"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
As you mull this verse over in your head, read this Fable from Aesop's collection, and think about it's connection.
"A dispute once arose between the Wind and the Sun, which was the stronger of the two, and they agreed to settle the point upon this issue--that whichever of the two soonest made a traveler take off his cloak, should be accounted the more powerful. The Wind began, and blew with all his might and main a blast, cold and fierce as a Thracian storm; but the stronger he blew, the closer the traveler wrapped his cloak around him, and the tighter he grasped it with his hands. Then broke out the Sun. With his welcome beams he dispersed the vapor and the cold; the traveler felt the genial warmth, and as the Sun shone brighter and brighter, he sat down, quite overcome with the heat, and taking off his cloak, cast it on the ground.
Thus the Sun was declared the conqueror; and it has ever been deemed that persuasion is better than force; and that the sunshine of a kind and gentle manner will sooner lay open a poor man's heart than all the threatenings and force of blustering authority."
Did Aesop use this as a parable for evangelism? I can't know for sure. One thing is sure, that the application to our method of preaching the gospel is much like the Sun in this story. With the gospel of Christ, we bring the truth in love, a light shining bright in darkness upon the hearts of men. We display the glory of God, and the horrible burden of sin, in hopes that, as the man did with his cloak, men would cast off sin and turn towards the narrow way which leads to life.
In conclusion, I will repeat what I have written previously:
"Our war is not with men. It is with the hearts of men. We are not fighting against flesh, but against the carnal nature which overwhelms the flesh! We are not fighting against those who dwell in darkness, but we fight against the darkness that dwells in those men! “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence” indeed, and “violent men take it by force.” (Matt. 11:12) But this violence is not to strike fear in your hearts, but to strike love in your hearts, love for God, and a hatred for sin. Jesus himself is the first one to love:
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:6-8)
God Bless you all, and stay tuned for my upcoming note on presuppositionalism!
In Christ,
Levi Gray
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