By: David Ben Berman (דוד בן ברמן)
To the Ecclesia (εκκλησία)—Church scattered abroad throughout the world
“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”—Matthew 10:28 NASB
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”—Matthew 10:34 NASB
I recall a comedy TV series called Mash that was an acronym for Mobil Army Surgical Hospital. The show aired beginning 1972 nearing the end of the Vietnam War, but the setting is during the early 1950’s somewhere in South Korea with the U.S. and South Korean forces fighting a Chinese and Russian backed North Korean Communist force.
A comical character that added sparkle, no pun intended, to the plot in Mash was Corporal Klinger, played by Jamie Farr. For those of you who are religious movie aficionados, Farr played the role of Thaddeus one of Jesus’ disciples, in the movie, The Greatest Story Ever Told. Klinger would often be seen as cross dressing, not that he was a forerunner to our current transgender, but his attempt was to obtain a Section 8, which is the military’s unfit for service discharge due to mental problems. You see, Klinger wanted an out to get back home and away from the conflict.
There is also a true story of a draftee during the Vietnam war as taken from the book, A Sailor’s Story in Black and White. During a medical examination at the Armed Forces Examining Entrance Station, the draftee was seen in the restroom eating thawed shrimp from a box. When asked why he was doing it he mentioned he was allergic to shrimp. This individual was willing to go into anaphylactic shock to disqualify his medical examination to avoid being inducted and allow someone else to take his place; he stated, “I don’t want to come home in a body bag.”
The same mindset is what I find amongst Christians today. Many want to enjoy the benefits of the covenant community—fellowship, brotherly love, compassion, common tenets of faith, a sense of community and so on. Yet, most seem unaware of the spiritual war going on all around them. If this is brought to their attention they let God know they are not qualified to participate (see Gideon in Judges 6:11-16).
My friend, I wish to inform that you and I are already at war. We have been there since birth and most people are not aware of it. For the human race it began in the Garden of Eden. This spiritual war is implied in the account of the “Fall” in בראשית—Genesis beginning in chapter 3:1-15. Since that time, the human race has been in a fallen state of sin, separation from God the Creator and held captive under the power of Satan as “prisoners of war.” As a matter of fact Paul the Apostle states:
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.—Romans 8:20-21 NASB
Yeshua Ben David—Jesus himself, at the beginning of his ministry, made a public proclamation of his purpose to free fellow human prisoners and restore the world as His Father intended when he quoted from Isaiah 61:
The Spirit of The Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim the release of the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of The Lord.—Luke 4:18-19—NASB.
Bottom line, Jesus said he came to save the “lost.—Matthew 18:11 NASB” So my friend, WHAT TO DO? He called us as his disciples to go into all the world to take this Gospel of the Good News to everyone (See Matthew 28:19-20). Just like his Father told Gideon, “Have I not sent you?”—Judges 6:14 NASB. In case you didn’t get the memo of encouragement, God also told Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”—Judges 6:16 NASB. In the same attitude many centuries later, Jesus tells his disciples “. . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”—Matthew 28:20b NASB.
So my friend GO! And be not afraid of going to war, because LOST LIVES MATTER!
