Satan Doesn’t Use Rubber Bullets

“Why did you have real bullets?” That haunting question was apparently asked by Becca Good, partner of the activist Renee Good who was shot in an ICE encounter. I make this observation not to comment on homosexuality, or activism, or what is and is not the right use of force. Those are important debates, but they are being hashed out elsewhere. I simply want to observe a tragic dimension of a tragic event. Neither woman involved in the ICE encounter seemed to really understand what was at stake. The situation was far more dangerous than they realized. Becca Good apparently didn’t even think ICE even had real bullets.

Some have mocked this statement. “How could you think those weren’t real bullets?” But I think I know what she meant. Anti-riot gear sometimes involves the use of rubber bullets. These are obviously meant to be incredibly painful, but not lethal. Becca Good apparently didn’t think that the ICE agents they were talking to had real ammo. She probably saw the guns, but must have assumed they were using rubber bullets. As she sadly learned, the officers did in fact have real ammo. Part of the reason for this tragedy is that the stakes were much higher than either woman realized. 

I use this as an example of a similar but incredibly more serious problem. Christians often act as if Satan is using rubber bullets. They wouldn’t say it, but the way they behave treats sin as something light or non-serious. Yeah, their sin might hurt, but it’s not like it’s going to kill them. They don’t realize the incredible danger they are in. Not physical danger, but spiritual danger. Physical danger might be more immediate and more obvious, but spiritual danger is more deadly and just as real. As Jesus reminds us, there are spiritual consequences far deadlier than simply losing one’s life (Matthew 10:28).

Paul warns us that we need to take up the shield of faith so that we can “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16). When we hear “fiery darts,” we might inadvertently think of something less serious than what Paul meant. For us, darts are something small you throw at a board. But newer translations rightly render this something like “flaming arrows,” which is a better picture. If you got hit in the chest or the face with a flaming arrow, there was a good chance you were not going to make it. In other words, the imagery that Ephesians is using is that, to put it in modern terms, Satan is firing live ammo and not rubber bullets.  

God has given us the tools we need through the gospel. We have the shield of faith, as we already mentioned, but we also have God’s Word, our salvation, righteousness, and the gospel (Ephesians 6:13-17). But when we ignore these pieces of armor, throw them off, or act as if putting them on is optional, we are in great danger. We might as well walk into an active battle zone wearing a t-shirt and gym shorts. Why would we do such a thing? Because we don’t take seriously the threat that Satan poses. 

We know that God will ultimately be victorious. Yet while Satan is guaranteed to lose the war, he can and does win battles and inflict much damage. Sadly, he has been highly effective despite his inevitable failure. If you look around carefully, you’ll see the carnage everywhere. 

You’ll see the hollowed-out looks of women whose husbands left them for another woman. You’ll see frustrated young adults leave the faith because of the rank hypocrisy and anger they saw at home. You’ll see confused young men in tears because they saw a pastor or youth pastor crash and burn. You will see people dealing with the lifelong scars of foolish decisions they made with no serious thought given to the consequences for their actions. Years of pain and sorrow that was the result of a single decision made in a moment, or of a series of bad choices that slowly led someone away from the God of life and toward death. The battle against evil is not cosplay. It’s not a game or some form of lighthearted play. It’s a life and death struggle against very real spiritual forces that hate us and want us dead. If we fail to realize that, if we fail to take seriously the stakes of what we are involved in, we could end up paying a tremendous price and hurt a lot of other people. 

None of this is meant to overwhelm. We should take the battle seriously, but we shouldn’t be defeatists. As we’ve already seen, God gives us everything we need to succeed. Success is possible, but it will require a humble, serious earnestness that matches the seriousness of the battle we are in. Too many people haven’t taken it seriously, and they have paid an awful price. This doesn’t mean there can’t be forgiveness and restoration. God is greater than all of our sin. But our sin will burn us and those around us. By God’s grace we can crawl from the wreckage we create intact, but we will never be the same. It’s little wonder that Christ ended the Lord’s Prayer with, “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13, CSB).

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Ben Hicks is the Associate Pastor at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis. This article originally appeared on his Substack.

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Photo by Aakash Dhage on Unsplash