I don’t hear it as much now as I used to but I am still occasionally asked, “Hey, Irv, why the military theme for Every Man’s Battle For Purity? Why not a sports theme or a work theme?” Every Man’s Battle For Purity uses a military theme for its ministry to men for three reasons, none of them political: a) it is biblical, b) the military has values worth emulating, and c) we are at war. Let me explain each reason very briefly.

Every Man’s Battle For Purity is a purity ministry that uses a military theme. We use a military theme for our men’s ministry because it is biblical. The Bible is replete with passages about the military and many allusions to the military. Consider 2 Tim. 2:3, 4, “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. . .” Christians are to endure hardship like soldiers of Christ. In his defense of earning a living from the gospel, Paul declares in 1 Cor. 9:7, “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?” In Phil. 2:25 and Philemon 1:2, Paul refers to Epaphroditus and Archippus, as fellow soldiers. In addition, Christians are called to “put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:12) and “the full armor of God” (Eph. 6:11, 13). There are hundreds of military references in the Old Testament. The military theme is biblical.

The military theme mandates certain values, values that are much needed in our present world. The military places a high value on the chain of command, accountability, respect for authority, esprit de corps (value of the team and unity), discipline, courage, honor, valor, service, and sacrifice. Many of those values are lightly esteemed in civilian life but highly prized in the military where they are lived on a daily basis.

Finally, we are a war! 2 Cor. 10:3,4, says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.” Christians are at war against the world and its anti-God values, the flesh and its desire to sin, and the devil and his evil schemes (2 Cor. 2:11). We fight this war with spiritual weapons: prayer, the word of God, our testimony, and the blood of Jesus Christ (cf. Eph. 6:17, 18, Rev. 12:11). We are never told anywhere in the Bible to take off the armor of God or lay down the sword of the Spirit. We are never told anywhere in the Bible that during this life armistice will be declared and we can stop fighting our three enemies. We are never told that we are discharged from the Lord’s army. All our lives we must “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12) until Jesus comes for us or we fly away to Him in death.

I rest my case. We will continue using the military theme for the men’s purity ministry. There is too much at stake not to. The war for purity is a winnable war.

Last Edited on 11-Jan-2010 5:27 PM