I've been thinking a lot about sin and the Christian fight against it recently, and I think I came up with a good analogy. The analogy has come from my recent study and love of classical history.
It is said that Alexander the Great never lost a single battle in his campaign to conquer the known world. The Macedonians had already successfully reformed ancient Hellenic warfare under his father Phillip II, but with the young Alexander as general over the Macedonian army, they were virtually unstoppable. The fact that he never lost a battle, like many historical facts, is disputed, but I will ignore those arguments for now because they ruin my analogy.
Now let's contrast the greatness of the Macedonian army under the leadership of Alexander, with the Roman army in the middle and late Republic. Rome had some massive defeats in battle. A couple big ones that come to mind were the defeat by the Hellenic kingdom of Epirus under King Pyrrhus (from which the phrase "Pyrrhic Victory" comes), and of course several decisive battles lost to the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War. This one is especially interesting. It is known for the Carthaginian commander Hannibal marching his army up the Iberian Peninsula, and entering Italy by crossing the Alps to the North rather than invading by sea as everyone would have expected (if only the Romans had their own Paul Revere, eh?). Hannibal had some massive victories in Italy, but ultimately failed to take Rome, and was defeated by the Roman army under Scipio Africanas at the battle of Zama.
So why was Rome able to persevere? Ultimately, I think, because they were so persistent and tenacious, but also because of the vast resources at their disposal. First of all, surrender was not something that was entertained by the ancient Romans. No matter how many losses they suffered, they would continue to fight until they had attained victory, or been soundly defeated (ie. the city of Rome being captured). Second, through earlier campaigns, the Romans had set up an impressive network of loyal allies and tributaries from which to draw soldiers and other resources in a time of great need. An entire legion defeated at some battle? No worries, just form another one! (Side note: one of Carthage's strategies was to turn those allies and tributaries against Rome. This had some benefit, but many of those territories shifted their loyalty back to Rome in the end, and it wasn't enough).
So with the history out there, I will explain why I chose this analogy. Many Christians approach the fight against sin the way Alexander approached his campaign in the East. Perfection is our goal, and anything less is unacceptable. The problem is that this is a completely unrealistic and unattainable standard for us Christians who, though justified through Christ, and though in the process of being sanctified, are still at war with their flesh and living in a world inundated by the brokenness caused by sin. Perfection before the general resurrection when we will receive glorified bodies is simply not going to happen. But when that's what we strive for, and that's what we expect, we are sorely disappointed.
And the enemy uses that disappointment against us. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Zechariah 3:
We need to approach our war with sin the Roman way. Although we will be defeated in battle, we cannot give up. We cannot surrender. There will be casualties, there will be losses, there will be pain, there will be heartache. We will hurt ourselves and others through our failures. But we cannot give up. And we have two types of hope that will allow us to persevere in the war, one that even the Romans did not have.
Like the Romans, we have a vast depth of resources at our disposal. We have the Spirit of God living inside us, a deposit of the inheritance that we will receive as Children of God. This Spirit gives us access to the character needed to fight against sin: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5). We also have the armor of God: the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Shield of Faith, the Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit. This armor, above all else, allows us to stand our ground against the Enemy. We have Scripture, which is God-breathed, and therefore useful for teaching and training in righteousness.
With all these at our disposal, a defeat in battle should not cause us to surrender. Rather it should cause us to dig deeper and revitalize ourselves with the wonderful array of resources given to us for this war!
Additionally, unlike the Romans or any worldly army, we have the benefit of foreknowledge: we know that victory was already secured at the Cross, and now it is only a matter of that victory being consummated! We fight as soldiers knowing that there is literally no way in Hell, or on Earth, we can lose the war!
It is said that Alexander the Great never lost a single battle in his campaign to conquer the known world. The Macedonians had already successfully reformed ancient Hellenic warfare under his father Phillip II, but with the young Alexander as general over the Macedonian army, they were virtually unstoppable. The fact that he never lost a battle, like many historical facts, is disputed, but I will ignore those arguments for now because they ruin my analogy.
Now let's contrast the greatness of the Macedonian army under the leadership of Alexander, with the Roman army in the middle and late Republic. Rome had some massive defeats in battle. A couple big ones that come to mind were the defeat by the Hellenic kingdom of Epirus under King Pyrrhus (from which the phrase "Pyrrhic Victory" comes), and of course several decisive battles lost to the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War. This one is especially interesting. It is known for the Carthaginian commander Hannibal marching his army up the Iberian Peninsula, and entering Italy by crossing the Alps to the North rather than invading by sea as everyone would have expected (if only the Romans had their own Paul Revere, eh?). Hannibal had some massive victories in Italy, but ultimately failed to take Rome, and was defeated by the Roman army under Scipio Africanas at the battle of Zama.
So why was Rome able to persevere? Ultimately, I think, because they were so persistent and tenacious, but also because of the vast resources at their disposal. First of all, surrender was not something that was entertained by the ancient Romans. No matter how many losses they suffered, they would continue to fight until they had attained victory, or been soundly defeated (ie. the city of Rome being captured). Second, through earlier campaigns, the Romans had set up an impressive network of loyal allies and tributaries from which to draw soldiers and other resources in a time of great need. An entire legion defeated at some battle? No worries, just form another one! (Side note: one of Carthage's strategies was to turn those allies and tributaries against Rome. This had some benefit, but many of those territories shifted their loyalty back to Rome in the end, and it wasn't enough).
So with the history out there, I will explain why I chose this analogy. Many Christians approach the fight against sin the way Alexander approached his campaign in the East. Perfection is our goal, and anything less is unacceptable. The problem is that this is a completely unrealistic and unattainable standard for us Christians who, though justified through Christ, and though in the process of being sanctified, are still at war with their flesh and living in a world inundated by the brokenness caused by sin. Perfection before the general resurrection when we will receive glorified bodies is simply not going to happen. But when that's what we strive for, and that's what we expect, we are sorely disappointed.
And the enemy uses that disappointment against us. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Zechariah 3:
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire? Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, Remove the filthy garments from him. And to him he said, Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments. And I said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.Satan will continue to try to destroy us by accusing us of our wrong. Even though we are justified through Christ, and Satan knows this, we will be accused. And if we set the standard of perfection for ourselves, and are not prepared to live in God's grace when we fail, his attacks may just be successful.
We need to approach our war with sin the Roman way. Although we will be defeated in battle, we cannot give up. We cannot surrender. There will be casualties, there will be losses, there will be pain, there will be heartache. We will hurt ourselves and others through our failures. But we cannot give up. And we have two types of hope that will allow us to persevere in the war, one that even the Romans did not have.
Like the Romans, we have a vast depth of resources at our disposal. We have the Spirit of God living inside us, a deposit of the inheritance that we will receive as Children of God. This Spirit gives us access to the character needed to fight against sin: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5). We also have the armor of God: the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Shield of Faith, the Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit. This armor, above all else, allows us to stand our ground against the Enemy. We have Scripture, which is God-breathed, and therefore useful for teaching and training in righteousness.
With all these at our disposal, a defeat in battle should not cause us to surrender. Rather it should cause us to dig deeper and revitalize ourselves with the wonderful array of resources given to us for this war!
Additionally, unlike the Romans or any worldly army, we have the benefit of foreknowledge: we know that victory was already secured at the Cross, and now it is only a matter of that victory being consummated! We fight as soldiers knowing that there is literally no way in Hell, or on Earth, we can lose the war!