My son received a marshmallow shooter for Christmas and has had lots of fun playing with it. Knowing that he didn’t have a weapon of his own, we all thought it would be funny for Dad to have a “gun” to show off to all his buddies over in Iraq. (Just in case you didn’t know, my husband is serving there as a chaplain for the US Army, and chaplains in the military are not allowed to carry weapons.) J was very proud to help make it, and so we sent our newly made toy along with a package of marshmallows. I had in my mind that S would “shoot” his friends as they came in his office…and it would really be kinda funny. You know…the chaplain “shooting people” with marshmallows. Not much more was said after we mailed the package, and when S received it, he thought it was really, really cool! He is planning to “tweak” it by painting it camo colors and making some sort of sling for it so that he can carry it over his shoulder. This upgrading and excitement over “weaponry” should not come as a surprise to any of you who know S at all.
What did come as a surprise to me, however, was my son saying that he was glad that S has a weapon of his own now to keep him safe over there. You see, I thought J understood that this marshmallow shooter was just for fun…for S to play with and joke around with his buddies. But to J….knowing that S couldn’t really carry a weapon….it was real protection. He told me that if Daddy saw any bad guys walking by, he could just get them with the marshmallows. I tried to explain to him that the marshmallow shooter wasn’t really for Daddy to use against “the bad guys”…it was just to have fun with his friends.
Can you imagine…going to war with a marshmallow shooter? Can you imagine…compared to the havoc the enemy can create, if all of our soldiers only had marshmallow shooters with which to defend themselves? I thought to myself how foolish it would be if instead of wearing their protective gear, knowing and being able to use their weapons properly, and taking this job seriously, they tore out across the desert completely exposed and shooting marshmallows at anything and everything that moved.
Then it occurred to me…isn’t that how we sometimes approach the attacks that we face daily? We wake up each morning to face our enemy, the accuser, with no more thought than a soldier strapping on a marshmallow shooter to face a terrorist. We expect to be able to handle what the devil throws at us by darting around, trying to miss his fire and then shooting back at him with marshmallows instead of real ammunition. The Bible describes our enemy like this…”our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Why on earth would I even think of going into this battle without the right protection or the right weapons?
Fortunately for S, he is not put into situations where he comes face to face with a terrorist. Because it is against regulations for the chaplain to carry a weapon, other precautions are taken to (hopefully) ensure that he will not need one. He does, however, continue to wear all the protective gear given to him anytime he would be “outside the wire.”
We, on the other hand, are put into situations where we come face to face with the terrorist of this world. And we had better be sure that we not only have all the protection that is afforded us but also the only (and best ) weapon at our disposal, ready to aim and fire!
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…Stand firm then, with the belt of truth…the breastplate of righteousness…your feet fitted with the gospel of peace…the shield of faith…the helmet of salvation…and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” Ephesians 6:10-17
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