Tactics of Spiritual Warfare

Catherine Booth wrote, “Christ’s soldiers must understand the tactics of war. In order to do this, they must make a subject of earnest and prayerful study how to make the most of their time, talents, money or any other resources which God may have placed at their command for the advancement of the Kingdom. They must think and scheme how best to attack the enemy.”

“Think of the time, trouble, skill and money that are expended by great killing armies in planning for stratagem and maneuver in order to surprise and overcome enemies. Some of you will remember reading, in the records of the German and French war of 1870, that the German officers were better acquainted with the geography of France than the French themselves; they knew every road, by-way and field likely to be available for their purposes. Think of the time and trouble that must have been expended in becoming thus familiar with a foreign country, and compare it with the haphazard, rule of thumb kind of way in which spiritual warfare if for the most part conducted.”

WOW! Digest that for a moment as you consider your own efforts lately. I wrote “your own” rather than “our own” because the best actions take place on the field. It is the job of territorial and divisional leaders to cast the vision and set the direction, but if the officers and soldiers on the field don’t take action our prayers and spiritual warfare tactics remain only good or bad ideas.

If I were the enemy of Christ and The Salvation Army, I would look at the strengths and weaknesses of my enemy. The weakness of Christ is found in His human soldiers. The Salvation Army was raised up for a unique mission for Christ. The Salvation Army was raised up to be a part of the universal Church, but to function as and active fighting force for the King of kings. We “do” church because that is the way the believers come together to fellowship, learn and to worship God.

One of my main attacks would be to confuse The Salvation Army and its soldiers about their mission. If I could get them off mission and on to trying to be like every other church, I could weaken them. If I can get them to fight and argue within their ranks, my plan would work even better. If I can get them to disrespect those God has place in authority, I would blind and deafen them to the very people God will use to wake them up and get them back on track.

Another tactic would be to get these human soldiers involved in doing good. I would keep them busy so that they do not have time to grow spiritually and listen to the High Commander about what He wants them to do. (Just in case the High Commander does get through to some of His soldiers, I would make it hard for them to change or if they do make the change make others think of them as extreme.)

As the enemy of Christ, I would do everything I could to fill His soldiers with anger and bitterness. I would make them angry at their leaders, their people, and themselves. They would spew this infection and spread it to others. Oh, yes, it is easier to infect others with anger and bitter spirits than to infect them with passion for doing the will of the High Commander. I would make it part of their “culture” to talk about each other and to put down their leaders. I would make the leaders harsh and appear to be ego centered rather than Christ Centered.

As the enemy of Christ, I would marginalize people and programs that have the most potential. I would put words like these in the thoughts and mouths of people: “Oh, it is just the young people.” “Oh, it is just programming for women.” (Ha! That is my favorite one. As long as the enemy can keep God’s soldiers from realizing the potential of women for the Kingdom, that potential will not be harnessed, equipped and mobilized for the Kingdom. Women would not be brought into help with youth programs, raise money for God’s projects, help build the corps and change the community.) “If you don’t get the men, you won’t get the family.” (Hope they give up because if they “just” get the children or “just” get the women they have been working and they have won someone away from hell.)

As the enemy of Christ, I would do a bang up job. As a soldier of Christ I need to take the time and energy to think about the strategy of the enemy and figure out how to counter act and fight that strategy.

Catherine Booth wrote, “Think of the time and trouble that must have been expended in becoming thus familiar with a foreign country, and compare it with the haphazard, rule of thumb kind of way in which spiritual warfare if for the most part conducted.” What is your strategy for Winning One Woman for Christ, The Salvation Army and your corps this year?

Here is an interesting formula shared by Commissioner Gwen Luttrell that she got from Shirley Green:

2 x 2 = 4

4 x 4 = 16

16 x 16 = 256

256 x 256 = 65,536

65,536 x 65,536 = 4,294,967,296

If each Christian won just one person every year, in five years we could go from 2 to 4.3 billion

WOW we could win our world if we all would just win one woman each year. Just one! (You can also win men, girls and boys. Just win some one for Christ!)