Holy War

At the beginning of the summer I saw an announcement in the newsletter of the New Hampshire Alliance, a “regional network” of “evangelical and renewal ministries.” The stated goal of the alliance is “to inform, inspire, and activate a Kingdom network, revitalizing our state.” The ad promoted an upcoming “Warrior Training Camp” at a Pentecostal church in Boston. The ad used crossed swords and an image of a battlefield with crusaders in full armor.

I immediately recognized what this was about. I have seen many similar images in Christian educational literature. This is a reference to the “full armor of God” mentioned in the New Testament Letter to the Ephesians, traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul. I also know that many people in our biblically illiterate society would not catch the biblical reference or know that the original intent of the biblical author was about making peace and not war.

What brought this image back to mind was a sermon given at our church last Sunday. The pastor creatively interpreted the Ephesian “armor of God” passage and reclaimed its original nonviolent intent. Good job, pastor! The timing could not have been better. It happened to be the Sunday after the fall of Kabul.  The image of Taliban soldiers taking their country back for Allah was on everyone’s mind. These Islamic warriors employ Koranic passages about jihad but take them literally and not metaphorically.

While listening to the sermon, images of American protestors storming the US Capitol on January 6 came to my mind. Many of these Americans were dressed in military camouflage and carried Confederate flags, American flags, and banners proclaiming their loyalty to Jesus and the 45th president of the United States. Do not get me wrong. I am not implying a “moral equivalency” between these groups. There is no comparison when it comes to the violence involved. I am relaying images that came unbidden to my mind.

The crusader mentality is very much alive these days, both in Christianity and Islam. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association calls their evangelistic meetings “crusades.” Muslim extremists use the specter of Christian crusaders invading the lands of the Middle East as a recruiting tool. The imagery of Christian warriors resonates with Christian Nationalists and the “culture warriors” of the Religious Right, who are trying to reclaim America for God by exercising both their first and second amendment rights.

The apostle Paul had a very creative idea to use the armor of a Roman solider to describe Christian virtues. But after two thousand years of misunderstanding, it may be time for the Church to retire the military metaphor for the Christian life. Too many people take the image literally rather than figuratively. When you have Christian pastors promoting fear rather than faith, the sword more than the cross, then something has gone seriously wrong.

Is there a spiritual struggle going on? Yes, indeed! But as the apostle says, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces in the spiritual realm. This is an inner spiritual war, not an outward political, military or cultural war. It is about war in the human soul. We are our own worst enemy. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

John Bunyan describes this spiritual fight brilliantly in his allegory “The Holy War,” which I find to be as insightful as his more famous “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” To find the enemy we are to look not across our borders but within our hearts.

The Hadith says that Muhammad spoke of an “inner jihad.” The apostle James says that the source of fighting in the world is war in the heart. The Gita teaches the same thing. As one commentator says, “When a battle is raging within, enemies appear on the outside.” If we are serious about winning this spiritual war, we need to step onto the right battlefield with the right weapons. Then we will be waging peace instead of war.