’s friend asks, “Fine speech. Now what do we do?” “Just be yourselves.” “Where are you going?” “I’m going to pick a fight.”
Finally, someone is going to stand up to the English tyrants. While the nobles jockey for position, Wallace rides out and interrupts the parley. He picks a fight with the English overlords and the Battle of Sterling ensues—a battle that begins the liberation of Scotland.
Now — is Jesus more like Mother Teresa or William Wallace? The answer is … it depends. If you’re a leper, an outcast, a pariah of society whom no one has ever touched because you are “unclean,” if all you have ever longed for is just one kind word, then Christ is the incarnation of tender mercy. He reaches out and touches you like Mother Teresa.
On the other hand, if you’re a Pharisee, one of those self-appointed doctrine police … watch out. On more than one occasion Jesus “picks a fight” with those notorious hypocrites. Take the story of the crippled woman in Luke 13. Here’s the background: The Pharisees are like the Scottish nobles — they, too, load heavy burdens on the backs of God’s people but do not lift a finger to help them.
What is more, they are so bound to the Law that they insist it is a sin to heal someone on the Sabbath, for that would be doing “work.” They have twisted God’s intentions so badly they think that man was made for the Sabbath, rather than the Sabbath for man (Mark 2:27). Christ has already had a number of skirmishes with with them, some over this very issue, leaving those quislings “wild with rage” (Luke 6:11 NLT).
Does Jesus tiptoe around the issue next time, so as not to “rock the boat” (the preference of so many of our leaders today)? Does he drop the subject in order to “preserve church unity”? Nope. He walks right into it, he baits them, he picks a fight.
Let’s pick up the story there: One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God! But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” (Luke 13:10-14 NLT)
William Wallace as cited by John Eldredge in Wild at Heart (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001) 21-22.
Though this was another long Scripture and long but powerful post, it seems fitting to share as I depart Colombia. Thanks for reading this far.
In short, I came to give an identity to a new full-time staff member and a new part-time contractor and to “pick a fight” with the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
What do I mean? Our purpose and presence picks the fight. So, we prayed every day for God to strengthen us to stand and see Him work and turn Colombia from a place of chaos to a place of order. He did!
Our battle is neither against flesh and blood, and nor did we come to fight. we came and God knit our hearts together and helped us discern next steps to launch Palmful of Coffee. We stand fast in Him and let Him fight for us.
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