War and Boring Lives

Boredom is a huge problem in America. Do you recognize the spiritual battle we are in?

By John Kuyper Liberty

Boredom is a huge problem in America

We wake up, brush our teeth, eat some food, work our jobs, eat some more food, relax, brush our teeth again, and sleep. On the weekends, we try to make our lives exciting. We try new restaurants, binge watch new shows on Netflix, hit up the latest superhero movie, play 18 holes, or window shop for hours on end. But if we are honest, these things are rarely as ever fun as we hoped they would be, and it rarely satisfies our boredom. We know that our short-lived fun will soon be over when the alarm hits Monday morning.

The reality is, we are in a monumental war whether we realize it or not. Wars are a lot of things, but they are not boring. Our war is primarily a spiritual war; bigger and more important than the Trojan War, the Napoleonic Wars, and even the American War for Independence or WWII. Our lives may seem boring, but the problem is that we lack spiritual sight. The New Testament frequently refers to the Christian life in terms of battle (Eph 6:10-20, 1 Tim 6:12, Phil 2:25, Philemon 1:2, 2 Tim 2:3-4). Our sin and Satan are warring against us (1 Pet 2:11, Jam 4:1, 1 Pet 5:8, 2 Cor 2:11), and we are to make war against them (Rom 8:12-13, Col 3:5, 1 Pet 5:9, Eph 6:11).

So what does it look like practically to fight in this war of all wars?

There are many ways, but here are a few:

We fight by relying on the Holy Spirit, knowing that without Christ we can do nothing.

We fight by continuing to believe the gospel; to keep trusting Christ alone for our righteousness and forsaking our own self-righteousness. To remember that our enemy cannot hold guilt over Christian’s heads, because Christ has already won the victory and God has declared us “righteous”.

We fight by digging deep into the Bible on a daily basis to see and savor Jesus Christ, and by obeying all of his commands for his glory and our joy in Him.

We fight by praying, relying on the Great Soldier who makes every victory possible.

Men, we fight by manning-up in the Biblical sense, denying both cultural tough guy machismo and little boy cowardice, pursuing true masculinity as men who treasure Christ, take responsibility, and are both tough and tender. We fight by discipling, loving, understanding, and constantly serving our wives, or preparing to do this for our future brides.

Ladies, you fight by running from the lies of cultural feminism like Eve failed to do in the garden. You fight by hoping in God for your happiness, leading to joyful and fearless submission to your husbands as an irreplaceable wise, prudent, gospel-saturated helper.

We fight by teaching the gospel and the Scriptures to our children, and confessing sin to them, showing them why we need Jesus just as much as they do. We fight by getting on the floor and playing with them, asking them questions and listening to them, taking an interest in their interests.

We fight by serving our local churches, remembering that the church is central to the mission of God and how we treat our local churches is how we are treating Christ himself.

We fight by living on mission, not worshipping our own comforts and entertainments, but utilizing our time, talent, and treasure to seek the advancement of the gospel into new families, neighborhoods, cities, and unreached peoples.

We fight by getting deep into intentional gospel-centered discipleship, pursuing and getting involved in training up others who are younger in the faith, and sitting under those who further along in their fight.We fight by teaching others and learning from others how to apply the implications of gospel grace into every corner of their lives.

We fight by working hard in our jobs, laboring that we might bless the world, provide for our families, and support the ministry of our local church.

We fight by gazing at Christ and looking upon the cross, both when we win and lose battles. Looking at the cross keeps us from becoming prideful when we win, and from despairing when we lose. We fight by remembering that our Chief Soldier does not condemn us and that he, by the Holy Spirit, is the one who gives us all of the victories and will bring total victory soon.

Every moment of our lives is a moment of war. There are no boring moments when we realize what is at stake: the glory of God, our joy in Him, and the eternal souls of our neighbors. May God, by his grace, help us to fight well.