I'm not a big "let's fight the bad guys and here's who they are" kind of guy. That's never been an appealing source of energy.
But the reality is that we are always fighting something--for Christians, it's just not who you might think. Paul, in his letter to the Christians in ancient Ephesus, says it like this:
"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
Let's break that down.
#1 We're not fighting people.
Our enemy isn't another person--"flesh and blood." In our day, lots of energy is galvanized by all kinds of leaders naming other people as the enemy. Paul: "Never." That's not the wrestle. Someone using "THEY are our enemy..." is using an anti-Christ spirit.
We can disagree. We can think someone is completely wrong. But they are never our enemy. They are a brother or sister to be loved because they are our neighbor.
#2 We are fighting "rulers" and "authorities"
These are the structures of our world. You go to fight a health insurance claim, battle with a bureaucracy, and wrestle with a system that holds authority. There's the fight. If you disagree with someone politically and find yourself wanting to "get" them, you are fighting an "authority"--a whole almost living framework of thought, practice, and outlooks that drives people's behaviors and gives them a convenient way to label and write off fellow human beings.
The fight is against the "authority"--fight it, and you find that you are more part of it than you realize. Humility results. We do fight those structures in our world that dehumanize people and replace God.
#3 This is a spiritual battle.
The Christian view is that this is contested ground. There is no neutral territory. The "powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" fight against all that God cares about--namely, people. These powers and spiritual forces are what Jesus routinely cast out and whose doom is certain. There is no contest between the resurrected Lord of all and the spiritual forces of evil. None.
Because of the blood of the Lamb--Jesus crucified on our behalf and risen again--we have spiritual authority over all rulers, authorities, powers, and forces. With great humility and love, we are to exercise that authority on behalf of people--including ourselves. You are in that fight. I wrote a bit more about that here. - Pastor Scott Marshall, https://firstnaz.org/
