I would like to start this post by stating again that I do not think we are far off, I am just very reluctant to raise the calling to fight to the level of the calling to love.
Here I will contend ( aren’t I the contentious one!! ) that the call to love is universal to being a servant of the King; but that being a fighter, beyond the internal struggle with each of our old selfish wills, is not a calling, or at least not as basic a calling as the call to love, which our Lord identified as both the greatest commandment, as to loving God, and the second, as to loving our neighbor. I don’t recall him stating that there is a third greatest commandment.
Consider the following
A believer quietly going about his business showing studying God’s word, helping teach Sunday school, always ready to lend a hand to help those around her. She makes no secret of who she serves and openly prays and asks God’s help before and during each task and none around her can fail to understand her motivation.
Consider a second church attender who rightly sees the evil and injustice around him and publicly and loudly rails against that evil stating that the perceived evil is against God’s law and should therefore be opposed at all costs.
I would say that the first person is displaying a good answer to the call to love. I would say that the second person
is _possibly_ displaying an answer to a call to fight. The resolution of _possibly_ depends upon who is empowering his actions.
One could point out that even the first person may just be doing good works out of her own power, and not empowered by the Spirit, even if so, she is developing an awareness of the needs around her that may be used by the Spirit when she draws closer.
On the other hand, it the one that is fighting society’s evil is doing this by his own power, he is aggrandizing his self view and is developing a contentious personality.
Consider the scripture:
I Cor 12:14-26 [ NASB ]
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
19 If they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now there are many members, but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
It is my view that the fight is the Lord’s. We are all to be his tools (Love), but not all his weapon (fight).
Returning to the analogy soldier who knows who the enemy is and goes and fights:
What would happen if the soldier assigned to keep the supplies at the camp hospital decided to grab a rifle and go confront the enemy. Not only would he be less than effective because the attack was not coordinated by command, but his task at the hospital would have to be done by someone else.
If you are saying that we are called to fight and that that call is answered by our doing the task the Lord has set before us by relying on His empowerment, then I am with you. But I do not think that was your point.
If you are saying that we should all join in the public opposition to an injustice I think you are treading on shaky ground.
The fight is His not ours. Our place is where He puts us.
It is also my view that this is a significant difference (or I would not belabor the point).
That's good and yet that's bad!
