The Sword of the Spirit (4)

Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” Matthew 22.29

Captive to the Lie
The Apostle Paul described those who reject God and His Word as living under “the Lie” (Rom. 1.18ff.). Because God is true, and His Word is truth, it makes sense that all who refuse to submit to that Word are going to choose a course in life that will take them increasingly far from the path of truth. No wonder there is so little true and lasting joy and rejoicing in our world today. People caught up in the Lie are increasingly out of touch with the Word Who can set them free (Jn. 8.32).

This is not to suggest that there won’t be anything true about their lives, or that they won’t do anything good or true, in spite of their rebellion against God. God is too gracious for that; only slowly and reluctantly does He give people up to the folly of their unbelieving ways, and all the bad decisions and consequences that issue from that (Rom. 1.22-32). As ungrateful, unbelieving people continue in rebellion against Him, God maintains His steadfast love and faithfulness toward even them (Ps. 52.1). He causes His rain to fall and His sun to shine on the just and unjust alike (Matt. 5.43-45).

But that does not negate the fact that, having chosen the way of the Lie, many people are now captive to it, and they are going to embrace opinions, make decisions, and follow courses of action in life that will simply be just plain wrong.

And it is part of our job, as those who wield the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of Truth, to help them see how this is so.

Squeamish?
Now let’s admit right away that we’re perhaps a bit squeamish about suggesting that others – anyone – might be wrong about something. We might want to disagree with someone’s chosen way of life. Or we might not find their choices to our liking. But to say someone is wrong? That’s sounds, you know, judgmental.

But haven’t we already decided that we’re not supposed to not judge others, only to judge them with righteous judgment, which is the way we ourselves would like to be judged (Jn. 7.24; Matt. 7.1, 2)? And our source of righteousness being the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, we must learn to wield it ways that leave no “wiggle room” for those who prefer to live the Lie. We must speak truth to them in love, so that the Sword of the Spirit may engage their souls as it does ours (Eph. 4.15).

Jesus did not say to the religious leaders who challenged Him, “You know, I disagree with your view; here’s My own take on this.” No. He told them flatly, “You are mistaken.” And He could do that because He knew the Word of God, and He understood their views to be not only not informed by the Word of God, but completely out of line with it.

They were following the Lie, and it would do them no good to hear His “take” on the matter; they needed to be told they were simply wrong.

What this requires of us
Before we launch out into the deep here, we need to make sure of a couple of things. First, whatever the subject of discussion may be – an issue of the day, a moral opinion, some practice, or whatever – we need to be good listeners and patient observers. We need to be clear about what others are proposing, and not just deal with straw men. If people are wrong about something, we need to show them in specific ways. If some straw man is wrong, and that’s all we’re discussing, folks can simply shrug that off as not applying to them. We don’t want them to wiggle out from under the weight of truth so easily. Remember, we are called to wield the Sword of the Spirit in a warfare for the souls of men.

Second, we need be clear about what the Bible teaches concerning the issue or practice in question. Only thus will we be able to keep the conversation from degenerating into some form of “So’s your old man.” We want people to understand where their views or lifestyles differ, not with ours,but with the teaching of the Word of God. We need to be able to say, like the prophets of old – and like Jesus – “Here’s what the Bible says about that.”

Now, make no mistake, people may simply laugh in your faceand say, “What’s the Bible got to do with it?” But don’t back away when that happens. Simply say, “Well, the Bible is God’s Word of Truth, and even if we don’t agree with it, we need to hear what the Bible has to say”
So we have a good bit of preparing to do if we’re going to help people see that the Bible stands opposed to their views or practices about this, that, or the other.

But if we don’t do this, we will fail in our calling to wield the Sword of the Spirit to help others escape the Lie discover the way of life.

For reflection
1.  What does it mean to say that someone is “captive to the Lie”? Do you really believe this? What evidence do you see to indicate this is true?

2.  Why do we have so much difficulty saying to people they’re mistaken about something, when it’s clear they are wrong? How can we say this and still be heard?

3.  What would you describe as the skills of a good listener? A good observer? How would you rate yourself with respect to those skills?

Next steps – Conversation: What are a few topics that come up in your sphere of influence that might serve as a “flash point” for talking about matters of truth? Try one or two of these with some of the people in your Personal Mission Field.

T. M. Moore

You can learn more about God’s covenant and why it’s so important by ordering T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here). For a deeper study of God’s covenant, order the workbook, God’s Covenant, from our online store (click here).

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.