Life Outside the Baptistery

I can still remember the night I was baptized.  What an evening!  I remember a small group of disciples standing around me and giving me my first post-baptismal encouragement.  I was “charged”, to say the least.  I can also remember the stark realization that came over me in the days that followed.  I was “in the Spirit” but I was still human.  Although I was in Christ, my life was not exempt from spiritual battle.  In fact, the battle had just begun. 

Have you ever wished for “battle immunity?”  Ephesians 6:12 encourages us to be strong in the Lord because being in Christ does not insultate us from spiritual struggle.  We enter into the arena of struggle with both our flesh and the forces of evil.   Peter adds to that picture with these stirring words, “...abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11).  I can remember pouring over those texts as a young disciple and being awakened by their reinterpretation of human experience. I was struck with the thought that life is more complicated than it appears.  Life is a battle…literally. 

 

In Galatians 5:13-16 Paul says the realms of flesh and Spirit war against one another on the turf of our lives.  Everywhere we turn the message is the same:  “If you feel like it then do it; If you don’t want to do it then don’t.  If you want it go after it, or him or her then go get’em.  Satisfy yourself.  Only say no to yourself in extreme circumstances.”  Message sent?  Satisfaction is the bottom line.  We are all too familiar with the reality of this battle.  We see it.  We hear it.  We feel it.  We know what its like to have the gravitational pull of tempting moments drag us toward the orbit of the flesh.  It can make you want to build your house and raise your family in the baptistery! 

I think our daily challenge and hope is found in texts like Ephesians 4:20-24.   

 “But you did not learn Christ in this way if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him just as truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life you lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” 

As much as we would like to end the struggle of “flesh and Spirit” we can’t.  In this life we wage spiritual war.  We get up each day and renew our confession to be people who live “in the Spirit”.  We must live with an acute awareness of the weakness of our flesh and the cunning of temptation and its forerunner deceit.  Yes, deceit speaks a language.    It comes to our mind and heart with the intent of talking, suggesting and altering how we think and ultimately exercise choice.  Desire is deceitful and it can woo the heart and bend the mind in a number of ways.  Admittedly, there are times we wish we could have diplomatic immunity in the realm of the Spirit.  But, such does not exist.  After Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness he “left him for an opportune time” (Luke 4:13).  There is no magic pill or secret recipe that will automatically protect us against the advancements of Satan.  Paul said we must not be “ignorant of his schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11).  He also said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31; 9:24-27).  I suspect the same is true for us, too.  Living in the Spirit is sometimes crawling, sometimes walking, sometimes running, and sometimes falling down and getting up “again” in the direction of God’s calling of us. 

 

I remember Charles Byrum, an adult disciple at the time and a man for whom I had great respect, telling me shortly after my baptism, “If you need to talk about anything, whatever it is, please know that you can lean on me.  Following Jesus can be hard some days.  Just remember that I’m in the journey with you.”  The great thing about Christian community is that we walk this earth together.  We travel beside disciples who have fought temptation, struggled against sin in their own lives and lived to tell about it.  They  have known battle fatigue and weakness of heart.  And, they know what it feels like to have temptation hound you to the outskirts of sanity.  In short, they know the unwritten dramas tucked between the phrases in Ephesians 4:20-24.  It’s not a memory verse for them.  It has become a piece of their spiritual weaponry.  

Paul says we should “take up the armor of God”.  Take it up…he says.  The struggle continues.  But, we are not at a disadvantage!  We engage the struggle with unparalleled resources, awareness and a community that helps us resist and stand firm.  And, with God’s help, some resolve and the help of fellow disciples we can stand our ground in moments of testing. 

O Father, open our eyes that we may see our lives as we should see them.  Take away our naivete’.  Help us to walk in the Spirit and to realize that doing so sometimes comes with great mental and emotional challenges.  Thank you for other disciples who show us the struggle and the possibility of how to live in sanctification.  Most of all thank you for Jesus who experienced the temptations and trials of this life and is abe to sympathize with us in our struggle against sin.  May we run to you every time we are under attack.  Through Jesus who lives to make intercession for us…Amen. 

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas