building castles
i was watching the history channel the other night. the theme of the show was about the first castle built in England. the first castle built in England was built by Julius Caesar. here’s a part of the story…
Julius Caesar had the head of the armies of England trapped on a mountain. he divided the men into teams of 10. 2 men would stand guard, 8 would work on the “castle.” the castle was in fact a wooden fence erected around the armies of England. the first fence was 11 miles around the perimeter. after the first fence for the castle was built, trapping the leader and his army. Caesar led his men to move outside of their camp and build another fence that stretched 26 miles around the perimeter, this fence served to keep any reinforcements from coming to the aid of the English leader.
around the second fence he built a series of ditches and moats. in each of these ditches weapons were planted. some of these weapons were very diabolical. there was one where small iron hooks were embedded into the ground and covered with straw and ground material. when the English marched into/ran into the trenches the iron spikes would go up through their feet and trap them and they became easy targets for the Roman archery soldiers.
here is the comment from an expert on medieval weapons. “this is an act of aggression and that is what castles are for. Castles are weapons of conquest, built not for defense but of conquest.” that is a huge difference in how most of us look at castles.
a few years later Emperor Constantine built a fort that became Constantinople the seat of the Roman Empire and where the Roman Empire became “Christian.” it stood for 1000 years. this fort was built as a place of safety. it worked for a long time. eventually the muslims found the weapon that would destroy it. and ultimately the Empire fell.
two lessons for me. 1. the church was built not as a fortress of safety but as a place of attack to surround the enemy. remember Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail.” ATTACK! 2. when the church becomes a fortress of safety eventually the walls crumble. i am not a military man so i may be speaking out of turn here but it seems to me in my history of 50+ years that the wars that the USA has fought on the offensive we have destroyed our enemy. when we become the police state we have not done quiet as well. armies are offensive in nature. aggressive, seeking the enemy to destroy.
from these lessons, when the church stops being aggressive in seeking out the enemy and turns in on itself, the church begins to fall. the enemy “satan” has the church right where he wants us.
we must keep on the offensive: evangelism, church planting, loving and serving our neighbors, making a difference in the community. we have to meet satan on his turf: taking good news into wherever he has sought to destroy the family (divorce, adultery, finances, etc.), the individual (addictions, alcohol, drugs, pornography, self esteem, depression, sickness, etc), or the church.
i am really tired of the complaints about “someone didn’t say merry christmas” are they believers? is the store representing itself as Christian? or “they didn’t pray in school” have you noticed the lifestyle of some of these teachers. i don’t want them leading my children in prayer. we want non-believers to act like believers. why should they?
be on the offensive church, attack injustice, not your rights but the rights of the oppressed and the abused. child labor laws were created because the church saw an injustice and did something about it. stop complaining…live and love like Jesus…then the devil trembles, we surround him and he is defeated. that is a true fortress of offense. the church needs to learn how to use the building as an offensive fortress and not a defense.
