The night sound of insects and the crackle of a small fire were suddenly shattered by the sound of the explosion. Operating in the lowland rice paddies of the An Hoa Valley, we had determined that the safest entry into the Viet Cong (VC) village was to blow up the bamboo barricade on the main path into the village. The VC used extensive booby traps in and around their villages to achieve maximum casualties against American units operating in the area. We had spent several days observing their activities, so we knew the best time to attack was just before dawn. The element of surprise was on our side, and we were able to capture many VC without a major gun battle. Crashing the gate was necessary if we were to engage the enemy on the other side.

Gate crashers — that should be one of the major job descriptions of the Christian warrior. In Matthew 16, Jesus and His disciples are in Caesarea Philippi in the northern part of Israel. If you visit there today, you’ll see the ruins of the many Roman pagan temples that were present in Jesus’s day. They were referred to as “the gates of hell.” It was here that Jesus asked His disciples a penetrating question: “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’” (Matthew 16:13, ESV). After giving their various answers, He asked them who they thought He was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God,” for which Jesus commended him. “And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’” (Matthew 16:17-18, emphasis mine).

Let me ask you this: Have any of you been attacked by a gate lately? Inquiring minds want to know. I ask because, for the most part, the Church in America is playing defense, and in spiritual warfare, defense is not a winning strategy. Gates are meant to keep some people in and other people out. The gates of hell are meant to keep lost people in and, the enemy is hoping, Christians out. Here is how it works with regard to the lost: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Corinthians 4:3-4). That blindness is what allows the gates of hell to keep them captive. They’re not coming out. We have to go in!

Let me ask you another question: Have you done any gate-crashing recently? Do you even know where the gates of hell are in your neighborhood and city? Those gates are wherever you find lost people, trapped in the bondage of their sin. You don’t have to go far to find them, and you find them the same way we found the Viet Cong in Vietnam — we went looking for them. We would talk to the Vietnamese people we met. It didn’t take long to figure out who was a bad guy and who wasn’t. That means that you and I need to patrol our neighborhoods. We meet our neighbors and get to know them. The better we know them, the easier it is to see the blindness the enemy is using in their lives. Then we use prayer as the weapon of choice to bring down those strongholds of sin and unbelief. “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (II Corinthians 10:4-5).

This is where we stand by faith in the promises of God. Jesus told us that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. Peter tells us that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (II Peter 3:9). James tells us that “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). You and I are “righteous” because we are in Christ, clothed with His righteousness. In Vietnam we conducted “search and destroy” missions: search for the enemy and destroy him, freeing the people from their oppression.

As Christian warriors, we need to conduct search-and-destroy missions in every area God has placed us to free the lost from the oppression of the devil. Let’s bring the weapons of our warfare to bear on the strongholds of the enemy. Remember, people are not the enemy. They’re prisoners of a cruel adversary, an adversary we’ve been called to engage. I’m speaking to myself here when I say it’s time to go on the offense. What say ye, Man of Valor?