The Enemy in You and Me:
Working at Cross-Purposes to God’s Will for Our Lives.
Trevor Laurence’s title, “Cursing with God” is an apt description of the practice of cursing under the guise of praying in certain quarters of the Christian church. This mode of praying, formerly identified as the hallmark of a particular independent African church, has become commonplace practice in most churches in Nigeria. This writer had the privilege of worshiping in churches outside the shores of Africa, and has read books on prayer, yet he has not come across Christians in other climes praying and cursing in the same breath. I stand to be corrected.
Today, most African Christians in their late forties and fifties, grew up with the “Spiritual enemy“ mentality. We were brought up to believe there’s an enemy out there waiting to attack and most probably kill if given the chance. They operate at material and spiritual levels. It is believed that these enemies are so powerful as to be able to determine the trajectory of one’s life. There’s the enemy within and the enemy without. These are enemies within the extended family and enemies in the larger world. It is said, however, that the enemy without is ineffective until it finds collaboration in the enemy within — the Enemy in you and me.
Believe it or not, the “enemy mentality” forms the basis of most indigenous religions - African, Asian, and Middle Eastern. It is what gave rise to the worship of tribal gods. Tribal gods are invoked in prayers to fight and protect the tribe corporately and individually from the machinations and attacks of visible and invisible enemies.
Hence ritual sacrifices, involving all children of the tribe are offered periodically to appease and pacify the gods. Children are dedicated to the tribal gods at birth and are initiated into performing appropriate rituals as they grow up. Like the Jews and Judaism, the Arabs and Islam, Indians and Hinduism, Indigenous African religions cannot be separated from the African worldview. It is a testament to who they are and what marks them in the firmament as a people. They are hangovers that continue to manifest in their practice of Christianity.
Even though Western Christian missionaries virulently spoke and preached against the worship of graven images and largely succeeded in eliminating among their converts, the practice of bowing to images called idols, they did not succeed in removing the idol of the heart. And despite centuries of building denominational churches with strong traditions meant to wean their converts from Indigenous cultural practices, the fear of malevolent forces persists. One religious tradition had only replaced another with little changes in attitudes toward life issues.
“Christians” and churchgoers continue to believe that their spiritual enemies are more powerful than the Christian God. It is not uncommon for worshipers in a church to secretly consult with traditional ritualists when faced with difficult issues of life. Even church founders and leaders are found to seek spiritual empowerment from indigenous, non-Christian sources, to boost the membership and growth of their congregations.
This lack of faith in the ability of the Christian God was partly responsible for the break-aways from imported established churches to founding Independent African churches where traditional religious rituals go hand in glove with Christian worship. Naturally they are enmeshed in warfare prayers - calling down fire upon perceived enemies. Many African “Christians” are inclined to joining churches that present as spiritual Mountains of Fire - a bulwark against their enemies.
The new generation of preachers and church founders are having to contend with the hangovers by offering the option of prosperity gospel and motivational preaching.
What the Bible says about Enemies:
There are about 400 references to an “enemy” or enemies in the Bible. Admittedly, majority of these examples relate to political or military opponents of Israel in the Old Testament. However, in the New Testament, Scripture tags as enemies of God those who love the world (James 4:4). Arguably, groups and individuals who are opposed to the Cross and Church of Christ fall in the category of enemies of God (Phil.3:18; Rev.11;5,12). Many references concern the exploits of the Messiah who will “possess the gates of his enemies” (Gen.22:17, ESV).
The Psalmist speaks to God’s abiding presence, His provision and protection in situations where “a table is spread in the presence of (my) enemies” (Psalm 23:5). The Psalmist also predicts that Jesus will sit at God’s right hand until his enemies are made into a “footstool” (Psalm 110:1). Recall that the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15 is about the seed of the woman, Jesus, who will crush the head of his enemy. This is the core of what Christ came to do - a feature foreshadowed in numerous stories in the Old Testament.
The death of Jesus on the Cross, and His resurrection had put paid to the roarings of the enemy who “prows around like a lion looking for who to devour.” Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, has removed all the negatives against all who put their trust in Him:
“Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:14).
Jesus cancelled the certificate of debt, or legal demands that were hostile to all believers in Him.
Moreover, the apostles urge the church to pray and sing Psalms (Eph.5:19). Psalms are full of praises and prayers for deliverance from the threats and attacks of spiritual enemies. The battle is the LORD’s. In the Old Testament, when Daniel’s prayer was blocked for 21 days by the prince of Persia (Daniel 10:13), Michael, one of the arch- angels, intervened on behalf of Daniel who said, “because I was detained there with the king of Persia, my strength was gone and I could hardly breathe.” Daniel was encouraged and strengthened by Michael, who said to him, “Do not be afraid, you are highly esteemed. “Peace be strong now; be strong.” Here’s the lesson for waiting in prayer and fasting. Daniel did not engage the prince of Persia in verbal warfare. Rather, he was focused on his prayer for Israel.
It was a battle between principalities in the heavenlies.
No one fights spiritual battles with material or physical weapons, nor can one fight the devil invoking demonic powers. Jesus says that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Neither can the flesh prevail against spiritual entities.
As seen above, our cultural context makes a biblical view of enmity a curious paradox. As modern Christians feel more at home praying fire upon their enemies, Christ’s command urging his followers to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” becomes a dream — more in the realm of fantasy than in reality (Mattew 5:44).
When we fail to walk within Christ’s guardrails for our lives, succumbing to cultural pressures, we miss the point - robbing ourselves of the blessings of faith and obedience. We become our own enemies working at variance to our interest and God’s purposes for us.
The enemy in you and me — becomes our real enemy.
