When I was in middle school, Rodney was our neighborhood “Karate Kid.” Although he was only in high school, he held multiple black belts and could work nunchucks like nobody’s business.
I remember asking him to teach me some karate moves. After he agreed, he calmly told me to punch him in the face as fast and hard as I could.
I pretended that I wasn’t going to, and then suddenly I threw my 12-year-old fist of fury right toward his nose.
His arm went up in a flash, and he barely blocked my punch. I missed his face by a mere inch.
Then, like a karate sensei, he leaned in and whispered my first lesson: “Greg, you don’t need to use all your energy to block a punch. You just need to divert it by a few degrees.”
Lesson learned.
SATAN’S SUBTLE DEFLECTIONS
What’s true of karate is true of our attack against the kingdom of darkness.
How much of the church’s punch has been diverted by Satan by a few degrees?
Instead of advancing the Gospel, we advance the latest programs.
Instead of equipping the saints to go and make disciples, we challenge them to go to more meetings.
Instead of intercessory prayer for the lost, we pray only for our own lives, families, and agendas.
Instead of seeking to play our part in the Great Commission, we rely on missionaries to do it for us.
Instead of reaching out to co-workers, neighbors, family, and friends with the Gospel, we meet in small groups to talk about it.
HOW TO FIGHT BACK
We’re not here to just exegete the mission. We’re here to execute it.
We’re here to “equip God’s people for works of service,” which includes evangelism and disciple-making (Ephesians 4:11-12).
We’re here to “punch Satan in the nose” and rescue the lost people all around us that Satan has taken captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26).
Brothers and sisters, don’t let the devil block your punch.
Hit him hard, fast, and in the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-12).
And then be used by God to rescue every lost soul you can (Jude 23)!
This article originally appeared on gregstier.org and is reposted here by permission.