Giant Killers

I am rereading the book Giant Killers, by Dennis Jernigan, for the third or fourth time. He points out that when David killed Goliath, he picked up five stones from the brook. And in fact there were four more giants mentioned in Scripture that were killed by David and his men in later years. Goliath was just the first, and his name actually means “to be disgracefully stripped naked.” The other four giants were:

Ishbi-Benob (“to retreat”) – 2 Samuel 21:15-17
Saph (“to snatch away”) – 2 Samuel 21:18
Lahmi (“foodful”) – 1 Chronicles 20:5
And the unnamed six-fingered giant – 2 Samuel 21:20-21

Jernigan parallels these giants to some we face today—shame, discouragement, fear, evil desires, and enslavement to sin. I don’t know about you, but I’ve met some of these guys. Some of them seem to come back to life when I think they’re dead, and sometimes they come one after another.

As I’ve been reading this book I’ve also been listening to Mark Driscoll’s sermon series on Ephesians, which is closely related to his book Who Do You Think You Are? Both Jernigan and Driscoll do a good job of reminding people that the way to defeat the giants we face is to remember who we are in Christ. Our tendency is to define ourselves in terms of our status, our circumstances, or our sin. “I am” —married/single/divorced, parent/grandparent/childless, unemployed, white collar, bankrupt, alcoholic, drug addict, victim, adulterer, sinner, guilty, ashamed, etc. But are those the terms God uses to define us? As Driscoll says, “Those things may help explain us, but they don’t define us.”

Instead, God says we are saints, blessed, saved, reconciled, gifted, new creations, forgiven, adopted, loved, victorious, etc. If we rely on our human terms to define ourselves, we miss out on the strength, courage, and hope that come from being rooted and grounded in Christ. If we start to believe who God says we are, we should find that the giants in our lives lose their power. They don’t necessarily stop showing up entirely, since we are still in the middle of the battle, but they won’t win the war.

When the Israelites first encountered Goliath, they believed the lies that they were weak and couldn’t win the fight. David realized the truth that the battle belonged to the Lord, so he took action against the giant. After he killed Goliath, he probably didn’t expect to encounter any more giants, but because of his faith in God and with the support of his men, each giant was defeated.

The lies of the enemy are so pervasive that we forget they are lies. If we define ourselves as victims, we will act like victims and never find healing. If we believe we are sinners, we will continue to give in to temptation and never realize the freedom we have in Christ. If we believe we are rejected, we will act like we’re rejected and never have the confidence to experience the adventure of living as God’s children. We need to remember who we are in Christ and learn to live accordingly, no matter what comes our way.

We also need to be careful how we define others. We need to remember that our fellow believers are also forgiven, loved, new creations. If we use God’s perspective, it is easier to love some of those folks who get on our nerves or seem to keep doing the wrong things. If we look at them with God’s eyes and treat them accordingly, they may learn to look at themselves differently, and that can make a huge difference in their lives.

In our relationships with unbelievers, viewing them from God’s perspective can also change their lives. It occurred to me this week that if we say we “hate the sin but love the sinner,” perhaps the first thing we need to do is stop looking at them in terms of their sin and start looking at them as individuals who were created in the image of God, who God loves and is pursuing, and for whom Christ died. Yes, it is true that they are sinners (just as we were before we were saved), and that they need to repent, but it is the Holy Spirit’s job to bring conviction and repentance. Our job is to show them God’s love in action. If we can’t look past whatever sin “defines” that particular person, maybe we need to take a hard look at ourselves and deal with our own pride or judgmentalism. All varieties of sin are reprehensible to God, so just because one particular variety makes us more uncomfortable doesn’t give us the right to condemn one person as worse than another.

I can’t think of anything that gives me more confidence when facing giants or more desire to change than to know that God loves me unconditionally. Because of Jesus my sins (past, present & future) have already been forgiven, so nothing I can do will separate me from His love. And I can’t think of anything that reminds me of that fact better than a few people who know me well and love me anyway. I know what that has done for me, and I can only imagine what it would do for someone who has not yet met the Savior. Will they meet Him through my love or yours?