Manhood’s Consensual Homicide Part Two: the War and the Strategy

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So, last time we talked about a number of things. We got into a lot of detail concerning the roles of young, specifically unmarried, men.

I also briefly discussed the evil of feminism and the idea that we’re in a war.

I mentioned this concept of being in a war and how this ties into manhood in my last post, which you may want to go read before getting any further into this since this post is basically a continuation of my last one.

Anyway, in my last post, I alluded to this idea of being at war most strongly with these two sentences:

If life is a war, we need soldiers, and that is not the job of women. Men are to protect and provide, both spiritually and physically, and this doesn’t just go for those who are married.

I talked about what this looks like for me specifically, but now we need to discuss what this whole war thing is all about. Then, we need to talk about what the best strategy for fighting in this war is.

The War of Life and Christianity

For both the saved and unsaved, there is war in this life. But, for the Christian, there’s a whole ‘nother war to be wary of and fight in. I say this other kind of war exists specifically for Christians simply because they ought to be aware of it and actively contend in it, not because unbelievers aren’t a part of this war.

The war that I’m talking about, the “other kind of war,” is the spiritual one. And, I think a lot more goes on in this war than we normally even imagine. Many count it off as foolish, not how it works anymore, childish, silly, or something we don’t need to ever think about, etc. But, the Word of God does not say this. On the contrary, Paul writes,

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12, ESV

When the Bible talks about demons, most people just try and dismiss it or simply don’t realize the reality of their existence. Demons are out there and they want to destroy people. Mental illness, anxiety, fear, and other such things aren’t all simply natural occurrences. Satan is at work.

Satan is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44). This is the nature of the war: we walk in a world that Satan is the god of (2 Corinthians 4:4). In this world, there’s all kinds of people who don’t know there’s a war going on around them while souls are being condemned to Hell. Even now, Earth is overrun with wickedness and demons carry out their various tasks.

So how could we say that we’re not in a war? And, furthermore, how could we say we don’t need to think about it? That’s like enlisting to fight in a war and then going out into the battlefield with little training and an unloaded gun. It’s like trying to casually walk through no man’s land without a helmet or any other protective gear and wondering why bullet holes are showing up on your body.

Satan is a liar, and he has deceived many.

Among those 10 to 34 years old, suicide was the second leading cause of death in 2017 in the United States. You can check out those statistics here. And I don’t intend to get on a soap box about mental health or suicide in the fashion many in our society tend to do because it is not our government’s job to take care of “mental health issues” and lower suicide rates. That is far more the Church’s job. This is war, and we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus, not the United States government, not social services, not health care workers, not therapists, not doctors, not psychiatrists, not any of these paid “professionals” who know little to nothing of the reality of spiritual warfare.

If there’s a child struggling with anxiety or suicidal tendencies, let the kid see a pastor, not a doctor. The issue isn’t simply some disease with some sort of natural cause. That unsaved therapist? What can he or she do? The child needs the work of God in his/her life, not the work of chemicals and the ear of an unbeliever. Matthew 15:14b tells us that “if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” And will you have a lost person try to help a child through their mental and spiritual battles? Let it not be so, or if it is so, let it not be only this. Even if a doctor is involved, may a pastor or deacon be far before this.

There are broken people out there that need help. And in this war, we must love them. In high school, I see people with such great burdens, wearied and weighed down. I see those who I think may be depressed, contemplating suicide even. But what do I do oftentimes? Nothing. I sit, and watch, and “wait for an opportunity.” Why do I not rather make the opportunity?

Nothing. I sit, and watch, and “wait for an opportunity.” Why do I not rather make the opportunity?
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If this is war, we ought not be on the defensive constantly. Surely we are to defend, but we also must fight back. Our war is for the souls of the lost, for the broken and sinful. We rush in with our guns blazing, aimed at the enemy, and our enemy is not the lost. Our enemy is the devil and all his forces that crave for the people of earth to burn in Hell.

That is the truth.

If this is a war, we must follow God’s strategy, and not our own. We read self-help books, books on leadership, teaching, raising children, and books on whatever else worries us. But do we read the Word of God?

Why do we go to the thirsty for water? Why would we ask the blind to guide us?

This is how believers are to live in the middle of this war:

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.
Titus 2:2-6, ESV

Paul says this to Timothy:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:1-5, ESV

In this fashion, men, we must go to war. We must preach, rebuke, teach, and be aware of the deceit running rampant. It isn’t without reason that Paul wrote,

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
1 Timothy 2:12-14, ESV

It appears that, generally, women are more easily deceived. We must spiritually, emotionally, and physically protect those in our lives, especially women. “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13, ESV).

Men need to tell the truth, to correct lies, to teach the Word of God accurately, to confront those that teach false “Christian” doctrine appropriately, and other such things.

So What Role do Women Play in this “War”?

Well, Titus 2:3-5 is a good place to start. I quoted this passage above, and in it we see several things.

Within the passage, there’s of course the general things which make sense for all Christians to follow, such as purity, kindness, and being self-controlled. But, we also see some other stuff that’s more gender specific.

For example, we see that older women are to teach younger women. Paul writes that by teaching what is good older women are to “train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

So, women should live pure and holy lives, submitting to their husbands, and taking care of their households and “working at home” in order to do so, if possible. Women are to be there for the men, support them, listen to them, etc. Obviously, God is the foremost authority of us all, so I say that with that in mind.

In times of war in the past, men have been the soldiers on the front lines while women have been nurses, always ready to help and be part of the support line. We ought to act in a similar fashion as Christians. Women should learn, grow closer to God, and submit to their husbands or fathers.

In my last post, I talked about how men should take a position of leadership before a woman does, if possible. Therefore, women ought to let men do this.

This can be a hard thing, but women must learn to do this. Even in high school, let the guys lead. In fact, encourage the guys to lead. Be humble, not unkind, arrogant, or spiteful. Speak gently, and encourage the leadership of men.

Paul also gives these instructions:

Likewise also the women should adorn themselves in appropriate clothing, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold jewelry or pearls or expensive clothing, but with good deeds which are fitting for women who profess godliness. A woman must learn in quietness with all submission.
1 Timothy 2:9-11, LEB

In Proverbs, we find some description of a great wife:

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 31:25-27, ESV

The Strategy

Quite simply put, the strategy is to listen and adhere to God’s Word, even if it doesn’t conform to our cultural norms. It often doesn’t.

That might sound really simple, but it’s true.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:19-25, ESV

We would be wise to heed the Word of God. It is perfect and holy. Don’t become angry at what the Lord says. It is, as James says, “the perfect law, the law of liberty.”

If we don’t fight the war God’s way, we’re not fighting it right.