Wednesday, Aug. 24, was a bloody day for Washington D.C.
The Metropolitan Police Department responded to 12 people who were shot on Wednesday, where at least three people died from their wounds.
The police are stretched thin, and are a reactive force for these acts of violence. Unfortunately, that will not stop the waves of crime that plague many of the nation’s major cities.
This upward trend mirrors the spiritual battles that are taking place in the nation’s capital. Citizens see the results of the battles taking place every day, some just do not realize it.
The passing of the so-called “Respect for Marriage Act” was a spiritual battle that took place in D.C. Repealing Roe v. Wade was another act of spiritual warfare that had been fought since the original ruling in 1973. Christians and their prayers helped win that battle, but the war is not over.
God uses His people to accomplish many of His goals on earth. Did Moses not have to raise his arms and keep them held high while the Lord parted the Red Sea? Does Jeremiah 51:20 not say God will use His servants as battleaxes and weapons of war?
Christians are not called to sit on the sideline and be idle as violence erupts across the nation, because there are murders and violent crimes that are on the rise in the U.S.
The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns helped cause a large spike in violent crimes in the U.S. According to data provided by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, violent crime has been on the rise since the pandemic, while property crimes such as burglary and larceny have gone down from 2019.
Believers are able to be something that police cannot be, proactive when it comes to crime. Jesus called His followers to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matt. 28:19). Doing this has a lasting effect on the people who hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It may take time for this change to occur, and there are already people hard at work in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago and other large cities, but the workers are few.
This effect that God has on areas is evident in places like Echo Park in Los Angeles, California, where the Dream Center was founded by Matthew Barnett. An area that was once riddled with gangs and violent crime is now much safer than it has been in the past, and God has played a huge role in the cleanup of that area.
Many Christian leaders, like Mark Batterson, are taking the spiritual fight to Washington D.C. His church, National Community Church, and its multiple campuses are seeking the Lord and taking the fight to the devil on the streets of the U.S. capital.
Jesus addresses this spiritual battle personally in Matthew 9:37-38:
“Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send out laborers into His harvest.'”
The enemy will not stop his mission of inciting violence against mankind. Christians must put on the whole armor of God, and fight for those who live in sin and ignorance. Being proactive in the fight against Satan will yield incredible results for the kingdom of God, instead of being reactive and fighting on the defensive. What the world needs is more laborers attending to the harvest. {eoa}
James Lasher is a Copy Editor for Charisma Media.
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