Whose Armor Are You Wearing?

We all want to be forces for good in the world. How can we do that? It is tempting to use the same methods that the "big guys" use, but those methods are ultimately counterproductive! So what methods should we use? The story of David and Goliath gives us a clue, while the book of Ephesians spells it out for us.

Imagine a forest, a forest that spreads over two hills with a valley between. The forest is large and dense, the trees heavy with fruit, swaying in the wind that blows through it. But as you come closer to this forest, you realize that it isn’t a forest at all; it’s an army! What looked like trees bearing fruit are in reality men holding weapons! They bristle with swords, shields, and javelins. These aren’t trees swaying in the wind; they are men fidgeting restlessly in anticipation of battle. In the valley between stands one lone warrior. He looks like a tree himself, because he is almost ten feet tall and towers over everyone who surrounds him. He is an impressive sight, covered with state-of-the-art armor, and carrying a javelin as big as a tent pole! If you listen, you can hear him calling out in arrogance: “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight together!” But nobody dares to come close to him, because this is Goliath the giant. In the end, the only one brave enough to confront him is a shepherd boy: David. But the idea of sending a boy against such a warrior is laughable! Why, you might as well send out a puppy dog to kill a wolf! That was pretty much what King Saul said when David offered to fight Goliath. Can’t you can just imagine the tone of Saul’s voice? “You’re just a kid! You don’t have any chance against this guy!” But David insisted that he could do the job. He said that God was on his side, and God could take care of any giant, even one as big and strong as Goliath. So Saul agreed to let David have a try.

Then, right in the middle of the story, there’s a scene that most of us overlook (I Samuel 17:38-39). Saul assumed that David will fight the way that every other soldier fought; and so he dressed David in his own armor: tunic, breastplate, helmet, and sword.  But Saul’s armor didn’t fit David! He looked like a four-year-old trying on Daddy’s clothes: tunic dragging on the ground, helmet falling down over his face, breastplate extending to his knees, and the sword whacking his shins whenever he took a step. So David told Saul, “Thanks, but no thanks!” and he took off Saul’s armor. Instead, he used his own armor: his shepherd’s staff, his slingshot, five smooth stones from the creek out back, and his faith in God. We all know the end of the story! One well-placed stone from David’s slingshot, and Goliath crashed to the ground like a felled tree. David didn’t need to wear Saul’s armor to get rid of Goliath.

I wonder if we might learn something from David. He is showing us a way to deal with the powers that we all have to confront at one time or another. There are still a lot of Goliaths around: big, arrogant bullies who insist on having their own way. They just look a little bit different than they did in David’s day. Our Goliaths are big, impersonal systems who trap us. They’re economic policies that keep whole segments of society in poverty; powerful corporations that exploit their workers and our environment; and a political system that rewards big donors and special interest groups. These are the Goliaths of today. And it’s so tempting to try to beat them at their own game, so we put on their armor and adopt their methods! We try to beat power with more power; we try to use violence to defeat violence; and then we wonder why we never come out ahead! But that wasn’t David’s approach. David killed Goliath not by trusting the most high-tech armor, but by trusting in God! Maybe we should rethink the armor that we put on when we go out to fight our Goliaths. Maybe we should consider wearing God’s armor instead of Saul’s. God’s armor is very different, you know! God’s armor is a deep confidence in God: a trust that God will take care of things if we will just do things God’s way! The book of Ephesians 6:10-18) describes that armor; and it even explains how to put it on.

First, we buckle the belt of truth around your waist. Now, although today’s belts are put on last, this type of belt was put on first, underneath all the rest of the armor. It held your long tunic secure so that you wouldn’t get tangled up in it. You had to have on a belt if you wanted to make any quick movements in close combat! It makes sense that the belt of God’s armor would be truth. You can’t move quickly if you’re caught in a web of lies. The belt of truth is the foundation of all the rest of the armor.

Then, we put on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate was the largest piece of the armor, and it protected all the vital organs in the chest. What else than a righteous life would offer us the most protection? After all, if we don’t lead righteous lives, something that we’ve done may turn around and bite us in the backside when we least expect it! Right living is the biggest single piece of God’s armor.

After we have donned our belt and our breastplate, then we need appropriate footwear. Soldiers of that day would have worn heavy sandals or even boots to protect their feet. But what we want to wear is the gospel of peace. We want to stand firmly in the good news of the gospel!  Strange, isn’t it? We get ready to fight by putting on peace.

But we’re not ready yet! Now we need a shield; and it’s a big one! The Greek word that Ephesians uses here indicates a large wooden shield about 4 feet high and 2 ½ feet wide, all covered with heavy leather. Soldiers would soak their shields in water before battle to protect from flaming arrows shot by enemy soldiers. Our shield is faith, and it turns aside the arrows of doubt, pain, despair, and grief when they fly at us. They’re scary arrows, that’s for sure; but our faith will keep us safe.

God will help us with the rest of the preparation. Our helmet is salvation, and only God can give it to us. It protects our head while we do battle, and it comes with a lifetime warranty! No matter how severe our injuries, our helmet of salvation guarantees that we will never be destroyed. Finally, our sword is God’s word. The Spirit gives our sword its sharp edge that lets it cut right to the heart of things, through all the fraud and deception that its enemies can throw at it. But this sword is not a word of judgment; it is God’s word of peace and reconciliation, helping us to fight hate, prejudice, and alienation.

God’s idea of fighting is certainly different from the world’s idea of warfare, isn’t it? We go to battle through peace; we fight by loving; we conquer through God’s good news of salvation! The Goliaths of the world can’t fight against this type of warfare! They are doomed to lose in the end, no matter how powerful they appear to be. Someone once said that fighting against God by using Goliath’s tactics of bullying and arrogance is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. You can pound away at it all you like, but it won’t do you a bit of good in the end!

So, in the end, we have a choice to make. We can clank around in Saul’s armor and try to fight use the Goliaths in the world with their own methods of bullying and violence; or we can put on God’s armor and fight the way that God wants us to fight: with truth, righteousness, faith, and peace. Maybe what David said to Goliath will help us to make that decision: “It is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves,” he said, “for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.” May we, like David, be wise enough and brave enough to reject Saul’s armor and put on God’s.