Anti-Terrorism

“Be self­-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

In the past few years we have become more familiar with the ideology and destructive nature of terrorism. Until this time most places in the world seemed safe (at least from the American point of view). The attacks of September 11th will haunt our generation for the rest of our lives. Although, not many of us know someone who survived the attack, it still impacted us personally. This, collateral effect is the true destructive power of terrorism; one event that evokes fear in hundreds of millions. What we fail to recognize it that our lives spiritually are no less perilous. We may feel safe in our spiritual situation but the truth is we have many enemies. As Peter writes in the quote above, our enemy is hunting us. In this chapter we will formulate the connection between physical anti-terrorism measures taught to Marines and the link to anti-Satan tactics that a Marine for God can employ.
Terrorism is defined as the use of violence or the threat of violence to achieve political or ideological goals. Terrorists rely on surprise and hysteria. A terrorist target must be unaware of the threat and unprepared for a tragedy.
Satan is a spiritual terrorist. Some debate Satan’s role (prosecutor, tempter or bitter, ostracized angel). Regardless of this debate Satan exists, the sinful nature of man exists and the battle of the Christian is ultimately fought in their own hearts in the effort to obey God. For whatever purpose, testing, maliciousness, destruction or opposition to God, Satan attacks our hearts. Like the terrorist of the physical world this terrorist of the spiritual world has the same goal; fear. In the spiritual realms we become afraid that God’s salvation is insufficient for our situation. This is atheism. In our atheism Satan finds success.
Consider the account of Job. Satan responds to God’s praise of Job with the comment, “Does Job fear God for nothing?”(Job1:9) It is evident that Satan wills to challenge the authority of God through our fears.
Terrorism is more psychological than physical. Consider the recent killing spree of John Muhammed and John Lee Malvo. Their crime is heinous for the ruthless killing but also for the fear that it created. Remember that the state of Maryland was locked down for a week. Millions of people were afraid to leave their homes because of two men. That is how powerful fear is. Satan’s attacks are meant to cause fear of faith because that fear is much greater than any physical attack he can possibly contrive.
What do we do in the face of terrorism? We have two options. One is give into fear; becoming weak in our spiritual convictions and losing sight of God’s plan. The other option is to train ourselves in ‘anti-terrorism.
What can you do to fight Satanic terrorism? What do the Marines do to combat physical terrorism? Here are the recommendations straight out of the Handbook for Marines:

Terrorist preventative measures:
-Vary transportation methods, routes and times.
-Park in well lighted areas with multiple exits
-Lock unattended vehicles
-Report unusual activity
-Avoid traveling alone
-Travel only when busy, well-traveled thoroughfares
-Avoid establishing a pattern of attendance at certain events or locations
-Know how to use the local phone system and carry change or a phonecard
-Know the location of the US Embassy and other safe locations

Overall you see that there are two main keys to preventing terrorist attacks; first avoid a pattern or routine behavior, second, stay close to (or in contact with) other people who can help you. Notice that these two keys are effective for spiritual warfare as well. We could re-write them as: first, love is not a routine, in order to love God it must be genuine and from the heart, avoid letting your heart grow hard from routine time with God (1 Corn 13:1, Matt 15:7-9), second, stay close to other disciples of Jesus, “stay in the vine” (John 15), “remain in the body” (1 Corn 12:27).
Now maybe we can extend this to some practical examples. Every Christian has experienced some stagnation in their walk with God at some time or another. In fact it is something that is inherent to human behavior. Small children become easily bored with toys that they couldn’t imagine living without. Sometimes we call this maturity, as in, “I have already read the Bible several times, I don’t need to read it daily to feel close to God, I just need ….” Wrong answer! Jesus said, “I tell you the truth unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:3-4). In order for us to achieve this level of humility and innocence we must find ways to make our relationship with God seem new and exciting to us every day. In this way you will not lose your spriritual fervor, your zeal, your excitement to serve God.
Recall some explicit warnings;
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” (Matt5:13)
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom 12:2)

Here are some practical examples of spiritual counter-terrorism. These are broken into the two overall categories listed above. I hope that it inspires you to think of your own examples.

1)Avoid routine behavior.
Example 1) I know that I have made the following comment before, “I only have one hour in the morning to read my bible and I need to eat breakfast while I read so that I can make it to work on time, How can I keep things new and stay out of a routine?” If you are like me then; Remember that this is spiritual warfare, not physical warfare. To avoid a physical terrorist attack, the US Marine would simply drink coffee at a different coffeehouse every morning and change his route to work. As spiritual Marines we can simply change our routine by making things fresh in our own minds. A few suggestions that I have picked up over the years are:
- read a bible translation that you haven’t read before
- read the Bible in a different language and translate it
- memorize a verse while you go for a walk instead of reading
- write an article or book based on some theme or experience in your life
- write a fictional account of a parable
- follow a character through the Old Testament
- buy or go online to find a commentary to learn more deeply
- find supplemental books written by Christians or even written against Christianity and develop your own arguments
- write a song, a psalm, a letter to God, a letter to a non-Christian neighbor or co-worker

Example 2) Another issue that I ran into particularly in graduate school is captured by this comment, “I fall asleep when I read for too long”. I approached myself as if I was my own drill instructor and thought of the following – stand up, keep a journal, read short passages at a time and think deeply about them, make a hot drink, go to a coffee house or restaurant so that there is some activity around you.
Maintaining a relationship with God should not be a laborious chore. Nor should it have some sort of guilt associated with it. You ought to want to get up and spend time with God. If you don’t want to then there is something off in your spiritual compass. Find a friend who can help you. Get open with that friend and work on it together until you have your motivation back. “Two are better than one…Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Eccl 4:9-12) Friends in the gospel are the greatest asset that a person can have. Your friends are there for you no matter what. Of course this gets us into the second form of combating spiritual terrorism.

2) Remain in contact with others who can help (1Corinthians 12:12-31)
The Bible is filled with scriptures about friendship, comradeship and interpersonal relations. It is filled with these because that was God’s plan. We are meant for interdependence. We cannot and will not make it through life on our own! A popular phrase states, “There is no Lone Ranger Christianity!” Despite this we will all try to operate on our own. Even at this moment we are deceived to some degree about our ability to handle ourselves.
Interdependence is the key to the Marines in fighting physical terrorism and it is also key to the spiritual Marines fighting spiritual terrorismPaul summarizes the benefit of friendships in combating Satanic spiritual terrorism. “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Heb 3:12)” Sin creeps into our hearts when we are not involved in each others lives. In the scripture, “sin’s deceitfulness:” refers to the weapons that Satan is using on us. It is this deception that snares us into a death trap. In the Marines we were never allowed to spend time alone in a foreign port of call. It was not allowed for good reason, you could easily be abducted and held for ransom. Recently we have seen the gruesome capture and murder of US citizens and troops. A 19 year old in the middle of a foreign country is a ripe target for a terrorist. The same is true for us. We are vulnerable when we are alone, especially in uncharted territory like a new job, children or marriage. I don’t mean that being a Christian means that I call up a friend every time I go to the grocery store, nor do I call my minister every morning to consult on my fashion decisions. Spiritual fellowship means deep relationships that rely on one another to deal with emotions, hopes, dreams, disappointments and tragedies. Satan is not going to literally pick us up off of the street and torture us but he will plant the seeds of doubt in our heads and hearts. Satan will also cause us to second guess our moral convictions on purity, righteousness and morality. When we have a small close-nit group of Christians surrounding us we have the ability to get help and the ability to fight deception.
Being a Marine for God is not a license for independence, it is the responsibility to remain strong and the call to utilize the help that God has provided to be as strong as possible!