jesus, men, and revelation

Another good "Wild at Heart" study tonight. What a shame I've missed so many of those over the past several weeks. I really ought to go through the entire study manual and re-read the book a few times anyway. Next to the Bible there's probably nothing better I could read right now. Dunno if that John Eldredge is for real or a one-hit wonder, but either way he sure hit the mark with "Wild at Heart."

Anyway, the discussion centered around how being a warrior is part of being made in the image of God and how men are supposed to be warriors but have lost that in today's culture and become resigned to just be nice guys who don't rock the boat. That's another topic that ought to be fleshed out a lot more -- on second thought, just go read Eldredge's treatment of it -- but I'll touch on that in a bit. During the study we read some passages in Revelation (chs 1, 19) about Christ being a fierce warrior and discussed how that is in such stark contrast to the meek, humble, nice Jesus we typically see in the rest of the New Testament. So which picture is accurate?

The answer is, of course, they both are. Christ is both a warrior and a servant at the same time. Yet the church today seems to have latched on to this picture of Jesus as some lowly, polite, kind little dude that wouldn't harm anything. Frankly, it's just pathetic. That weak contemporary version of Jesus would have never conquered the world and started the movement that became Christianity. It seems absurd to me and has for a while that the church focuses so much on the nice, palatable aspects of who Christ is while barely mentioning the vengeful and in-your-face attributes that are just as much a part of His character.

(It's worth mentioning here that these traits of Jesus are even on display in the Gospels numerous times when he confronts Pharisees, drives out demons, and otherwise battles evil, but we don't often read it that way. The confrontation part is somehow missed or glossed over. But Jesus really shines as a warrior fighting for good in Revelation.)

During the discussion it occurred to me that a skewed view of the book of Revelation could have a lot to do with this confusion. If this Revelation-style Jesus that metes out justice and brings sinners what they deserve is seen as some holy hero that will drop in at a later point in time, then how easy it would be to just cast those attributes into "coming attractions" space and ignore them altogether. I think modern-day "comic book theology" has done the church a lot of harm in this regard. The implied thought here is, "Yeah, Jesus has that power and he'll be a bad dude when he comes back, but for now we're in a different time and he's just showing his lovey-dovey side to humanity. But if we don't get in line we could face the coming wrath." So, in effect, certain attributes of Christ are implied to be more present in some time periods and less present in others. And this would imply that Christ, one of the three members of the unchangeable Trinity, changes over time. So our Rock, the strength and hope of our salvation, isn't exactly the same from one day to the next. Hmmn...I won't drop the H-word here but that's sure straying close to the line.

However, if Revelation is seen as applying to the entire church age, then it provides great insight into the spiritual warfare taking place in our time. We can't see this with our own eyes but we can sure see its effects. And the book of Revelation reveals a picture of this greater battle to us. But that idea of the book is often lost these days. After all, if it's nothing more than a script for the last days on earth, then those attributes of Christ in that script can't logically be inferred upon the present-day Christ. But if Relevation is meant to depict general principles of spiritual warfare and not specific events, then it must apply to each and every day of the church age. So it is as relevant in our time now as it was in the time of the Acts church and will be in generations to come. This means those warrior qualities of Christ are as much a part of His character today as they always have been and always will be. This, to me, seems a much more reasonable interpretation of Revelation.

If people more commonly read Relevation as symbolic in this way of a greater battle, and not so much as a preview of the coming clash of powers, then they could not help but see the warrior side of Christ. They would see that Jesus is not only loving and compassionate but also fiercely loyal to God and protective of those He has chosen. And as Christians, we are to imitate Christ as best we can. This includes not only showing humility and kindness to all around us but also putting ourselves in harm's way and defending truth and the church at all costs. Read Revelation 19:11-21 and tell me if that doesn't mean showing a bit of anger and defiance every now and then.

So, what are men then supposed to think? What's the takeaway from all of this? To me it clearly implies that we can't simply be pew-warmers and just stay in the background lest we shake things up or hurt some feelings or challenge some norms. We shouldn't just be trying to get by here on earth and make this place a more pleasant home to humanity. We're part of a much greater battle that takes place in the spiritual realm, the effects of which shape everything we see and do and experience. So just playing by the world's standards of nicety and pleasantness can't suffice. Yet it seems too many of us have fallen asleep in the supposed comfort and security the world offers.

One of the themes Eldredge hits on is that a man willing to live out his faith recklessly and dangerously with total reliance on God is a huge threat to Satan's dominion and Satan is well aware of this fact. After all, God has advanced His Kingdom throughout history by using the actions of such radicals. Even supposing Satan didn't catch on right away, he's certainly a student of history and has figured out what kind of people he'd rather didn't exist. And as C.S. Lewis points out in "The Screwtape Letters" (which I haven't actually read but intend to soon), Satan's purpose isn't necessarily to beat Christians head to head but to keep us distracted from the battle at hand. He knows a Christian allowing God to work through him will win every time, so what's his only resort? Make sure that Christian doesn't allow God to work through him. As long as men don't try to rock the boat or otherwise let the warrior side of God's image in them show too much then the devil doesn't have to worry about them changing much of anything.

So if Satan can keep men complacent and apathetic enough to stay on the sidelines then he has neutralized a force he knows he can't contend with. And that's where the true battle is. "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."