Nowadays, if someone wants to describe something in a negative light, we find the word “weaponize” often used. The assumption behind the negative use of this word seems to be that “weaponizing” something is always bad.
Most assuredly, at a time when weapons of war are being routinely used as implements of senseless slaughter, we can understand why many would both speak ill of weapons in general and use this word as a means of negatively labeling language and ideas employed in situations of conflict. But when all is said and done, conflict remains an inescapable of reality of life on this sin-cursed earth, and in conflict of any kind, weapons of one sort or another are inevitable.
God’s Word as a Weapon
All of us are participants in the greatest war ever fought—the great controversy between Christ and Satan. There is no “conscientious objector” status in this conflict, no spiritual Switzerland to which one may flee to avoid the struggle. And Scripture tells us that weapons are needed by God’s faithful in the prosecution of that struggle.
The apostle Paul writes of the ultimate weapon in two of his epistles. Describing the spiritual equipment required of God’s saints in the struggle against sin and Satan, Paul writes:
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace:
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:13-17).
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12).
When certain Christians speak negatively of those who “weaponize” the teachings and moral precepts of the Bible, it would seem they have ignored such passages as the above. The Bible, its doctrines, and its moral imperatives, do indeed constitute a weapon, with which the true follower of God may defeat and put to flight the adversaries of the human soul.
Some in contemporary Adventism have recently spoken ill of church members who in their view have “weaponized” the writings of Ellen White. But according to Ellen White, those writings are as much a product of the divine hand as are those of the Bible. In her words: “The Holy Ghost is the author of the Scriptures, and of the Spirit of Prophecy” [1]. While those writings are not an addition to the Bible [2], they are still the Word of the living God, much as the teachings of Elijah and John the Baptist constituted the Word of God every bit as much as the writings of Moses and the apostle Paul. In one statement Ellen White warns:
In reading the Testimonies, be sure not to mix in your filling of words; for this makes it impossible for the hearers to distinguish between the word of the Lord to them and your words. Be sure that you do not make the word of the Lord offensive [3].
Make no mistake about it. God’s Word is a weapon. Whatever inspired counsel He has given to guide and direct His church, at any time, is an implement of war by which we may defeat Satan and his allurements. Of course, like the above statement says, we aren’t to make God’s Word offensive by mingling what we say with what God says. Ellen White continues in the above statement by admonishing: “By our ill-advised words their (our hearers’) spirit is chafed, and they are stirred to rebellion” [4]. This we dare not do. God’s weapons are to be used in God’s way, not in ours.
Carnal Weapons
The mingling of our own words with the written counsel of God is but one way whereby carnal weaponry injures—and makes more difficult—the needful warfare of God’s people against sin and apostasy. The apostle Paul draws a contrast between carnal and spiritual weapons in such verses as the following:
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Casting down imagination, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Cor. 10:4-5).
Many conservative Christians in America today are falling victim to the lure of carnal weaponry, as they seek to employ civil government as a means whereby consensual choices with which they disagree are forbidden and criminalized. Certainly we live in a time when immorality of every stripe, sexual and otherwise, proliferates in society. But choices of an intimate nature belong solely within the purview of the conscience, and are not the rightful province of a non-theocratic state. Moreover, no legislative or judicial decision can make anyone’s thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Only a heart-conversion, and the attendant power of God’s forgiving and transforming grace, can pull down the wicked strongholds of the human heart and give the sinner victory over sin.
As Jesus was being arrested in Gethsemane, the future apostle Peter tried to defend his Master with carnal weapons, only to receive the command, “Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matt. 26:52). This is the kind of warfare in which the Christian should not engage. The use of force in God’s name is the mark of the system identified in Revelation as apostate Babylon (Rev. 14:8). The bride of Christ, in contrast with the Babylonian harlot (Rev. 17:2), employs the power of persuasion, inviting all to come willingly and partake of the water of life freely (Rev. 22:17).
Conclusion
In short, “weaponize” is not a four-letter word, certainly not in the spiritual realm. Whether we like it or not, we are at war. And in a war, weapons are needed. Carnal weapons such as physical or civil force are disallowed (Matt. 26:52; John 18:36; Rev. 14:8; 17:2), but the weapon of God’s Holy Word—with its power to convict and transform—lies at the Christian’s disposal (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12). And when wielded by converted and consecrated hands, that weapon is invincible.
REFERENCES
1. Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 30.
2. ----Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 663.
3. Ibid, vol. 6, pp. 122-123.
4. Ibid, p. 123.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan