Taking Ground

Last Sunday afternoon I found the perfect spot.  I snuck past enemy observation and laid down behind some equipment that was covered by a tarp.  My enemies were busy in their fort.  It was a massive fort, comprised of a wooden tower, a plastic house and a defense mechanism think they called “a trampoline.”  They were distracted by worldly things: talking about how to build a dresser and a roof for the tower.  It seemed like the female soldier was in charge.  I could tell that the boy was a younger recruit, still green but eager to work.  If I engaged the enemy then I needed to be really careful.  The matriarchal soldier seemed to be very witty.  She could rally the troops fast and give lightning quick orders.  The young recruit was following instructions quite well until his commander found out that he had soiled his uniform.  I knew this was my opportunity.  What better time to strike the enemy than when they’re fighting with themselves and distracted from their purpose?  Plus, I had the element of surprise on my side.  Mike Tyson once said that it wasn’t the punches his opponent saw that knocked them out, it was the ones that caught them by surprise.  I was Mike Tyson that day.

I gathered up my ammunition, small water oak acorns.  They were the perfect choice.  They would stun my enemy without hurting them...too much.  It would allow me the opportunity to capture them alive.  After they were in my prison I would initiate the critical tool used in information gathering...tickling.  I would be relentless in my pursuit of information.  They would soon crumble under torture, uh, I mean, investigative techniques. 

Thus, it began.  Thud, thud, thud…  And then, pop!  At the moment, the enemy was talking about how my many squirrels there must be in the tree above them.  They were clueless.  But the pops got louder and closer by the second.  According to my spotter, my ammunition was getting closer and closer to their headquarters, which was the plastic house furnished with a sleeping mat, a small table, some invisible plates and utensils, and a roll of toilet paper.  (My informant told me that I really didn’t want to know why the toilet paper was there.)  But I made a critical error in my strategy.  I picked up about 15 acorn grenades and lobbed them towards the palace/hideout/fort. 

“Daddy!” exclaimed the one in charge.  “Where are you?” she demanded as if I was going to give up just because she had superior observational skills.  Bang, bang, bang!  I don’t know what I was hitting but it was loud enough to scare the enemy out of their palace/hideout/fort/outhouse.  Instead of retreating, they immediately went on the offensive.  I was in trouble.

One of them ran straight for the fence that was protecting me and he scaled it with ease.  You could tell that he was training for this moment.  The other one had disappeared.  Before I knew it I was having acorns thrown at me in a direct attack.  The little one had a strong arm and had apparently been practicing his acorn throwing.  I had underestimated the strength and accuracy of the little guy.  But where was the other sneaky booger?  Little did I know that the soldier, who was called Max, was just a distraction, and before I knew it the fight was over.  The other soldier had flanked me.  I was being hit from the side and the front.  Then they engaged in hand-to-hand combat, taking me to the ground.  I was defeated...or so I thought.  “Daddy, I want to be on your team,” the young recruit said to me.  Knowing that she would be defeated in a 2-on-1 battle the commander quickly blurted, “I want to be on your team too, Daddy!” 

I didn’t see that one coming.  We now were three soldiers with lots of ammunition but no enemy.  Good thing the mommy didn’t come outside because she would have been ambushed.  The battle was over that day.  They had captured me.  But they captured me with love...after a quick beat down and acorn bombardment, of course.  It turns out, they never really saw me as their enemy, but they came after me with enthusiasm, persistence, a disregard for their own personal safety, and they were willing to leave the protection of what was familiar and safe.  What good would it do to destroy someone when you could have them join your team?  Without knowing it they were like the person described in Proverbs 11:30 which says, “he who wins souls is wise.” 

The Hebrew word that is translated as “wins” is translated as other English words throughout the Old Testament.  It could mean “capture,” “get,” “take,” or “save.”  But it could also mean words that are not as strong in tone like “find,” “accept,” or “receive”.  A couple translations say “he who saves souls is wise,” while another one says “he who captures souls is wise.”  Quite a few translations use the word “wins”. 

I don’t think the idea in this verse is to conquer, like I was conquered during the infamous Acorn War of 2017.  I think it could mean that a wise person is someone who is trying to persuade someone to wise living, or save someone from the corruption of this world, or to see someone’s soul saved for an eternity.  Even in the Old Testament we see people praised by God for evangelism: “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3)  Notice it doesn’t say that the wise person leads people to do the right thing, as in making good ethical decisions.  Righteousness refers to a right standing with God.  A wise person is leading people to righteousness.  A wise person is seeing people saved from unrighteousness.  They’re spending their energy, thoughts, resources, and time on capturing souls.  A wise person sees that there’s more to this life than what surrounds our physical being.  They know that a person’s soul will either spend an eternity with God or an eternity in hell. 

       

So, how does evangelism play a part in taking ground in the spiritual battle?  There have been numerous times in my life that I’ve been lulled into a false sense of security.  If I’m reading my Bible, praying, involved in fellowship then I might feel pretty safe.  But then the acorns come.  At first, I don’t notice the thuds happening around me.  There’s a few pops and then a loud bang.  “Must be a lot of squirrels out today,” I say to myself.  But in reality, the battle is becoming more real.  So, in the acorn story I’m a picture of a person that needs saving.  Such people may be somewhat combative, but they’re really not an enemy after all.  When someone becomes a Christian we end up saving them from the enemy.  Many people don’t realize that they’re in a spiritual battle, and that’s one of Satan’s greatest strategies for victory.   In the Bible, you see that Satan is hurling his flaming arrows towards anyone he can destroy.   He’s the enemy.  Paul says,

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 saints.

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”  Ephesians 6:13-20

What is involved in standing firm?  It’s not just truth, salvation, the word, prayer, righteousness and faith.  If we just focus on these things then we fall short of what it means to “stand firm”.  You need all the armor on in order to go to battle.  We need to clothe our “feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” 

“Honey, have you seen my sword anywhere?” I could imagine a Roman soldier asking his wife before leaving for war.  “Did you look under your shield?” the wife might gently remind him.  “Oh, wait a minute…” he whispers to himself out of audible range of his wife, “I need the shield too.”  “And where is my…”, he’s interrupted by an answer from the other room.  “Your helmet?” she nonchalantly states, as if she has some kind of telepathic superpower.   “How does she do that?” the husband says as he heads to the door.  It’s a cold morning so he needs to go out and start his horse to let it warm up a little.  As he walks out, he feels that something is not right but he can’t put his finger on what’s missing.  “Helmet, check.  Shield, check.  Belt, check.  Breastplate, check.  Sword, check.”  he tells himself.  “Sweetie, don’t forget your shoes.” she reminds him.  “Oh, yeah.” he states matter-of-factly, “I was coming back in for those.”  She kisses him, hands him his lunch (probably Italian sausage), and sends him on his way.  “Have a good time in battle today, sweetie.” her last words follow him out the door.  Or maybe as Miracle Max said in the movie Princess Bride she would call out, “Have fun storming the castle!”

What good is a soldier without shoes?  Shoes aren’t necessarily an offensive or defensive weapon (unless you kick someone or run away).  Without shoes your kind-of stuck.  You can’t maneuver around.  The rocks are too jagged, it’s a rough world out there.  Also, you can’t run towards the purpose for which you were sent out...to fight.  A soldier will put on shoes for the sake of his fellow soldiers.  How can you fight alongside a fellow soldier if they’re not able to keep in step?  They can’t help you guard your back or your flank.  Jonathan mentioned a few weeks ago to put up your shield of faith so you can help protect your fellow brother or sister in Christ.  As much as it depends on me, I’m going to help protect my fellow soldiers.  When you spend time in the word every day to learn how to share your faith, and your child asks you what you’re doing you can confidently say, “I’m putting on my shoes.”  Right before they walk away in utter confusion you can explain that God wants you to be prepared to share your faith.  You do it for your kids.  You do it for your spouse.  You do it for your church.  You do it for yourself.  You do it for those who are lost, without Christ.

My kids walk around barefooted all the time.  I don’t.  I’m a wimp.  My feet hurt too much.  Every step on the rocks sends pain shooting all the way to my scalp.  When I walk without shoes I pay too much attention to my surroundings.  It’s important to pay attention to my surroundings when I walk but I don’t need to spend 95% of my energy, thought, and time trying to navigate every step, especially if I’m fighting on the battlefield.  Could you imagine this Roman soldier tip-toeing around every rock, root and sand spur?  “Ooo, I hate those sand spurs.  They’re so hard to get out!”  the soldier mutters to himself before getting whacked in the head by a sword that he didn’t see coming.  When I walk around without shoes on I tend to pay closer attention to my trials.  As a matter of fact, some of the trials may seem worse because I’m focusing all my energy on not getting hurt and I’m distracted from my goal. 

If you don’t want to get “whacked in the head” so-to-speak, then make sure you put your shoes on!  It’s a lot harder to “stand firm” as Paul said when you don’t clothe your feet.  If you want to gain new ground, or not lose the ground you’ve already gained, then don’t go to battle without shoes.  They seem like such an insignificant piece of a soldier’s uniform until you realize that you’re a sitting duck without them.  “Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the Good News of peace with God.” Ephesians 6:15 (The Living Bible).

How do we “take ground” in evangelism?  If you look in the New Testament, you don’t see many big events for outreach.  You do see Jesus preaching to the crowds of people, as in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.  He goes into synagogues to share the gospel as well.  When you look at the early history of the church you see examples of crowds being reached like in Acts 2 when 2,000 people were saved in one day, but you also see individuals plainly and patiently speaking the word of God to the people around them.  They may have spoken to a neighbor, or a solitary stranger, or someone they met in the marketplace.  It also seems like the ones who were on mission the most to share the gospel had a partner to do it with them.  Once someone comes to Christ we see in 2 Timothy 2:2 what we can do next:

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

Once you’ve been “captured,” go capture someone else.  I think the church gains ground mainly through multiplication.  That’s how Jesus described the believers when He talked about the tiny mustard seed becoming a large bush in the garden (Matthew 13).  Taking ground is not about winning the argument with someone, or getting someone to become religious, or even convincing them to attend a church event.  Taking ground happens when a person’s heart has been captured by God’s love and they go help someone else find the same thing.  A person who wins, or captures souls, doesn’t spend a majority of his or her time looking at their surroundings because they forgot to put on their shoes.  They’re willing to get out of whatever false protection they think is keeping them safe.  They don’t retreat.  They run towards the battle.  And they don’t go into battle alone.