A long, long time ago back in 1976 outside the Naval Base in Great Lakes, Illinois myself and a couple of guys I was going through training with had a free weekend so went to town and watched a movie. That was the first time I ever saw the movie “The Outlaw Josey Wales”. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I have probably seen it dozens of times since then. But about 5 or 6 years ago I sat down to watch it and after seeing the opening scene I stopped the movie to unpack something I had never seen in it before. Hopefully you have seen the movie if so it will be a lot easier to see what I’m talking about, but if not here is a brief overview of the scene.

Josey (Clint Eastwood) is a Missouri Farmer in what some call the American Civil War, but others may call the War of Northern Aggression, and others might call the War for Southern Independence, but we’ll just call it “The War Between the States”. The scene opens with Josey and his young son plowing a field with a Mule, his wife calls the boy home to get “cleaned up for supper” Josey goes on plowing, then he hears an odd sound, then looks and sees smoke rising from the direction of his house, he runs to see what is happening, as he approaches his house he sees that it has been torched and there are Kansas Red Legs (Yankees) everywhere. His wife and son are crying and screaming, as Josey rushes to try to rescue them but receives a sword to his face for his efforts. He wakes up sometime later to find his home is just a pile of ashes and his family is dead. After he buries them, he digs through the ashes of his home and finds his pistol. But when he starts practicing with it we find out he isn’t a very good shot, but as he continues to practice he just get better and better. He then joins up with a band of confederates, but if you want to know more you watch the movie. A DVD from Amazon is about 5 bucks, or just wait for it to come on AMC.

What I saw in that scene was a picture of a modern American Christian Family. You have a Husband and Father who was focused on providing for the material needs of his family, he wanted to provide for food and clothing and shelter. And this is a good thing, this is what we are called to do, and deep down it is what we men are hard wired to do. God commanded Adam to “Dress and Keep the Garden”, and later after the fall God told him “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” Genesis 3:19a (ESV), and The Apostle Paul told Timothy “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8 (ESV). Working to provide material needs for ourselves and our families is a good thing.

While we are called and expected to provide for the material needs of our families our responsibilities don’t end there. You see where Josey and many of us in our day we fail is we are oblivious to the war that is going on all around us, Josey probably had read about the war in the newspaper, but didn’t think it would ever affect him! He was just a farmer minding his own business wasn’t he? It wouldn’t affect him! What he didn’t recognize was that the enemy was out to destroy anything that he believed represented his opposition. Aren’t modern Christians doing the same thing today? We know there is an enemy who is out to attack and attempt to destroy any family that tries to represent God’s Kingdom? Satan is out to destroy your family and my family if we are living for the Kingdom. The destruction that he can bring is more real than anything we see on a movie screen, and the enemy is worse than Yankee red legs, he is more He is more determined, more destructive, and more subtle. He is in our communities and our schools, and we invite him into our home on the TV. The question isn’t if he will attack your family but when? And the question becomes will you be prepared when he does?

By the end of the movie Josey is a pretty good shot with his pistols, it came from diligent practice and constant use. Imagine if Josey had been practicing with his pistol before the attack came, could the outcome been different? What if he had taught his family to shoot as well, could they have held off the attack? Made the enemy realize it just was not to his benefit to attack this family? Maybe so but then they wouldn’t have made a movie about it! We have been given a weapon to use against the attacks of Satan. Jesus used this weapon against him when he was tempted and we can too. Our weapon the is more powerful than a Colt Black Powder Revolver, it’s more powerful than an M4 Tactical Rifle, it’s more powerful than a Cruise Missile or a Smart Bomb, but we better be prepared to use it properly and we only do that with practice.

When the apostle Paul describes the Armor of God in Ephesians 6 he tell us to use “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” All the other pieces of armor is purely defensive, but a sword can be used defensively, or offensively, however it’s needed. The Word of God is our offensive weapon we can use against Satan. If your bible is sitting on a shelf collecting dust, it’s just like having a pistol locked away in in a lock box. Read God’s Word, Study God’s Word, study God’s word with other brothers in Christ, teach your family God’s Word. Young men who don’t have families yet, the time to start preparing is now, don’t wait until you have a family to be prepared for the battle, be prepared before you have a wife and family, and your marriage will be stronger for it. Older guys who don’t have children living at home anymore, that doesn’t mean the war is over, keep preparing for battle, fight for your adult children and your grandchildren. Be ready to defend yourself and your family when the attack comes, because it will come.

Finally, when Paul tells the Ephesians to ^“Put on the whole armor of God”, he tells them why they need to “that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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.”