The Core

The Core

There is a scripture where we get this real cool picture of suiting up and preparing for battle in Eph. 6, “So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you.”
I love this imagery! But then I love all that Gladiator/Braveheart kind of stuff. Of course Paul had much more in mind than just imagery and we need to be careful not to minimize the practicality of these words in our lives. So, what is this imagery about? How do we put some of this armor on?
Notice that some of the things mentioned, Truth and righteousness in particular, have a lot to do with our character, with who we are at the core, and how we live is intrinsically fixed to how we will be able to stand when we face battle.

I learned a lesson on the importance of this when I was a few years out of high school. Some friends and I would drive around in an old Chevy van that had pillows instead of seats (it was legal back then) and a hole where a moon roof was some day going to go. On weekends we’d look for opportunities to share our faith in Jesus with people and it was amazing how many things would open up to us. But there was one time that touches this point of character and being ready.

Around 2:00 a.m. we came across a man walking down the street so we pulled the van over and from inside began talking to him. There were three of us in the front, Rich was driving, my friend Rick was in the passenger seat, I was sitting on something in the middle and two more friends, Dave and Ray, were in the back. As we began small-talking with him, “Where you going, need a ride?” it was obvious that he was messed up. He seemed a little disheveled and strung out on drugs, and some of the things he said just didn’t make sense, like how old he was or where he was from and he kept telling us different names for himself. As our conversation pushed to his spiritual condition, his responses began to get quite dark and confusing, and the more we talked, the stranger, darker and more confusing things got. I distinctly remember at one point in our conversation becoming aware that this darkness and confusion wasn’t a matter of drugs or any mentally disturbance, and then it happened.

I don’t remember what brought on his response and I really don’t know how to explain what happened so I will just tell you what happened. A voice came out of this man that wasn’t his. It seemed as if his mouth wasn’t moving with what he (or it) was saying and when he locked eyes with me my blood froze and I thought to myself, “Oh God, I think this man is demon possessed.” Immediately he replied, (eyes still burning a hole in me), “Now you’ve got it!” “Wait”, I thought to myself, I didn’t say anything!!

I wish I could say that I behaved like Jesus or Paul, but the truth is I freaked out! And with a voice a lot like a schoolgirl (no offense, girls) I stood up through the moon roof and said “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus!” (It’s all I could think of). Again, I wish I could say the demon(s) ran into a herd of cats or something, and we led him to the Lord, but that didn’t happen. He just laughed at me and continued freaking us out with that voice and with the things he said and Rich just stepped on the gas and burned rubber out of there. Yeah, not quite a win or even a tie, it was a definite loss; crazy demon voice guy 1, Christian guys 0.

There are a few things I remember so clearly about that encounter. One was Rick’s reaction when the voice came out. He immediately, and I mean more than quickly, turned straight ahead away from this guy and looked absolutely horrified. Can’t blame him, he was literally inches away. The second was this heightened awareness of everything “not right” in my life. We all shared this feeling as we talked, prayed and confessed afterwards. It was as if there were a thousand post-it notes on my forehead of everything I was doing wrong or not doing right. The magazine under my mattress, what I had said to my mom in anger, my pride, etc… I was literally drowning in the truth of who I was, and it was not a life of righteous character. My armor was weak in a few places and boy, did it show.

I am not ignorant to the fact that it is in Christ’s righteousness alone that we stand. That is very much a part of the shield of faith and I love how Today’s English Version says to accept salvation as a helmet, but that is why we need to, at our core, be held together (girded) with a true and genuine life and in God’s righteousness so that we can handle skillfully the shield and sword at those times.

Some will read this and think that I (and all of us that night I suppose), were overreacting. Some may have trouble sleeping (sorry), but I hope some will see that the core of who we are really matters. That living true and right lives is an important part of the battles we face if we are going to stand firm.