Big Idea, Part 2

C. S. Lewis writes about one of the things that most impressed him when he first began to read the New Testament seriously.

He talks of the overwhelming sense that there is an evil in this world. An evil unseen, yet present everywhere.

He went on to compare his becoming a Christian to that of a soldier in World War II. Not just any soldier, mind you. He compares it to the soldier who is dropped, alone, behind enemy lines.

Not a very encouraging picture. Accurate, but not pretty.

And that brings us to the Big Idea, Part 2:

We were born into a world at war.

Hollywood recently brought to the screen Tolkien’s classic, Lord of the Rings. This trilogy actually provides us with some classic representations of Biblical truths.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, there are a couple of instances that really illustrate this. Boramir, when considering the quest to enter Mordor, says –

“There is an evil there……. and it never sleeps.”

Sounds a little like he just finished watching the evening news, don’t you think?

In watching the 3 minute trailer that accompanies the DVD, the following words appear on the screen:

Fate has chosen him.

A fellowship will protect him.

Evil will hunt him.

Sounds to me like a pretty accurate description of what anyone following Jesus can expect. Yes, there really is an evil in this world. An evil that never sleeps. And it is hunting us – you and me.

Now, I realize that if you’re subscribed to the healthy, wealthy, prosperity gospel that is so prevalent today, you probably don’t enjoy hearing this.

Sorry ’bout that. You can choose to go back to the blissful world of the ‘armchair’ Christian or you can choose to do something about it.

I hear this all the time, – “I just don’t see it.” Or else, – “Well, maybe that’s true, but I’m not going to get involved in that stuff.” If that’s your way of thinking, you’ve already lost.

The enemy has you right where he wants you. Out of the way. You are not a threat.

A true believer and follower, on the other hand, is a very real threat to this enemy. And that follower will be opposed on all fronts. Attacked in both the seen and the unseen realm.

Persecuted, usually by those that are our closest friends and family. By an enemy that is relentless – tireless – that has come to steal, to kill and destroy.

You can choose to believe this or not. That is your choice. But make no mistake – whatever your choice, we are at war.

In the second installment of The Lord of the Rings, there is a scene that woefully shows the general attitude of today:

Theodin, king of Rohan, has just been told that the armies of the enemy are in his land, laying waste to all in their path, killing everyone in sight.

His response? “I will not risk open war.”

At which point, Aragorn spells it out for him – “Whether you would risk it or not, open war is upon you!”

Try this test – take these out of the context of the ancient timeframe in which they are set. Apply them to today. To the events unfolding right before your eyes today.

Apply them to world events, and apply them to what might be happening in your personal life, in your church, in your home.

What happens when we do this? If you’re like me, it’s like a light bulb that just went off. Yes, yes.

Things suddenly take on a different meaning – a new clarity starts to take shape. Now, perhaps for the first time, we have a glimpse of  things as they truly are.

There’s something else at work here.

Slowly, but ever so surely, we start to realize that we have somehow been caught up into something that is far bigger than any of us.

Something we’ve never understood before. Something we’ve avoided and denied.

Or, even worse, – we’ve been taught that it doesn’t exist.

Reality starts to emerge from that dense fog that surrounds us. As Paul said, in 1st Corinthians 13:12 -“ For now we see through a glass, darkly; ” (or, as Matthew Henry puts it in his commentary -‘in a riddle’).

For some of us, this reality may be painful. And more than a little uncomfortable.

Yet, it is so necessary. We slowly begin to acknowledge that whether we would risk it or not, whether we would choose it or not, open war is now on our front doorstep.

Things are not what they seem. We are at war.