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In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:16)\xa0

We are constantly being shot at, it seems. \xa0In this case: by \u201cflaming arrows of the evil one.\u201d \xa0They seemingly come in many forms. \xa0And this is a big part of what makes it difficult to \u201cstand firm.\u201d \xa0

Just this morning, I had a passing conversation with another pastoral colleague who was noting how many directions churches and Christians are running off in to attempt to save ourselves and our churches from whatever danger we imagine. \xa0Whether that be the dangerous press of the secular world (conservatives more so), the dangerous injustice and harms of our exclusions (liberals more so), or the danger of membership decline in our churches (which everybody feels), the constant attacks we face have been causing our battle lines to break as Christians and churches scatter to grasp for a salvation that isn\u2019t Jesus. \xa0

We run off to the armories of Relevance (the right songs, programs, resources), Authenticity (the right influencer/Pinterest/Instagram-informed-style), Better Production Values (the right sound, lights, etc.), Moralism (the right behaviour), Legalism (the right rules for their own sake), Justice (the right upholding of the rules for peoples\u2019 sake), Politics (the right ones, of course) or whatever else it might be. \xa0Of course, all of these means of salvation are things we can grab hold of and accomplish ourselves by our own right doing of Authenticity, Morals, Politics, or what have you. \xa0All of them are within our reach. \xa0Things we can see. \xa0Things we can do. \xa0And, importantly, things that we don\u2019t need God for.

Unfortunately against flaming arrows, these DIY salvation kits turn out to be no more useful than the fig leaves Adam and Eve hid behind in the garden. \xa0They burn away in an instant. \xa0And when they do, we discover that the battle line we were commanded to hold, to stand firm on and hold, has been utterly broken as we\u2019ve scattered ourselves to the four winds. \xa0The flaming arrows did not do this. \xa0It is a self-inflicted wound.

What do I mean? \xa0As the church fights itself over the best means of salvation to grab for (The Law will save us! Authenticity will save us! Trump will save us! etc.), mass casualties begin to pile up. \xa0We\u2019ve ceased to stand in formation against the enemy and have drawn up battle lines against \u201cflesh and blood\u201d neighbours and fellow church members instead. \xa0Not only that, but others\u2014disillusioned\u2014begin to turn from the field altogether: leaving the church and perhaps their faith too. \xa0If this is what the church is all about, they want nothing to do with it. \xa0As it turns out, searching for a salvation through the practical weapons of this world (influence, legalism, programs, etc.) leaves us scattered across the hillside \u201clike sheep without a shepherd.\u201d \xa0Why? \xa0Because we\u2019ve forgotten and forsaken our shepherd, who asked nothing more of us than to \u201cstand firm\u201d and trust him to win the battle.

Against the flaming arrows, our Lord has commanded that we stand firm behind nothing more than faith in him, trusting that this faith in nothing other than his saving power will, in fact, shield us from every threat: extinguishing every bright-flying arrow and shiny object lobbed our way. \xa0\xa0

Psalm 7 says \u201cmy shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart\u2026 he has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.\u201d \xa0God is, in other words, more than up to the challenge. \xa0As the psalm continues we hear that the enemy\u2014\u201che who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble\u201d\u2014falls as God\u2019s people do nothing more than stand behind their shield of faith in God Most High. \xa0For the evil one, \u201cthe trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.\u201d \xa0(See more about standing firm in the faith of Psalm 7 from a past devotion, here).

The question attached to the Shield of Faith is this: do you really believe that there is a God who in Jesus Christ can still save his church? \xa0Can still save you? \xa0The conviction that he can\u2014the \u201cconfidence in [the salvation] we hope for and assurance about [the victory] we do not see\u201d is the faith in Christ that shields God\u2019s saints as they stand firm in him.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:17-21).

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