We are “not” an army of one. Christ’s desire is that we be one as He and God and the Holy Spirit are One. They (The Trinity) are there for each other, forever! But when we are “not” one, we often get hit with lies that are fired at us from those around us. Yes, satan uses others to fire shots at us. Fellow Christians who miss the mark as we walk with them, and it leads to disillusionment and hurt. I don’t understand why they call it “friendly fire.” It’s anything but friendly. It’s only called that because it is from those who are supposed to be on our side, and by our side. The arrows in this case may not be shot directly at us, but are shot at our behaviors or statements, seen by fellow believers, which may cause them to question everything about their own faith. They get defensive, then they start shooting indiscriminately and hit us.
Our building of armor and moving forward threatens those near us who say they want that, but really do not. Sometimes though, the arrows may be shot directly at us from “enemies in the camp.” Infiltrators. Betrayal. Christ understands that. But that is for another chapter.
Should we really be counting only on others around us to guide our faith, our belief? Yes and no. Yes, we need others to share a shield. But no, we don’t need others perpetrating non-truths and misbeliefs about Christ, or about us. It’s hard to not grow disillusioned when we’re in a setting that is advertised as Christian, but the behaviors observed are in contradiction to that. One of our close friends, who is a very strong believer and has been at the forefront of various ministries, recently sent us a letter describing the long-term effects of just that kind of behavior.
It’s painful to read. A couple of quotes from the letter were: “We’ve [he and his wife] lost complete faith in the Big ‘C’ church. We’ve lost trust in the theologians who were instrumental in shaping our faith. We’ve abandoned several authors who speak about the truth of biblical principles but fail to demonstrate those principles in the way they live their lives.” He also referenced the downfall of a megachurch and the pain that still causes. The most compelling quote was perhaps the last one: “My helmet is on and I’m holding onto a broken shield with all my might.”
What great transparency to share this with us. Does that sound like a cry for help?
This is a solid soldier with a long track record of managing large ministries who has observed things that have hurt him and his wife. And it has them in search of what he calls, “Another church that will not burn us again.”
He is on the battlefield. He is in need of others around him to share their shields with him as he gets off the battlefield to heal, for as long as that takes.
During friendly fire, we need each.
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