300: We Have to Fight!

"We Spartans are descended from Hercules himself. Taught never to retreat, never to surrender. Taught that death in the battlefield in service of Sparta is the greatest glory he could achieve in his life."

I watched the movie 300 again last night and once again something within me was stirred. It was not that I was choked up or emotional, but rather I was stirred to live my life better and with more intention. These Spartans are warriors and they know it, there is never a doubt in their minds as to who they are. From a very young age they are trained and taught who they are and how to fight. They are tested and left to fend for themselves, to prove their ability and strength, to test their intelligence. These Spartans do not have an identity crisis, they are raised knowing who they are.

So as I watched the movie again I took stock in who I was and who I was made to be in God's image. It is obvious to me that God is a warrior. Exodus 15:3 "The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is His name." God has so many attributes, and one of those things is a warrior, and being made in his image makes me believe that He has put his warrior heart inside of me. I need to let that truth sink in more and more, I want that to be part of my identity that I do not have to doubt. I am a warrior because I have the Warriors heart inside of me. I can fight, I can battle, I do not have to back down, I do not have to have fear, I can be strong and dangerous. I can be good, but I do not have to be safe. I have freedom to walk this stuff out in my life and I need to do a better job of utilizing the warrior heart inside of me and recognizing the battles that lay in front of me.

Now I am not saying that I am going to war physically, but in the realm of spiritual warfare I have sat and watched far too long and I need to start fighting. If I believe that Jesus is more real than this computer that I am typing on right now, that he is more tangible than the chair I am sitting in, than I also have to believe that his world is real and the spiritual realm is real and there is such a thing as good and evil, which are constantly in opposition to each other and constantly at war. Angels and demons fight. Spiritual oppression and sin are real things. I cannot just slumber and wait and watch anymore, I need to join in the fight, I need to fight alongside my King. I have what is takes.

So this is obviously not 300, I am not going to fight the Persian army, but the war I fight is no less real, no less important. 300 is a picture of what is going on spiritually when good and evil fight. This in mind, what are the battles we fight? I cannot speak for everyone, but I personally feel the battle raging on a lot. I fight against sin and lust. I fight against pride and selfishness (2 of the enemy's best weapons against us!) I fight for my wife and for my marriage when I see attacks coming against us. You might think the big argument you have before church is just an annoying fight, but looking deeper it is so clear that an attack has just happened, the enemy trying to drive a wedge between you. I fight for relationships, I fight to spend time with Jesus, I fight against lies told to me and to the ones I love. I fight passivity, I fight fear, I am supposed to fight for the poor and the widows and orphans, I am supposed to fight for justice (not sure I have ever done that too well). Anyway, you get the point.....there is a lot to fight for and literally speaking, those battles are just as real as the battles we watch in 300, just spiritual.

It is possible to go through life and not fight at all, to be passive and selfish, but as a follower of our King we are called and equipped to fight, we have what it takes and we want to be some of the best warriors and fighters that have ever joined in this battle. We just have to make the decision that we are going to be an active part of these daily battles. Because we have the Holy Spirit in us, we are warriors that are to be feared by the enemy, we are among the best warriors in all the world if we just choose to fight. The Spartans say they are descendants of Hercules himself, and thus they are warriors among warriors, the best in all the known world, but we are descendants of God -the fiercest Warrior, so what does that make us? Even better than the Spartans!

I watched the movie 300 and got such a great picture of how I am to fight spiritually. "Never retreat, never surrender." The best part of the whole movie is how they fight, and it is such a great lesson for us all as we fight. They fight as a single unpenetratable unit, each man protecting the man next to him with his shield. Each man protecting the back of another man, watching for attacks and defending them. What a picture this is for us. We are not meant to do this alone, we are not made to fight by ourselves. We need others to fight with us and help protect us where we are vulnerable. When we are fighting the enemy we are rarely fighting just one attacker, but a legion or an army, so we need an army as well, close brothers and sisters that we trust to go into battle with us and watch our backs, our vulnerability. We Need each other, we cannot fight on our own. Other people have to know our weaknesses and our strengths in order to fight alongside of us. They need to know where to protect us and where to use our abilities. It just makes sense, we are warriors like none other, we are to be feared by the enemy and we are to fight together in order to have victory. That is our law.

This blog is a reminder to me that I have what it takes, the battle is always going on in some capacity and it is time to jump in and fight. I am a warrior filled with the Holy Spirit and most feared among my enemy. We can do this together, we can have victory.

"This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they DIE!" - King Leonidas