Friend or Foe?

Pastor Ryan Whitley told a familiar story during his sermon a few weeks ago illustrating the constant internal conflict intrinsic to every Christian. The story goes a missionary led a Native American chief to faith in Christ which subsequently led to the conversion of the whole tribe. Some time later, the chief told the missionary he was aware of a struggle within himself that felt like two dogs viciously fighting. He said one was a white dog, which represented his new faith in Christ. The other was a black dog, representing the sinful nature constantly fighting in opposition to his faith. The missionary asked, “Which one is winning?” The chief replied, “The one I am feeding the most.”

To surrender to the lordship of Christ is to enlist as a soldier in his army against the forces of darkness. The hard reality every new recruit has to accept is the battle is fought hardest within them and never ends until they are delivered from this meeting place between heaven and hell called earth by their earthly death and heavenly homecoming. Every Christian is both friend and enemy, good and bad, capable of exhibiting both the identity of a saint and the identity of a devil.

Those who are captive to the enemy and the unclaimed are not blind to the duplicitous nature of those who flaunt the title of Christian. I heard a quote on one of my music CDs that describes the tragic result of Christians who demonstrate their flesh is winning the battle against their spirit: “The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips but walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” What credibility can the body of Christ give for the good news it proclaims if there is no evidence of spiritual change within it? Christians who look and act more like unbelievers than “little-Christs” end up serving the greater purpose of the enemy in the battle being waged on the eternal realm.

To win the battle within you, you must decide who you are, friend or foe:

Joshua 24:15 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

To choose your identity in Christ is to crucify your flesh; starve it until it is captured, bound, tortured and killed:

Galatians 5:24 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Determining the food necessary for a healthy spiritual diet begins by asking the right question, literally. Most of us when evaluating a choice approach it from the angle, “What’s wrong with it?” By asking the question, we've already demonstrated which nature within us is strongest. Instead, we should be asking, “What’s right about it?” The mother of protestant reformer John Calvin prudently fashioned his understanding of the right question by branding these words on his heart:

“Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things; in short, if anything increases the authority and power of the flesh over the Spirit, then that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself.”

Choosing spiritually nourishing food means believing God’s law is one of love, not bondage. Confession of sin means believing the promise of redemption and grace. Hunger for righteousness means believing the promise of power for doing what we cannot do ourselves. Looking like a Christian means evidence of spiritual victory, shining as one who has been in the presence of God where sin cannot abide. If you claim the title of Christian, look in the mirror of God’s word and presence on your knees and he will show you your reflection. You may find you need to change sides.