In these days of Covid we’ve been forced to ask more questions. Do I really need to attend that concert I’ve been wanting to see? Is it safe to go to a movie theater or worship service if I wear a mask? Can I fly without fear of getting the latest and most contagious strain of the virus? On and on the questions go, making every day seem like a pop quiz on wisdom and discernment. 

Sometimes we need to be reminded that the world is not a place where we can completely relax, even without a deadly pandemic. Germs are everywhere and without a robust immune system we’ll succumb to disease because it’s not just our souls that are “fallen.” Nature itself was corrupted by sin. Microscopic creatures designed for our good can now kill us under the right circumstances. To continue living, we must successfully resist these invisible enemies.  

Christians rely on the keeping power of God to get us through life, but we still make decisions to increase our chances of survival should we become ill. Most of us don’t step out in front of traffic just to test God’s saving power. We eat healthy, try to get enough sleep, exercise, and avoid things we know are addictive. We take our vitamins and prescribed meds. We follow our doctor’s advice (most of the time anyway). But here’s what I want us to consider …

Am I as vigilant about my spiritual health as I am about my physical body? Am I aware of the dangers residing in the world that can threaten my spiritual well-being and am I proactively guarding against them? “Be on your guard” Paul wrote. “Stand firm in the faith” (1 Cor. 16:13).

The worldwide body of Christ—the Church of the living God—witnesses for Him in a hostile world that seeks to diminish our influence and spiritual strength. We have powerful resources from the Lord to combat this opposing spirit, but we must be aware of how it operates if we hope to resist it. Sadly, like the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3, many of us have grown lukewarm in our spiritual fervor. We’ve failed to heed the apostle Peter’s warning to “abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11).

Our spiritual enemies are so numerous I don’t have space to mention them all. But like in the human body, there is one weapon that will effectively combat them all: a strong immune system. Our spiritual immunities are built through spending time with the Lord Jesus … praying, worshipping, trusting in His sufficiency, and by studying and obeying His Word. Putting into practice what we know is true and pleasing to the Lord will increase our chances of defeating the spiritual germs that will sideline us—things like unbelief, self-centeredness, a critical or willful spirit, greed, pride, lust, selfish ambition, idolatry, rage, unholy thoughts and practices.

The beginning of a new year is a great time to reflect on what we’ve learned from our past experience and decide what we want to seek after going forward. Sometimes we think that we can have it all … the favor of the world and the favor of God. We think we can enjoy all the pleasures each has to offer. But that’s a delusion. We must decide which side we’re on and settle in our minds which kingdom deserves our loyalty and support. As James wrote in his letter (4:4), “Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

Some today would like to eliminate all distinctions between the two camps. They don’t like for Christians to use terms like Us and Them, as if we are different in kind from those who do not know Jesus. I can see their point. It’s true that those in the Church in some ways are not that dissimilar from the people outside of it. We still sin and fall short of the glory of God. We fail to live up to our own expectations for behavior, and often our thoughts are just as ungodly as any sinner. We can’t boast in any kind of self-righteousness or superiority to other people.

But the Bible does draw a clear distinction between those who possess a godly spirit and those who follow the spirit of the world. There is a difference between those who want to honor God with their lives and those who want to go their own way. When we receive Christ as Lord, we adopt a new way of life. The Holy Spirit indwells us, empowering us to make choices that reflect our new nature. We are “set apart” for God’s purposes. This is the sense in which we are different from the world. If we aren’t aware of this dichotomy of belief and practice, we’ll be lulled into spiritual compromises with the world that can be detrimental to our faith and witness. We will suddenly find ourselves like Samson, who lost his power by trusting in his worldly lover. Tragically, he didn’t know his strength was gone until it was too late.

Here’s a quote I found on Pinterest about the value of self-examination and reflection that ties in well here: “May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far.”

In 1 Kings 18 the prophet Elijah challenged the Israelites, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (v. 21). The Church today needs this kind of challenge. Will we believe God or the people who speak for the world? Which side are we on? Many today (even among church leaders) are tempted to bend Scripture to make it conform to the world’s current opinions. The Bible, however, is God’s Word, not ours. We have no right to change it to suit ourselves. We need to recommit ourselves to faithfully obeying and trusting what His Word says. By doing this we build up our spiritual immune systems. We become the overcomers that Jesus called us to be in Revelation 2–3.

A. W. Tozer wrote, “We who call ourselves Christians are supposed to be a people apart. We claim to have repudiated the wisdom of this world. We have thrown in our lot with that One who while He lived on earth would not be integrated into society. He stood above it and condemned it by withdrawing from it even while dying for it. Die for it He would … but surrender to it He would not.” Like Jesus, we should serve the world through love, but we must draw the line at agreeing with its values and adopting its practices. We serve a King who is “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).

Lord Jesus, forgive me for not being willing to die to the world’s influences so you can fully reign in my heart. Build me up in your strength so I can be your faithful witness. Deliver me from my double-minded thinking and help me to face down opposition with courage, knowing that in the end, your Kingdom will prevail. Help me to value your Word and to declare its truths faithfully so you can be glorified in me and draw others to yourself. To you be all the glory! Amen.