Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:17 NIVUK
Here is a strange fact you can share at quizzes or at parties when the conversation gets dull: which object do Scottish men and Sikh men have in common in relation to their national dress?
Weirdly, it’s a dagger.
Sikhs carry a curved dagger called a kirpan which, oddly enough, they are permitted to carry on aircraft as it has ceremonial significance.
Scottish men, like me, on the other hand, wear a sgian dubh – a small dagger – in their socks. Due to the prevalence of knife crime, this is rarely an actual knife. These days it’s normally made of soft plastic and not particularly sharp. You couldn’t even eat a picnic with it. But it is still part of our national dress.
Christians too carry a sharp weapon – double-edged, in fact. And highly dangerous. We’re allowed to take it on all forms of transport – even planes. And only one country in the world currently bans us from taking at least one of it across their border.
I’m talking, of course, about the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God: the Bible.
This what the Bible says about itself:
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:12-13 NIVUK
‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
Jeremiah 23:29 NIVUK
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11 NIVUK
Every nation in this world can spend their billions on deadly intercontinental ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads to blow our world apart if they wish, but they will never, not even for one second, be able to match the explosive power of the Word of God.
It’s said that the Bible smuggler Brother Andrew was once caught with a briefcase of Bibles while crossing the border of the communist USSR.
‘What’s in the case?’ the suspicious border guard asked him.
Brother Andrew threw the briefcase on the ground while shouting, ‘Dynamite!’
The Russian border guard ducked for cover. Brother Andrew calmly walled over to the briefcase, opened it, took out a Bible, left it at the border post and strolled straight through.
The Bible is an awesome weapon. It is a double-edged sword. It is dynamite.
There is nothing like it.
Which is why it’s abused so often.
People use it in arguments as if it’s a secret formula to victory, regardless of the morality of their standpoint. I recently came across an argument on social media where some scoundrel misinterpreted Scripture and used it to argue in FAVOUR of abortion!
Worse, evangelicals have misinterpreted the verses above and act like the use of the Bible in discussions and arguments is some form of magic incantation to make people repent. They use verses like grenades. They spend no time at all getting to know the people they’re witnessing to. They just pull the pin out of a verse, chuck it into a conversation and hope for an explosion of sorrow and faith.
But when the Bible is used inappropriately, it can cause deep hurt and pain, and actually drive people away from the Gospel.
The Bible is not a Scud missile. We should never use it as one. We have no right to use it to condemn other people’s lifestyles, while we ignore everything it has to say about ours. That is pure, unadulterated hypocrisy and is the number one reason why people don’t consider the claims of Christ.
We definitely shouldn’t fire the Bible at people who have little respect for it and don’t understand it. When we teach the Bible to our children, we take the time to explain it in detail so they understand it.
But here’s the thing. Our churches have backed off so much from public life that even highly educated people with a string of degrees have less Biblical knowledge than a Year One child in Sunday School.
So why do we rattle Bible verses off at them like a theological Kalashnikov and explain none of them?
It doesn’t make sense. It isn’t effective. It’s not proper evangelism. It won’t warm people to the Gospel.
What’s more, it’s a gross misinterpretation, misappropriation and de-contextualisation of Scripture. None of the verses about the power of the Word of God are in the context of evangelism. Not one.
The verse in Hebrews was written to a struggling Jewish church to encourage them.
The verses in Jeremiah were comparing the Word of God with the drivel from false prophets.
The verses in Isaiah were assurance to a nation about to go into exile that the Lord would call them back one day.
There are no verses of this type in the context of evangelism or mission. That doesn’t mean that the Word of God is not powerful in those contexts. It really is. But what it does mean is that these verses apply to a different situation.
And why do we dare to use Bible verses on placards for what are essentially political arguments? Do we think dropping a Bible verse in an argument while in countries that have essentially turned their back on God will make any kind of a difference, least of all a positive one?
The Bible should never be seen as a silver bullet for getting our way. It’s not that kind of a weapon. It never has been. It never will be. Ephesians 6:12 is absolutely clear: our struggle is not against flesh and blood. The Bible is a spiritual weapon. Using it in a battle against flesh and blood is like trying to do brain surgery with a bazooka. It won’t work and you will have a terrible mess to clean up later.
That is one hundred percent not what Paul is talking about here.
The context of these verses is internal, spiritual warfare. It’s the type of struggles we have inside us every time we are in challenging circumstances.
Paul is saying that the Word of God is a potent weapon when we are facing trials, troubles and temptations. It’s the weapon of choice to battle against panicked, fevered, anxiety-ridden thoughts that could divert us from our sure and certain victory.
It isn’t just Paul who knew this. As we saw in the previous section on faith, there are numerous places in Scripture where the writer was wracked with anxiety, but brought their anxieties to the Lord, meditated on His Word and found relief.
When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
Psalms 73:16-17 NIVUK
I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked: ‘Will the Lord reject for ever? Will he never show his favour again? Has his unfailing love vanished for ever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?’ Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.’
Psalms 77:3-12 NIVUK
Do you see it? Do you see how coming to the Lord, remembering who He is and meditating on His Word made the difference?
If we have wielded the Word of God as a weapon to wound those who oppose us, then we need to confess our sin and repent.
If we have used it as a magic incantation to cover for our lack of preparation to share the Gospel with others, then we ought to confess our sin and repent.
If we have used it to score points in petty arguments about useless minutiae then we should confess our sin and repent.
We have misused the Word of God. We have hurt and we have injured. That can never be right.
But if we want to use this incredibly powerful weapon, then we should use it properly.
Let me finish with a little tale from my own family’s past. My dad was trained in theology. And he was good at arguing – so good that he frustrated his friends to the point of them nearly coming to blows over seemingly insignificant points. He wasn’t much good at winning arguments, but he really could argue.
One day, however, he found himself in a situation where arguing could get him into a lot of trouble.
He worked for the railways. On one shift as a ticket collector, he was working beside a lesbian. While they were on a break, his colleague asked him, ‘Alex, you’re a Christian. What do you think of my lifestyle?’
It might have been an honest question, but it can also be a huge red flag. Give the wrong answer and you can find yourself up in front of HR on a disciplinary. And given the left leanings of unions, your chances of a defence are close to nil.
My dad knew this. So this was his response. ‘As a Christian, I obey the Bible. Do you have a Bible at home?’
She nodded.
‘Okay. When you get home tonight, open your Bible at Romans chapter 1. Have a good read at it and let me know tomorrow if you have any questions.’ He told her.
Gentleness. Respect. But also sending her to the Bible to see things for herself. 1 Peter 3:15 in action.
I don’t know if she ever did return with questions. I do know that several years after my dad passed away, I met her on a train. She made a point of sitting next to me, telling me how much she respected my dad and how much she missed him as a colleague.
Let’s stop clubbing people over the head with Bible verses – not our fellow believers and definitely not outsiders. That is not gentle and not respectful.
Instead, let’s commit to knowing the Bible so we can use it when we are under attack in difficult and challenging situations. Let’s use it to battle fear and anxiety and temptation and doubt and negativity and faithlessness and despair.
Because once you use it properly, you’ll realise just how powerful a weapon it is.
Questions
1. ‘The Bible is an awesome weapon... which is why it’s abused so often.’ Have you ever seen the Bible be misused? How did it make you feel?
2. What is the proper use for the Bible in these verses? How can you use it in this way?
3. Have you ever experienced the power of the Bible to overcome temptation and fear? What happened? What did you learn from it?
I have known several occasions when senior church leaders have misused the bible to profit their own ends. An example:- A well known international preacher once asked me what I would like prayer for. He then proceeded to tell me the bible says the labourer is worthy of his hire, therefore if I wanted him to pray I needed to deposit so many dollars into his personal bank account. Needless to say I declined and was told because of my disobedience God would not bless me.