By Bruce Green
Paul speaks about weapons of divine power capable of “demolishing strongholds” in 2 Corinthians 10:3. He alluded to them earlier in his letter (6:7 – “with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left”) and gives his fullest exposition of them in Ephesians 6:10-18. But we shouldn’t make the mistake of getting caught up trying to identify the exact weaponry he is referring to here. The bigger point to see is that they were weapons of mass destruction. They brought no harm to humans but absolutely obliterated the sinful facades and structures fabricated my man and utilized by demonic powers (1 Corinthians 10:18-22).
When Paul arrived in Corinth—a city not far removed from Athens and its rich philosophical tradition of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, he encountered the speculative wisdom of the world that exalted and magnified humans. The gospel of Jesus destroyed this and pointed people away from themselves and toward God (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, 2:1-5). Also present in Corinth was idolatry and the immorality that went with it. The message of Jesus laid waste to its underpinnings and showed them the holiness that came through Christ (1 Corinthians 8-10). What of the imperial worship of Rome that declared emperors gods upon their death? Paul brought it nothing by proclamation of the One who was declared the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:3-4).
In all of this Paul was demolishing “arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” and taking “captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ” (v. 5). And it still works today, as it brings people out of the darkness of materialism, addiction, worldliness or whatever false structure they have built their life around. And in its place, God brings about new creation in Christ.
I heard someone recently promoting an outdoor public event that was about to take place. This individual wanted a big crowd to be there so a drone could take an overhead shot to give people a view of what things looked like from above. I think that’s exactly what disciples need. We need to see things from God’s point of view! We need to understand we’re part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We’re part of the tearing down strongholds and structures utilized by the “powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil.” We’re being used by God to build a new creation.
But, the alarming fact is that too many of us live lives uninformed of these truths. Instead of having a view from above, we see things in a flat, one-dimensional way. Too often, our status quo is to see ourselves as a nice group of nice people doing nice things. Instead of seeing God at work through us in staggering, cosmic ways, we yawn our way through life. And then we wonder why our churches struggle to keep young people. They want nothing to do with such an anesthetized existence! Maybe the better question is how we hang on to anyone at all.
I believe that most people, in their heart of hearts, long to give themselves to something bigger than themselves. They want to experience sacrifice and commitment at deep levels. But they’re not going to do this for just anything—it must be something worthy.
We need to bring them face-to-face with the living, breathing Lord Jesus and His call for us to be involved in demolishing strongholds and building new creation with God. We need to help them see that whether it’s being a good husband or wife, loving your family, working hard on your job or in school or whatever we do, or sharing the good news of Jesus, we are called to live at a level that touches the eternal and has cosmic significance. That’s the way it looks from God’s point of view!
Green has written a book on the model pray called Praying in the Reign. It is available through 21st Century Christian.