Full Armor

            Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:10-18) 

I keep coming back to these verses, but they make spiritual warfare so much more comprehensible. Too often, I think we think in fairytale terms. We teach children movements that recall the Sword of Shannara, which forces the one who touches it to face the truth about himself or Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth which forces those who are caught with it to tell the truth. We think when they grow up, they’ll understand that the truth is what protects us, not a belt, and it’s not something we’re supposed to put on, like a knight preparing for a joust. It’s not the belt that protects us, it’s truth. The same goes for the rest. There is benefit in considering how the pieces of armor work and work together and the way that truth (and all the others) function in a similar fashion, but it does us no good to think in terms of putting on and taking off the armor or holding our left arm forward to symbolize a shield when we need to be demonstrating faith.

So, for this paragraph, let’s put aside the metaphors and figure out what’s really going on. When the going gets tough, there are things that will protect and defend us: truth, righteousness (doing what is right and good), the gospel of peace, and faith. There are also things with which we may attack: the Word of God and prayer.

Now, let’s return to the metaphor. Have you ever worn a work belt, a breastplate, heavy work boots or a helmet? Have you ever handled a shield or sword? I have a replica of the sword from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I’ve tried to wield it once or twice as part of a speech. It doesn’t seem very heavy until you start swinging it around with one hand, and then you have the problem that the weight isn’t balanced. The fulcrum is in your hand, at one end of the sword, so it’s not really balanced.

Remember the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane when Peter chops of the ear of the high priest’s servant. Do you think he was trying to chop off an ear?  Did Jesus intervene, deflecting the blow so it didn’t do more damage? Maybe, but I suspect it’s more likely that the fisherman hadn’t learned to wield a sword. If you’re going to do battle using the Word of God, you’d better become remarkably familiar with it and practice using it properly.

The same goes for all the other armor and weapons. The truth and all the stuff you use the truth to carry takes some getting used to. It restricts your movements as it protects your emotions (bowels.) The breastplate of righteousness can chafe at the edges and get warm or cold depending on the environment. Good, right actions protect the will (heart) but restrict movement. The helmet of salvation can protect your mind, but you need to get used to seeing through the eyeholes, and it may not let you eat just anything you like. Besides that, the muscles in the neck need and shoulders need to be strong to handle the weight.

If, for example, you only pray when the going gets tough, you won’t know how to pray when the going gets tough. These are things we need to practice when the going isn’t so tough.