The Word of God is Already Weaponized
One of the cleverest ways for cowards to undermine those who threaten them is to accuse them of being “disagreeable”. When the person responds disagreeably to the accusation of disagreeability – say, by citing where the Bible teaches righteous disagreeability – they may then be further accused of “weaponizing” the Word of God in their defence.
The Bible does not need a disagreeable person to weaponize it. It already weaponized itself. Just two chapters after Paul’s famous exhortations on tender-hearted gentleness in Ephesians 4 (the kind the hard-hearted coward loves to cite against his opponents), we then find the most famous militaristic metaphor in the New Testament, where Paul highlights the specific armour and weaponry of a Roman soldier.
We tend to quote those verses a lot, but it’s worth thinking about them afresh in the context of the strange new world of “weaponised words” of which we hear so much in these therapeutic times of ours. Here again is what Paul says:
“Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:11-17)
There have certainly been times in church history when believers may have needed to remind one another of Paul’s point that our battle is not against “flesh and blood” but against spiritual principalities and powers. But there are few Christians today – even the most “combative” – who wish to go around using direct physical force to challenge sin or false teaching. Yet even when we seek to emphasise Paul’s militaristic language for the purposes of theological or spiritual combat today, there is still a tendency among Christians to frown upon these motifs because they are difficult to reconcile with virtues such as meekness, gentleness, and peaceability.
Just what does Paul think he’s doing, meek pacifist that he is, giving us a theological reflection on the details of a soldier’s armour and weaponry? It certainly does not help the “optics” for those wishing to emphasise the perpetual peacekeeping of Christianity. Whilst Paul does speak of shoes fitted with “the gospel of peace” (6:15) and the defensive posture of “the shield of faith” (6:16), he also calls us to “take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (6:17).
Just what is this sword supposed to do? What is any sword supposed to do? Is it not an “offensive” weapon, intended – in whatever sense – for attack?
Boldness and Divisiveness
Many Christians cannot fathom what this might mean beyond the exclusive confines of a spiritual fight within their souls. Yet if we look at the varied ways Paul interacted with those who opposed him (inside and outside the Church), a broader sense of spiritual combat emerges. After all, Paul finishes that militaristic flourish to the Ephesians with a request for them to pray for him, “that I may declare [the message] boldly, as I ought to speak.” (6:20).
Why does Paul need to be “bold”? Why not “meek”? Why doesn’t he ask the Ephesians to pray for him that he might be gentle and lowly in how he shares the Gospel with unbelievers? Why doesn’t he ask that he would be more agreeable instead of challenging and offending people?
It is seldom remembered that the Word of God intends to cause ripples and disconnections, “piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow” (Heb. 4:12). These are the kind of divisions Jesus spoke of where he says he came “not to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34), even to the point of turning family against family (Luke 12:53). The Word of God is meant to be divisive. One way or another, it will inevitably cause offence to those who reject it or refuse to submit to it fully. The fact Paul refers to it as a “sword” shows that – although it is “of the Spirit” – it is not merely some ethereal gas floating in the atmosphere around us. It is a weapon which we are meant to wield, and to do so boldly when necessary.
Even though our battle is not against physical “flesh and blood” this does not mean our battle is against purely ethereal spirits who have no concrete presence within this world. The principalities are grounded in all sorts of ways, ideas, and – yes – people. This means we are to wield our spiritual sword (Eph. 6:17) against those people who oppose the Gospel. We are to do so wisely and lovingly, but also boldly.
Do not be the kind of Christian who is so careful to “not misuse” the Word of God as a weapon that you cease to see it as a weapon at all. This is simply another form of misuse of the Word of God, of which our sanitised modern Christianity has been especially guilty. What we have in our hands is not a toy weapon, nor a mere ethereal metaphor strictly limited to the confines of ladies’ prayer meetings (male or female). It is a real weapon which is meant to have a real impact on real things in the real world. Use it wisely; use it appropriately; use it offensively.
