By David Phillips
Attrition Warfare
The dictionary defines attrition warfare as “a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and material.” This is certainly one of the methods Satan uses against us today. Make no mistake about it, within the realm of right and wrong, we are engaged in war. Here are the particulars:
- The fight is real, a genuine conflict. …waging war… Romans 7:23, …warfare…2 Corinthians 10:4, …fight…1 Timothy 6:12, are the kind of terms that are used in the New Testament to describe the conflict between good and evil.
- A good soldier of Christ Jesus is how Paul describes Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, and by extension, every Christian has that role.
- Satan, of course, is the enemy. Peter says he is our adversary, 1 Peter 5:8. The New Testament calls him the tempter in Matthew 4:3, and Jesus referred to him a murderer, a liar, and the father of lies in John 8:44. Paul refers to him as the god of this world in 2 Corinthians 4:4.
- The battlefield is the spiritual realm, according to Ephesians 6:12. However, this does not mean that Satan works in a supernatural fashion today. He did so in New Testament times, in a very limited sense, through what is generally known as demon possession, but he no longer has that power. If he could miraculously dominate men today, the balance of power would be tipped in his favor, as there is no miraculous power given to humans now to combat any supposed miraculous power Satan might have. His power today is the power of lies, deception and deceit. Accordingly, we must be watchful, and be ever aware of his devices, 2 Corinthians 2:11.
- Our weapons in this spiritual warfare are very important. They are called the whole armor of God, and are itemized in Ephesians 5:13-18. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and prayer. Properly equipped and ever vigilant, we can be more than conquerors through Him that loved us, Romans 8:37. That fact, along with John’s words of 1 John 3:8, are a great source of encouragement to faithfully follow the Lord: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Back to the dictionary again, the attrition rate is “a calculation of the number of individuals that vacate or move out of a larger, collective group over time.” This is what Satan is counting on, and he uses every possible earthly circumstance to produce a high attrition rate among Christians. In the application of that definition, the “larger collective group” is made up of those who could be described as “the righteous”. Through lies and deception, he constantly and patiently works to chip away at their faith and godly conduct. Recently, he has been working overtime trying to get us to believe that we don’t need worship assemblies, close personal fellowship and Bible classes. He’d love for us to believe that the church isn’t essential. He’s wrong.
Don’t give him the satisfaction.