Boys and their Bible’s
I remember as a little boy hearing about putting on the “full armor of God.” I especially recall the part about taking up the “sword of the Spirit” which is the word of God. Our patient and gentle teachers in what was called “Junior Church”—filled with us kids eleven and under--would put up flannel graph figures on their board, little paper cut-outs of the elements of armor typical of any soldier during the days of the Roman Empire.
Most of us boys were little prepared to hear about the “sword of the Spirit.” The Junior Church teachers would have us hold up our Bibles, many of them formidable sizes dwarfing our little hands. And almost without fail, and certainly without any formal whistle blowing, we would start hitting each other with our “swords,” Bibles as “billy-clubs”—continuing long after the admonishments of our matronly teachers telling us to stop.
Years and continents away from any real wars, battles to the death could be simply fun and games for little boys basking in the peace of family, neighborhood, and church stability. “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so” melodically hovered like a dominant chord of perpetual reassurance. We as little boys could gleefully play at war, shoot toy guns, being still assured that our mommies would tuck us in at night after the bedtime story. We might be afraid of the “Boogie Man” hiding under our bed at night, but not any real enemy out to truly destroy us.
Half a century removed from those little boy days, I’ve tried to stop hitting someone over the head with my Bible. I’m slightly more prepared to understand the necessity of “putting on the full armor of God” in order “to take my stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6: 11-18). The pieces of armor are many, molded to protect us in very real spiritual battles.
Saint Paul describes a “belt of truth” buckled around the waste –truthful and eternal assertions meant to frame life’s journey, prioritize goals, and throw aside any heap of distractions.
There’s a “breastplate of righteousness” available, meant to protect from the assault of self-deceit and the murderous effect of living lies.
Battle shoes to put on, foot-ware designed to help us run swiftly to God’s present and eternal peace—and they always fit!
And there’s a “shield of faith” with which we can ward off the chaotic voices that seek to immobilize us with lies from the pit of hell, lies like “fiery darts” that could burn down houses filled with grace.
The Apostle Paul rounds out the array of spiritual armor with two additional weapons for life’s battles: a “helmet of salvation” and the “sword of the Spirit.” The helmet is beautifully designed to protect our skull and brain from arrogant ideas of self-righteous condescension and feelings of moral superiority. To put on this helmet is to be reminded of the central truth of salvation by grace through faith alone. To take up this sword is to dissect and diffuse enemy elements that seek to steer us from the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5: 22-23).
As a ten-year-old boy I was very unaware of how much I needed the protection God provides in life’s daily and ultimate battles. As I get older and, frankly, closer to crossing the “Red Sea,” putting on the full armor of God is a daily, even moment-to-moment exercise in training for battle.
And now I can watch my grandsons hit each other with their over-sized Bibles.
Paul D. Patton, Ph.D., is a professor of communication and theater at Spring Arbor University in Michigan. He has graduate degrees in Guidance and Counseling, Religious Education, and Script and Screenwriting, and a doctorate in Communication with an emphasis in theater arts. He has been married to his wife Beth for over forty years and has three daughters (all actresses)—Jessica, Emily, and Grace, three sons-in-law, David, Joe, and Eric, and four grandsons, Caleb Rock, Logan Justice, Micah Blaze, and Miles Dean.