Remembering 9/11
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”
1 John 4:1-6 (NIV)
As we remember the attacks on September 11th, we also recognize the parallels to the spiritual attacks that we as Christ followers experience. These attacks come against us as believers, the church of Jesus Christ, and the purposes and plans of Jesus on the earth.
The first parallel is that the enemy is subversive. Both the 9/11 attackers and the devil, our spiritual enemy, had this in common. The enemy blended in, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, hiding, deceiving.
The second parallel is that the enemy had a plan. Our enemy has a plan and is patient, and will wait until we are vulnerable. The goal of the enemy is to destroy, to steal and kill (John 10:10). On 9/11, there were very specific targets: the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and even the White House. Often, the enemy will attack our strong places, our giftings, or our anointings.
The attack also came at the top of the World Trade Center. So many of us are attacked in the same way, with the enemy targeting our minds. God calls us to have a renewed mind, a mind that takes every thought into captivity to Christ, a mind submitted and aligned to the word of God. The enemy will also use our own resources against us. On 9/11 the enemy used US training, US planes, and US money to put together the attack. In our lives, our spiritual enemy will often use our own resources against us, especially our words. Guarding our tongue is not just about what we say to others, but also what we say against ourselves (Proverbs 21:23).
America’s response after the 9/11 attack, teaches us how we need to respond in these days as the body of Christ. After 9/11 we were united as a country. As the church now more than ever we must unify. Jesus prayed in John 17:21, “that all of them may be one.” Paul echoes this in Hebrews 10:25, urging us to not give up meeting together. We unify as the church when we connect with one another, commit to each other, pray for each other, and speak the word of God into each other’s lives. Through that unity the nation came together to serve each other and restore what was broken. Many of our 9/11 heroes selflessly served, serving others at the sacrifice of themselves. This is the same spirit of Christ for us to have in our own lives, the spirit of serving others. Finally, we also went on high-alert as a nation. TSA was born and flying has never been the same since. As the church of Jesus Christ, we need to wake up, to stay on high-alert, to keep on serving, to keep on fighting, unified together in Christ.
