Spiritual Warfare: Why Christians Can’t Stay in Neutral

Every once in a while, I hear about a preacher or Christian author who dismisses the importance of spiritual warfare. They shrug off the reality of Satan. They roll their eyes at the mention of demonic activity.

According to them, Peter was an alarmist when he wrote, “Be alert and of sober mind.” He should have written, “Relax! Chill out! Satan isn’t a roaring lion—he’s a paper tiger. Don’t worry about him!”

And instead of urging us to put on the whole armor of God, Paul should have written, “You’re saved. You checked that box. Your worries are over. As for the armor of God—leave it at home. You’ll never need it.”

There is a good reason why Peter and Paul did not write such things. They understood that Satan does have the ability to harm us—if we let him. That is why the New Testament tells us again and again to resist the devil, to be vigilant, and to armor ourselves for battle. Your enemy wants to keep you weak and vulnerable to attack, and that is why you must maintain a war footing, an aggressive stance toward Satan.

The vast majority of Christians live their lives in neutral gear. They aren’t trying to move forward and take territory for the kingdom. They aren’t trying to go in reverse and retreat from the foe. They are just idling in neutral, spiritually speaking. They are unproductive for the kingdom of God. They are saved, but their Christian walk is going nowhere.

Stuck‑in‑neutral Christians are profoundly satisfying to Satan. He loves seeing unproductive Christians. There are countless troops in God’s army who have never gone through basic training, so they don’t know that Jesus expects them to be taking territory in his name. One of Satan’s proudest achievements is a Christian who is stuck in neutral.

If you’ve ever been in a car that was stuck in neutral, you know the feeling of pushing the accelerator, hearing the engine rev—but the car doesn’t budge an inch. If you are a stuck‑in‑neutral Christian, you are just like that noisy, motionless car. It’s time to take yourself out of neutral and put yourself in gear.

How do you do that?

You start with your personal spiritual disciplines—studying and meditating on God’s Word, praying daily, and memorizing Scripture. Then you make sure you are involved with other believers, not just attending church on Sundays, but getting involved in a home Bible study and fellowship group.

Volunteer for outreach ministries in your church, such as ministries to the elderly, the homeless, or people in jails or prisons. Volunteer to serve in your church’s food pantry or a crisis pregnancy center. And be ready, wherever you may be—at the office, on campus, in the neighborhood, in the waiting room—to share your faith with friends and strangers.

That’s how you get your faith in gear. That’s how you stop being stuck in neutral. That’s how you start taking territory for the kingdom.

Satan doesn’t want you to be roaring along life’s highway, advancing the cause of Jesus wherever you go. He wants you to be stuck in the ditch alongside the road. He wants you to be obsessed with your annoyances and problems instead of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. He wants to keep you focused on your tiny little kingdom so that you’ll forget about the kingdom of God.

Stuck‑in‑neutral Christians are no threat to Satan. He leaves them alone. I urge you to report for duty and become a soldier of the army of God—a soldier on the front lines of the invisible war, a soldier who makes the devil tremble.