top of page

The campaign's enemy

 

There is an archenemy of Jesus who wants to mess up the campaign and its team members, including you. The archenemy is Satan, the spiritual being who has the most to lose as Jesus's campaign succeeds. His mission is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10.10), the opposites of Jesus's mission to connect, heal, and bless.

The enemy knows he can't win. He is trying to dam up the "Cascade of Grace" (see link at bottom), and that never works.

 

For example, he marshaled all his forces to get Jesus killed on the cross, but that attempt to block Jesus's campaign turned out to be an epic failure when Jesus was raised from the grave. The enemy has never recovered from Jesus's resurrection, and he never will. 

 

He also knows he doesn't have much time left (Revelation 12.12), but he is still determined to cause as much pain and trouble as he can on his way down. Jesus sends out his campaign team to reverse the damage the enemy has already done and reduce what he is still planning. 

Enemy tactics

A favorite tactic of Satan is to whisper half-truths into the ears of us campaign team members, anything that will trick us into missing our campaign assignments or letting them slide.

Some sample half-truths

  • "You already know what the Bible says. You don't need to keep reading it all the time."

  • "You are no Mother Teresa, but you are no Darth Vader either. You are basically good. You mean well."

  • "You can keep growing spiritually yourself whether you are having any spiritual influence on anyone else or not. Don't worry about that."

  • "Your faith will stay about the same whether you connect with others who follow Jesus or you do it on your own. Choose the option that works for you."

  • "The goal of Bible study is to understand the Bible better. Focus on the gaps in your understanding and keep trying to fill those in."

  • "The best measure of your spiritual health is the intensity of your worship experience on Sunday morning. Concentrate on that, and criticize anything that interferes with it.

Three other half-truths are found in the story where Jesus was tempted himself by the archenemy just before he publicly launched his campaign to bless and heal the world. The enemy wanted to nip the campaign in the bud. See how he failed in Luke 4.1-21. 

Is the campaign a war?

Sort of, but that isn't the main way Jesus describes it to the campaign team. The focus of the campaign is positive--pointing to Jesus, buying into his vision and strategy. The campaign focus is the welfare of the victims of the enemy's basic tactics--deceive, steal, kill, destroy. 

We don't see ourselves primarily as an army on a search and destroy mission. We are more like an ambulance crew or a team of people trying to get the word out in a public awareness campaign. Our positive message is that Jesus is the Messiah, the prophesied leader sent by God the Father to save the world from itself. 

bottom of page