There Is No Switzerland in the War Between Good and Evil

'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Exod 20: 7. 

Seventh-day Adventists are intensely aware that there is a war going on in this world. It is sometimes a visible war but often it is an invisible one. It is a war for souls; a war for the hearts and minds of the human race. We call it "The Great Controversy" and it is a war that has been going on since the dawn of time.

The forces of evil are stronger than the forces of good in terms of Earthly power. The good guys are hampered in how we fight that war. We cannot lie, cheat, steal, murder or force our enemy to submit to us. Our commander demands that His conquests surrender voluntarily of their own free will. He requires us to then stand and fight with the rest of His sons and daughters. And that's a serious thing, for while we do not slaughter or coerce those who would harm us, our enemy has no such ethical problem murdering and oppressing the good guys.

Being a Christian is not for the weak. Eleven out of twelve of Jesus' own apostles were murdered by government and religious authorities. The only one to die a natural death was boiled in oil and banished to hard labor on the Roman equivalent of Alcatraz Island. The Apostle Paul came to a violent end as did many other soldiers of Christ throughout history.

I've been watching documentaries about the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. What incredibly brave men. Their stories make clear that there is no neutrality in the war between good and evil. These men were persecuted and died for believing what the Bible said. Their stories demonstrate also that there is no clear demarcation between the enemy and the followers of Christ. The most evil of men may wear the vestments of the church and speak boldly what they claim to be the will of God.

Which brings me to the text I led with. I learned something fascinating about the third commandment the other day from a Jewish media personality named Dennis Prager.  Apparently, the word "take" in the third commandment is a word in Hebrew that more accurately translates as "carry".  I used to think the third commandment was all about cursing. Apparently if I use God's name lightly, he will not forget it or forgive.

Does that sound right to you?

I know! It didn't sound right to me till I examined the verb rendered "take" in most English translations. Carry makes much more sense. One of the things that I find most appalling in the Christian world is the practice of doing bad things and claiming God wanted you to do that. The Roman church did that throughout its history, murdering anyone who challenged its authority or said things it didn't like.

So honest servants of Christ faced not only the wrath of pagans, Mohammedans, and wrathful political powers, but also devils dressed up as servants of God. If you use the word "carry" meaning to carry the name of Christ or to claim to do things in the name of Christ or in God's name and according to His will, then I can well understand why God would deal so harshly with individuals who use His name to justify their own wickedness.

Notice that the choice for good or evil is the only choice we are given. If you choose evil, you can do what you want, when you want, how you want and to whomever you want. If you choose good, you can only do what is right and good and you must leave the rest to God. You must enlist the Army of God (we call them churches) and join the fight.

A lot of young people these days have looked around at churches full of struggling sinners and decided that being one of these soldiers of Christ is not pleasant enough nor comfortable enough and limits them too much. The walk out the back door of their churches and proclaim, "I am spiritual, not religious." They tell us they don't want to be evil or anything, but that church doesn't help them very much so they'll just leave the demands of Christian fellowship behind and go out and be "spiritual" on their own.

The residents of spiritual Switzerland declare themselves neutral in hopes that they can slip through life undisturbed by the Great Controversy, without need to sacrifice, to endure persecution or to put up with hypocrites.  No need to risk having to make the sacrifices we see some Christians make. No need to feel guilty for not "witnessing" or not giving enough to the poor and downtrodden (or the minister's salary). In spiritual Switzerland, residents hope that both God and Satan will leave them alone to fend for themselves. Oh, if a storm comes along or a tornado roars down on their trailer park, they'll condescend to bother God for a little help, but other than that, they hope that if they don't get into a direct conflict with the devil, that he too will leave them alone.

God is pretty clear, however, about Spiritual Switzerland. "Whoever is not with me is against me," said Jesus (Matthew 12:30).  There is no neutrality. The devil may well leave you alone in whatever comfortable place you hole up, but when the end comes, like the servant who hid the talents his master gave him in the ground, he will obtain no reward. It's interesting that the servant's excuse was "'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So in my fear, I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you."  The servant didn't want to do anything uncomfortable like invest the gold and work to bring a profit with it. He just put his master's money in a Swiss Bank safe deposit box.

But God says that there is no Switzerland in the Great War Between God and Evil. Joshua put it this way, "Choose you this day whom you will serve.....but as for me and my house, we will server The Lord." Spiritual Switzerland is apparently in the no-man's land between the two opposing forces. If you've ever seen a no-man's land, you will realize that eventually, nothing is left alive there. Spiritually or otherwise.

© 2018 by Tom King