America’s Spiritual Civil War

The Problem

[Reading time: 8 minutes] It’s April 2021, and we’re experiencing a spiritual civil war in America. It’s been developing for decades, originating in the spiritual realm, and increasing in severity until it became obvious to everyone on earth. Without question, it will determine this nation’s future.

The chaos in America is a physical expression of the spiritual war between two kingdoms; God’s and Satan’s. As sons and daughters of God, we’re members of his kingdom and engaged in that war, even if we don’t realize it.

It’s normal for us to think, “Everything looks hopeless. I’m just one person. I can’t make a difference, so why should I bother trying?” Those thoughts are from Satan himself, and he wants to neutralize us so we’ll remain passive. We need to remind ourselves we’re sons and daughters of God Almighty, his representatives and agents on earth.

Evil dominates our culture because we’re biblically illiterate and spiritually passive. In America, we wouldn’t be facing most of the problems we have today if we, the church, were doing our job. The problems we face in the world are spiritual in origin; the political, cultural, racial or financial issues are only symptoms.

Our Response

So what can we do? Consider the following practical steps. If these are new to you, begin with just one or two, and add others as you gain experience.

  • Pray to God. In humility, repent of personal, family and corporate church sins, then ask him to intervene.
  • Fast one meal a day, one or more days each week, and use the time for prayer and biblical meditation.
  • In the spiritual authority Jesus gave us, command evil spirits to stop creating problems; including the spirits of chaos, division, hatred, intolerance, and others as needed. Be persistent because they resist authority but eventually must submit.
  • Register and vote in elections for candidates who support Judeo-Christian values, which reflect biblical principles. If we fail to vote, we abdicate our responsibility as citizens of America and God’s kingdom.
  • Contact decision-makers to encourage and influence them – business leaders, senators, representatives, mayors and governors.
  • Ask God for wisdom and spiritual insight about what’s happening, what he’s doing, and how you can do your part.
  • Rely on him to provide everything you need to do his will. As you do your part, trust him to produce the results

Biblical Principles

As stated earlier, this is a war between two spiritual kingdoms – God’s and Satan’s. The war is not about us, but everyone alive is engaged in it because we all belong to one of the kingdoms. There are no spectators in this spiritual war; only active combatants and POWs. As members of God’s family, we’re accountable to him for how we represent him and his kingdom, what we do in his behalf, and how we use what he gives us.

We also must realize God gave the earth to us as our domain, so he normally honors our decisions and doesn’t intervene unless we ask him. That means we shouldn’t sit back and wait for him to do something; instead, ask for his help and keep asking. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8, NIV). The grammar in this passage means we’re to keep asking, keep searching, and keep knocking. The result is success: we’ll receive what we ask for, find what we’re looking for, and we’ll be allowed to enter where we need to.

After asking, seeking and knocking, we should begin doing what we believe God wants. Perseverance is a virtue in God’s kingdom. “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Heb. 10:36). So be faithful to God and never surrender to Satan; never. Persevere and never quit; never.

Passivity is not a virtue in God’s kingdom, so to be passive is to abdicate and surrender to the enemy. The church’s passivity has allowed a battalion of evil spirits from Satan’s kingdom to capture people, program their thinking and dispatch them to attack anything on earth associated with God; including us. Because we’re passive, our culture is drifting from Judeo-Christian values at an increasing pace.

Yet, the church remains silent and uninvolved. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Christian during the Nazi era, saw the same problem in German churches as radicals transformed that nation’s culture. He’s quoted as saying, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” If we don’t agree with what others are doing or like the direction our nation is going, then we must say or do something positive about it, not just complain.

None of us can change the world by ourselves, but we can unite with other believers. The Bible shows there’s power in unity; that where we agree, God responds. “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matt. 18:19-20). The earth is our domain and he honors our requests; especially when we unite in petitioning him. This is a kingdom principle that produces multiplied results; far more than we can produce as humans. Without him, we can’t do anything worthwhile, and without us, he won’t. So the key is for us to unite with other believers to address the problems in our nation, for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10).

In everything we do, we must faithfully represent God our Father – his nature, his kingdom, his will, his values. If we instead act like Satan while trying to overcome him, we’ve essentially sided with him and compromised our effectiveness in Father’s kingdom. So we need to develop godly character and express it in everything we do. We should begin by developing humility, a trait Jesus attributed to himself (Matt. 11:29). As we make progress with humility, we can work on other godly traits, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

As Christians, we believe Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins. Most of us don’t realize, however, “believe” is the verb form of the noun, “faith.” In God’s kingdom, if we don’t act on our faith, we don’t actually believe, because faith motivates action. “I will show you my faith by my deeds…. faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:18, 26). Just as faith without deeds is dead, so is prayer without action. The point is this: we petition God in faith and then need to act in faith. We can’t expect nonbelievers to improve the condition of our culture. So if we fail to act, we’ve done nothing better than nonbelievers.

Many Christians don’t vote because they think their single vote doesn’t matter. But in God’s kingdom, even the simplest acts are important (see Matt. 10:42). We must realize whatever we do that’s compatible with his kingdom authorizes him to intervene, even our seemingly insignificant actions. Again, we’re wanting conditions on earth to be as they are in heaven (Matt. 6:10). Because the earth is our domain, we must be engaged, acting as representatives of his kingdom.

We’re the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13), which includes our nation but also the people in it. Salt improves flavor and preserves what is good, so we’re to make life more pleasant and beneficial. We’re the light of this world (Matt 5:14), which includes the physical universe, the world system and people. As light, we’re to show what’s righteous and beneficial by what we do. We can be salt and light by being responsible, helpful and exemplary citizens. If we simply grumble about events and do nothing positive about them, we’re neither salt nor light.

Ephesians 6:12 says our battle is against evil spiritual forces, not flesh and blood. People are not our enemies; Satan and his evil spirits are. Jesus announced as a human, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” then he directed his disciples (including us) to continue the work he had done (Matt.28:18-19; John 14:12). He gave us authority to overcome all the power of the enemy, which includes the enemy’s abilities (Luke 10:19). This means when we identify the work of an evil spirit, we can respond, “No, that is not God’s will and it must stop now!” We must persevere because the evil spirits will resist, but eventually they must submit to the authority Jesus gave us. It’s not about us; it’s about who Jesus is and what he did.

It’s time we commit ourselves fully to God and his kingdom. We know how this conflict will end, because Jesus defeated Satan at the cross and will return to set up his kingdom on earth, but the war will continue until everything God ordained is complete. We’re on the victorious side, members of God’s family, and representatives of his kingdom. So let’s persevere and honor him, the one who loves us and has done more for us than we can imagine.

God ordained for us to be alive during this time in this nation, because he wants us engaged in the spiritual conflict we’re seeing (see Acts 17:26). The world desperately needs a church that boldly brings God’s kingdom to earth and accurately expresses his nature. Please join with me so we can stand together in unity and faithfully represent our loving and victorious God to a chaotic and desperate world.

For more information about the spiritual conflict, see the Spiritual Kingdoms at War article series.

Summary

America is experiencing a spiritual civil war. Christians must boldly bring God’s kingdom to earth and function as its representatives.

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