The Enemy
Suppose during the COVID crisis our medical system would have decided that the way to get rid of COVID was to isolate everyone diagnosed. That way the sick could not spread it to those who did not have it. The sick were the enemy.
We would keep our hospitals safe by not letting the sick inside. Our caregivers would remain safe because they would not become contaminated by the sick. There were even proposals to kill the sick, after all, they would probably die in a lot of pain if the sickness ran its course. Besides they would infect others. So they built a fence around the hospital. If anyone inside showed any symptoms they were immediately put outside the fence with the others who were contaminated. A few from inside tried to go outside to help. They were condemned and not allowed back inside.
Absurd! Yes. It could only happen if the medical community thought their mission should focus on eliminating sick people rather than helping them become well. The enemy was people not disease. Their major job was preventing the hospital from being contaminated.
Sometimes I get the impression that church people feel as if the enemy is SIN and the people who sin which would be “sinners “. Unfortunately I am a sinner. I simply have different sins than those on the “big” sins list currently.
We loudly condemn certain sins which sounds to many as if we are attacking the individual. The focus is on the sin, not the sickness. Stop the sin even if it kills the sinner. We can’t risk contamination.
Sometimes it seems as if churches send out medics on the battlefield to find the wounded and attack them rather than treating their wounds and rescuing them.
Sometimes we confuse the enemy with the injured or infected. Jesus saw “sinners” as victims. As people to be rescued. He went to them. He brought healing and comfort to them. Jesus was breaking the hold “the enemy” had on people.
The ones Jesus condemned were the religious leaders who condemned those they considered sinners and attacked Jesus for befriending them.
Could it be that the church no longer has the power to break Satan’s hold so they condemn the actions?
Our enemy is Satan, not the people he has under his power.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. NIV
“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.” Ephesians 6:12. NIV