In the Trenches

Imagine if you will, a bird's eye view to a battle. You watch as an army solemnly adorns themselves in their armor and equips themselves with their weaponry (swords, spears, daggers). Then you follow them as they march in perfect formation onto the battlefield to face their opponents who have been awaiting their arrival. The army stands at attention, stoic and still, ready to fulfill their orders. The commander yells, "ready yourselves," and every man brandishes his sword. When the time is just right the commander let's out the war cry, "ATTACK!" The opposing team charges forward, and the army raises their swords only to turn on each other, rather than attack the pursuing enemy. It is within mere minutes that the army is obliterated; what they didn't destroy themselves the opposing army helped them finish off. Now as senseless and tragic as this scene is, it happens frequently in the spiritual realm.

We live in the natural world surrounded by the supernatural. So many of the struggles we face are smoke-screened. Meaning, who and what we think is the source of our struggle is merely a tool or distraction to keep us from seeing who our real enemy is. We as christians are always going to be fighting a spiritual war and the fighting won't stop until we get to see our Savior face to face. We're fighting the enemy of the cross and every wicked thing that comes against the knowledge of God (sometimes even our own flesh). We are not and we should not by any means be fighting one another. And yet, so often we expend our energy and resources, given to combat our enemy, on attacking each other. It could easily be likened to throwing grenades into the very foxhole you're hiding in - very stupid.
Somehow we've gotten the idea that we're only fighting together with those who are in our inner circles, but the truth is we're fighting this battle with people we may never even meet.
Can you imagine how much more effective we could be against the enemy if we banned together and quit fighting each other? Yes, I know we do horrendous things to one another, and yes, I know that awful things get said about each other. To retaliate is to fall right into the enemies tactics. What a shame and horrible expenditure of our time and resources. We must focus on the battle at hand, the true enemy, and cease from tearing one another apart. We must fight in the power and unity of Christ and endeavor to forgive one another completely, which at times can be the crux of the battle itself. Above all "put on love, which is the bond of perfection" and remember "a house divided can not stand." Let's not be the bloody mess in the middle of the battlefield, an easy target for our enemy. But let us put on Christ and fight together in unity against a very detrimental foe.