The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,

4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we

are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ….”

It’s difficult to be specific on some things. Christian History records innumerable encounters believers in Christ have had with those who objected to their Christian faith. The difficult part is not assessing the truth of Christian History, but whether the Christian opposition was greater in one era than in another. Paul talks about it all the time in his letters to the churches.

What is undeniable is the fact that Christianity is being assailed in today’s world as greatly, if not more so, than ever. Here in the United States, where Christianity is in the majority, opposition is largely verbal, as opposed to countries where it is heavily physical and deadly.

The big question is: how do we contend with opposition, especially in the light of Christ Jesus’ mandate that we “go into all the world and preach the Gospel”? We are physical beings; do we war against those who oppose our beliefs? Paul gives a resounding “NO!” to that question. We do not eliminate our opposition by using guns and armaments. Our responsibility is to win them, not to erase them! Our weapons are “divinely powerful!” They are the weapons of our LORD, weapons He has placed in us for the purpose of convincing them to throw down their opposition to Him and become disciples, as we are.

Sounds pretty straight forward, but how is it accomplished? They raise questionable thoughts about Christ and His followers; we are to take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Think about that for a moment. They speak negatively about Jesus, and we are to take their thoughts captive? Taking one captive means taking them out of the discussion –out of the argument—much like a player who violates the rules of the game is made to sit in the penalty box for a specified time. Only, our captivity is for the duration.

But, suppose the “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” means us and not them? Then, the meaning is that our thoughts are to be captive to what His Holy Spirit puts in our minds to say. In other words, victories like this are not fought on a human, intellectual level, but on the level of a warm, loving, spiritual concern for the soul of our opposition. We just need to be so yielded to Christ that His thoughts become our thoughts, and the opposition is then battling with Him, when they think it is us. When He wins, we win by default. Pretty nifty, huh? Don’t credit me; it was all Christ Jesus’ idea.

I love you and pray for you. The battle is the LORD’s!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”