Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor
of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day
of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you
have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of
truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of
righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up
the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV).
Clearly
one of the greatest errors we can make is to frame issues solely in
terms of a material dimension – of discrete conflicts of economic
interests or of political power. There are principalities and powers
that with great expansiveness become pervasive overarching human
affairs. Some might suggest I am opening the doorway to the
demonization of one’s opposition. There is an old saying that when
you point your finger in judgment of others, three fingers point back
at you. This is absolutely and always true. We should always assume
that the most susceptible person in the room to the influences of
principalities and powers stands squarely within our own shoes.
We
must all rely on the grace of God to extricate us from this dilemma.
In a sense, a proper frame of mind is the starting point for
effective problem resolution. We must throw ourselves upon the mercy
of Providence to deliver us from ourselves and our tendencies of
abeyance to the dark forces that encompass and surround human
affairs. While this line of thinking can seem morbid and demented,
the frank recognition of a powerful spiritual dimension (both for
good and ill) influencing human action or inaction is the surest path
to deliverance and triumphant attainment of abundant life.
Materialism, despite our lust for solid symbols of no-nonsense
rectitude, will never get us there.
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