Questions & Answers

Q. Don’t I really have to fight Satan alone? Why do you say we’ll lose the battle if we hold on to American individualism?

A. To understand why we must face Satan together, think about the beginning of the human race.

Though God made Adam to be perfect, He did not make him complete. Instead, God designed Adam so he would need a helper (Eve). God made Adam and Eve strong enough to do anything He asked of them if they worked together. As individuals they were too weak not to eat of one tree in the Garden of Eden. But they could defeat Satan and all his evil designs if they helped each other! Unfortunately, they forgot this before the serpent came to tempt them, so Eve tried to battle Satan alone and lost. 

God’s strategy seems to have been to create an interdependent creature (mankind) where individuals would combine their strength to defeat whatever Satan threw at them. That is why we are not strong enough to defeat Satan alone. Even some of God’s strongest heroes, like King David and Samson, were too weak when facing great temptation alone.

Therefore, rugged individualism is just plain foolish. And trying to live the Christian life without close Christian relationships is dangerous.

The apostle Paul said we’re fighting “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). So it’s not a one-on-one fight. We face a whole array of evil forces, and we had better be part of God’s army when the battle ensues.

How does God’s army fight together successfully? By obeying the Togethers mapped out in Scripture.