Enemy Territory

 Enemy Territory

By Olya Lambert

 

“Si vis Pacem, Para Bellum”

(If you want peace, prepare for war)

I have no military background or experience, but it is my understanding that an essential part of military training and combat is to study the enemy and to be able to identify the enemy’s resources, movements, and intentions with utmost precision. And gathering as much intel as possible or failing to do so, can easily become a matter of life and death during military combat.

While our scriptures are replete with war vernacular, not only do we tend to underestimate the opposition, at times we deny its existence altogether, as if that could somehow work to our advantage!? The “clear and present danger” of the Adversary and his minions is neither clear nor present to us, at least no more than fictitious events of an action-packed thriller.

We tend to be selective about the things we believe and don’t believe. And although the LDS rhetoric has been inundated with the concept of “opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11) for what seems like ages, its literal application doesn’t seem to sink in. We have faith in a loving Heavenly Father, but the existence of Lucifer, His Arch-Enemy is not one we are comfortable with. This truth leaves such a bitter and overpowering taste in our mouths, we hurry to choose between the two options we do like: to have our cake of more “palatable doctrine” or eat it, too. Nephi’s warning of the Adversary’s tactic to obfuscate his ominous existence seems to be lost on us:

And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance (2 Nephi 28:22).

But whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, the millennia long battle over the souls and agency of men rages on. Dostoevsky insightfully points out that “God and the devil are fighting… and the battlefield is the heart of man” (The Brothers Karamazov). WE are the battlefield!!!! Our hearts, minds, our focus, desires, our energies. And our ability to recognize and carefully gather intel on the Enemy.

The earth, as beautiful as it is, is where Satan and his followers were cast down to. We are in Enemy territory!!! President George Q. Cannon tried to help the saints get a more accurate vision of the hostile spiritual environment we live in:

I have come to the conclusion that if our eyes were open to see the spirit world around us, . . . we would not be so unguarded and careless, and so indifferent whether we had the spirit and power of God with us or not; but we would be continually watchful and prayerful to our heavenly Father for His Holy Spirit and His holy angels to be around about us to strengthen us to overcome every evil influence.[1]

Joseph Smith frequently spoke about the “apostles in ancient times” as holding the keys “of the mysteries of the kingdom” and their ability to cast out devils in the name of Jesus”.[2]  Joseph, who had such a dramatic first-hand experience with the Adversary immediately prior to his first vision was not one to underestimate or minimize Satan’s power.

Joseph spoke of discerning of spirits and counterfeits, casting out devils and summoning angels. To Joseph and the early saints all of these were everyday realities, practices and necessary safeguards. To us these vital pieces of spiritual weaponry are like the “Forgotten Carols” we may or may not have heard about. The loss of these “plain and precious” truths and doctrines speaks volumes about our current situation. Unwritten volumes of Truth…

The best place to hide a lie is right in the midst of unquestioned truths. No one will ever think to look there. In an organization where people have perfect faith and confidence in their leaders, all the Adversary must do is to ‘Pied Piper’ the following members straight out of Hamlin.

A false belief that makes us vulnerable to the Adversary is a notion that the Lord’s church is perfect and infallible and has remained such since its organization. Such understanding is not scriptural!!! In many of the standard works the lessons the Lord tries to teach are quite opposite: vineyards fail and need to be burned (Jacob 5), tares infiltrate the wheat “in the last days” (D&C 86), salt loses savor, to name just a few.

I am not a proponent of finding fault with organizations or people. The light of Christ, His teachings and goodness transcend all boundaries and can be found anywhere “two or three are gathered in His name” (Matthew 18:20). But letting down our guard in this world, within or outside the church, doesn’t work in our favor any more than walking out into a mine field without a metal detector.

The Lord’s admonition to His disciples is equally applicable to us as it was to them: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Christ, having experienced persecution from early on in His life, told His friends to take an offensive stance, to be on their guard.

As the battlefield of our hearts expands and the internal conflicts spill out into our lives, relationships and communities to reflect the perilous times we live in, may we seek the Peace of the Peace-Giver, but vigilantly and intelligently prepare for War.

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[1] Alonzo L. Gaskill, “Doctrine and Covenants 129:8 and the Reality of Satan’s Physicality,” Religious Educator 8, no. 1 (2007): 31–54

[2] https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/times-and-seasons-1-april-1842/1