Jump Start # 1554

1 Timothy 6:12 “”Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

This week our Jump Starts are looking at the theme of “fighting the good fight.” We are engaged in a war. What is at stake is our souls. Jesus had warned His followers that people would love darkness more than light. He warned them that they would be hated because of His name. Nothing has changed about that. The modern church has tried to smoke the peace pipe with the world but that hasn’t worked. The result has watered down the message of God and presented a weak church that bows down to the whims of the world. The church, it’s message and it’s Savior seems weak, pointless and out of touch with the world. We must dig in and fight. There must be no ground given up. We must allow God to put a stake in the ground and then rally around the Lord. We must hate what God hates and love what the Lord loves. There is a fight going on. We will fight by the rules. We will not get in the mud and call names or do things that Jesus would never do. It’s not that kind of fight.

One of the things that often happens is that a person doesn’t realize that he is in a fight until it is too late. This happens especially in the family. For instance, how often do we learn of a couple filing for divorce. It is at that time that one of them reaches out. They are in a panic state and they want people, especially the leaders of the church to come and save the marriage. For a long, long time there has been trouble. Things haven’t been good in a long time. Never did this one spouse ever say anything. Maybe it’s pride. Maybe she believed it would just turn around. Maybe she never saw that there was a fight going on for her marriage. Satan was trying to tear them apart. But now, days before the marriage is officially over, she reaches out. She is expecting a miracle. Why won’t someone do something, she says to herself. He’s moved out and moved on. He’s already replaced her with someone else. A person cannot wait until their boat is about to go over the waterfall before they cry for help.

The same could be said of parenting. A teenager has been in a downward spiral. His grades stink. He’s friends stink. Sometimes he even stinks. His attitude has been disrespectful and hateful for a long time. He’s been drinking. He’s played around with drugs. He has no interest in God. One night he gets arrested. The embarrassed parents finally reach out to the shepherds of the church wanting them to save their child. He’s been in the far country for a long, long time. Why didn’t they reach out before? Why didn’t they ask for help the instant they saw trouble? Why did they wait until the boat is on the waterfall before they cried for help? Did they not realize that a fight was going on? Did they not see that Satan was trying to steal the heart of their child?

The congregation is like a pit crew on a racing team. The driver has his job but he needs to come in and get refueled. He needs fresh tires. He needs to makes some adjustments. The owner is talking to the driver over the radio. Then the driver zooms back to the race, fueled and ready to journey on. This is our relationship with the church. We need others to help refuel us. We need some fresh tires. We need someone to talk to us. But in the end, it is each of us that must get back out there and journey on. No one can do that for us. No one can finish our race for us. But they certainly can lighten the load. They can sit with us when we are facing difficult times. They can encourage us when we feel like quitting. They can energize us to get through one more day.

Each of us are engaged in fighting our own battles. Others can hand us equipment. They can be there to cheer us on. They can stand beside us. They remind us. But it is our own battles that we must face. Fight the good fight of faith is not a battle that we struggle through alone. The Lord is with us. This is a spiritual battle. This is the Lord’s battle. The battle ground is our hearts and that’s why we are involved. The battle ground is our marriages and our families and our congregations. We will not let Satan have those. We will fight until there is no more fight in us.

There is no reason for any to battle alone. The structure of the church is that we need each other. We need each other to pray, to encourage and to remind us. All around us today, are little reminders that we are in a battle. An off color joke here. An immodest billboard there. A trashy TV show. A song filled with hate. Satan is trying to change your values. He is trying to get you to enjoy the moment for the price of selling your soul. He wants you, like Esau, to trade your birthright for a bowl of soup. Enjoy the moment is the message of Satan. Don’t take this stuff too seriously, is the message of Satan. Everyone is doing this. You are missing out. Surround yourself with people who think differently than you do and before long, you’ll become like they are.

There is a battle going on. Is it time for you to get some help? Is it time for you to talk to the folks at church for advice? Is it time for you to meet with the shepherds and open up your Bible and see what you need to be doing? Are you going to sit back and watch your kids be taken away from you by Satan? Are you going to sit back and watch your marriage fall apart, while Satan smiles?

Fight the good fight—roll up your sleeves, open your Bible, draw a line in the sand and get tough. How serious are you? Jesus said if your right eye offends you, pluck it out? Would you do that? Would you go through this life without a smart phone, cable TV, internet, if it meant saving your soul? Would you? What price would you pay? Would you travel an hour one way to be part of a thriving congregation? Would you? What price would you pay?

Fight the good fight—

Roger