Friendly Fire...

Friendly fire is a term the military came up with to describe (and I'm using a pretty broad definition here) when the soldiers of an army are shooting at each other... and as a result are inflicting injury, even death, on their own.

There's an old war movie, The Longest Day, that has an interesting depiction of friendly fire. As a prelude to the D-Day invasion, the Allies dropped "paradummies" to divert German troops away from the Allies' actual drop zones. The dummies were nicknamed "Rupert" and were made to resemble human figures. In the movie, the "Ruperts" are shown landing near and among the German troops... and in the frenzied, fog of war, the soldiers start shooting at each other. There's even a scene where a German soldier calls for reinforcements--screaming at headquarters that his troops are being overrun by the enemy... Rupert.

Okay, Vann... we're trying to stay with you on this post, but you're losing us. What's your point in all of this?

Here's my point: I'm convinced that a lot of churches are at this very moment under spiritual attack, SoHills included. I'm convinced that our adversary is not of the flesh-and blood variety... but attacks with spiritual forces of evil that dwell in the heavenly realms. We're in the center of the evil one's cross hairs... but he's saving his bullets by causing us to shoot at each other.

He's dropping all sorts of "Ruperts" among us. The "Ruperts" have been crafted to look like the real deal: doctrinal purity, adherence to Biblical tradition, remaining true to our church heritage... but they are diversions to keep us from a realization of where the attack is really coming from.

So, we... the army of God... shoot at each other, inflicting casualties, and scream for reinforcements because we fear we're about to be overrun. Which means more and more of our resources, time, and energy are devoted to fighting each other... and then attempting to care for the very people who are being shot.

Our adversary is a cruel and cunning opponent.

Here's my challenge: Stop what you're doing (okay, finish reading this post first), grab your Bible and read Ephesians 6:10-20.

Next, get on your knees and pray. Pray for your church's leaders... especially those you've been talking about, criticizing and attacking. Pray for those people in your church who have been wounded, bloodied, and alienated as a result of the friendly fire that's been inflicted upon them. Confess to God your part in that friendly fire. Even if you weren't pulling the trigger... if you stood by and silently did nothing as it happened, you played a part in the bullets flying.

Finally, trust God to give you the eyes to see what the evil one's real targets are: our marriages, families, friendships, offices, schools, and churches. And vow to God that you will trust Him to reveal to you going foward who and where the real enemy is.

Please... we must stop shooting at each other. We are not the enemy.