The Church Militant: Of Lambs and Lions

Word from the Center
Written By Peter Scaer

Christ brings peace with God. As for this life? Well, He comes to bring not peace, but a sword. That is, the sword of the Spirit. And so we are called to have peace in our hearts, but to be salty, to be ready for the battle. Most of us should know by now about the war on boys, how schools are designed to soften and make docile. Christ died for the life of the world, and yet the world remains our enemy. We are called to love, but also to fight. Our nation still understands this, at least a little, in the respect we show our troops, those who have fought to preserve our freedom. But, of course, the real problem is not war abroad, but right here at home. The battles are for the lives of the unborn, for children who are being led into lives of misery, drugged and mutilated. And for that, no amount of niceness or faux love will do. The innocent need fighters. The Church needs fighters. And so, the church militant.

 

St. Paul tells us to put on the armor of God. Our Lord tells us to struggle through the narrow door. We are up against the wiles of the devil, who constantly deceives, against the powers and darkness of this age. Knowing we have the helmet of salvation, we exercise the sword of Spirit, which is God's Word. What does that mean? We use that sword by speaking the truth in the midst of lies. We sharpen that sword by studying God's Word, by immersing ourselves in the teaching of the faithful and in the hymns that truly edify. It means we speak the Word, and that we never live by lies.

 

God so loved the world. And Christ said that the world would hate us on account of Him. Both things are true, for the world is our enemy and it is the object of God's, and so, therefore, our, love. Moms seem to get this, at least when it comes to their children. Or at least they should. But the world has done all it can to neutralize moms and dads alike, leaving them to sputter nonsense in the face of evil. "Golly. Children are aborted. Isn't that a shame?" "That girl is being given testosterone and will soon have a mastectomy. What a crazy world we live in." That is to say, I'm a lover not a fighter.

 

But fighters we need. So Joshua says, "Be courageous" in entering the land of the pagans. Christ urges to be of good courage, to not be afraid. Speak up. Use your voices to defend the innocent. For we are engaged in a war, and it's not just about us, it's about our neighbor, our littlest neighbor, our children, our children's children, and the children next door. The Lamb of God is also the Lion of Judah. We are like lambs in love, called to be meek, to take it on the chin, to offer up another cheek. But when the wolves come after the little lambs, we are called to be lions. For when evil seeks its prey, our protestations of peace are nothing but pretense, the desire to be above the fray, to keep hands clean, to remain safe in our cowardice.

When the wolves come for the lambs, we need to be lions.

 

The Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer is chairman and professor of Exegetical Theology and director of the M.A. program at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.

 

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“[Wedding vows] ask us to have and to hold, to endure and be faithful in all circumstances. There is not one word about how we will feel about it. We do not make any promises about our emotions. We make, instead, promises about our actions, what we will do and how we will do it.” Learn why marital love between one man and one woman is worth celebrating in an article by Rev. David Petersen.

  

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“The greatest is the one who is most self-effacing, most sacrificial, most devoted to the good of the Other. Jesus redefined headship and authority, thus taking the toxicity of it away, at least for those who live by his definition rather than by the world’s understanding. . . . The master has just made himself into a servant who has washed his disciples’ feet, thus demonstrating in the most dramatic way that authority and leadership mean that you become the servant, you die to self in order to love and serve the Other.” –Kathy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage”
— Kathy Keller
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Peter Scaer
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