CHURCH - No Man's Land

No man's land. The most talked about and popular scene in the new Wonder Woman movie. It is a land that needs to be conquered before reaching victory. 

Yes, it is certainly representative of courage, power, and compassion that women hold that has been silenced throughout history. For Diana, Princess of Themyscria, no man's land is not about proving her courage or proving that she is better than the men in the trenches. It isn't about her OR the men who wouldn't step up. It is about those who had made vulnerable at the hands of the enemy. 

Diana, in a feat of courage and conviction, charges forth into said no man's land to not only defeat the enemy's territory, but to save the vulnerable, who have been held back from their human flourishing and destinies because of what the enemy has stolen. Diana charges ahead with bullets flying. The faster she runs and the more flying bullets she dodges, the more relentless the enemy's attack. But she literally stands her ground with an impenetrable shield. Bullets shooting, flying everywhere, every which way and she uses the shield alone to block the enemy's attack. In stepping out of the trenches and into no man's land, she instills courage into soldiers that they have not been given nothing fight. They remember what is at stake, move out of fear and into courage to fight alongside Diana. 

CHURCH - Do we have the same view in the Kingdom of God? Of others? Marching into no man's land is about human flourishing for the sake of the King's land. Do you fight for human flourishing and justice for the physically and spiritually marginalized and forgotten? 

CHURCH - Are we stuck in the trenches, afraid of the fire that flies above our heads?

Diana had a holy anger when seeing injustice and no one fighting for the other. She DARED to defy what the world said was battle. Her ultimate mission was to find Ares and destroy and kill him, and in the process recognizes how deeply she cares for those who have been made subject to brokenness and ill will. 

At one point, Diana flip dives for her shield when it is knocked out by an enemy soldier. Do you flip dive for the Word when you're in battle? She went in "blind" in a sense that she doesn't know what's ahead, but she goes in with total sight through the confidence in her shield, sword, and knows there are people behind her, fighting with her, protecting her, trusting her, championing her. In the minutes following Diana's conquering of no man's land, she flips the military tank shooting the local people. 

Jesus flipped tables out of holy anger, Diana flipped army tanks out of holy anger! What will you flip? What will you say "NO, NOT HERE."

Diana did not disregard those who doubted her. Instead, in kindness and grace, she called them friends and asked them to fight with her. She invited them into a greater battle that would ultimately serve the greater good. Her victory was not in her own strength and confidence, but in the assurance that justice, compassion, and the other was worth it...and that it had to be done together. 

CHURCH - When it comes to spiritual warfare, pacifism is not an option. This is not a statement about politics. You MUST fight. There is a Kingdom to be built. So DARE to march into no man's land. DARE to reclaim what the enemy has begun to steal, kill, and destroy. Reclaim it, and take steps of faith to restore and redeem what rightfully belongs to Creator God. 

CHURCH - Do not steal, kill, and destroy one another. Do not give Satan what he wants when by spending all your time comparing yourself to the soldier standing next to you. So what if their armor looks stronger? As a young boy, the soon-to-be King David refused King Saul's armor because it did not fit him, and weighed him down. Wear your own armor. KNOW your own armor. Yes, it is far more complicated than that when you bring in social, political, and economic constructs. And I don't have answers. I don't know it all. But God speaks.

CHURCH - Will we LISTEN?

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." - Hebrews 12:1-3

CHURCH - We live in no man's land. The only difference is that the victory has already been won. You fight not to see if we win the war. You fight because Christ has won the war. We run into no man's land that has been conquered by the one who breathes life and defeated the grave. 

CHURCH - Count the cost. Be spent for Jesus. 

CHURCH - Wake up. Get up. Look up. SUIT UP.