Defenseless on Purpose
A problem occurs when we pretend to be righteous.
A quick glance at this guy might fool you into thinking this “knight” is clothed in a full suit of armor.
In fact, he’s clothed in cardboard.
At a carnival, it’s a fun game; but for a Christian, it’s both hypocritical and dangerous.
When Paul tells us to put on our armor it’s because we face real battles and dangers as Christ-followers.
Our Battlefields
As Christians we are called to battle temptation, fear, our own self-centered thoughts and actions, greed, pride, worry, self-pity, unbelief and lust.
And that’s just the inner battle!
We are also called to collectively fight poverty, disease, hunger, injustice, cruelty, prejudice, slavery, neglect, racism and abuse.
So get dressed.
We have an enemy named the Devil and He’s out for blood.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 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.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…
Ephesians 6:11-13 (NIV)
This image came from Pixabay.com.
Resources:
Today, I am including links to three short, fun videos
The Mythbusters explored a myth that ancient Chinese warriors wore paper armor into battle, which turned out to be just as effective against weapons as metal armor.
Tori, Grant and Carrie show video clips and answer questions about the paper armor vs. real armor episode.
Carrie’s research proved China’s paper armor actually existed as early as 600 BC and gave some insight about construction. techniques.
Mobility in Armor Want to see a knight do a somersault? My third video demonstrates just how flexible and lightweight Medieval armor really is.
