Normally, it's quite easy to identify the strongholds others have built - the stronghold of man-centered religion, the stronghold of human tradition, the stronghold of various forms of false teaching. We can also identify the strongholds of secularism in our materialistic environment. On a daily basis, we encounter people who employ rationalizations and self-justifying logic to justify their lack of trust in God. When we talk to them about Christ, they assure us they are quite self-sufficient. Unlike Christians, they don't need some kind "crutch" to prop themselves up. They know how to handle problems. Their reasoning is hollow and it's not all that difficult to see through, especially when a crisis unravels their self-sufficient coping mechanisms.

Unfortunately, those of us who claim to be people of faith often fall into some of these same traps. We can't think our way out of the jams because we won't let Christ be in control of our thought processes. In short, we haven't taken every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. Maybe some of those strongholds have been constructed around our own minds.

Strongholds That Threaten Christians.

Christians need to demolish their own strongholds when they find themselves determining their values by this world's standards. In verse 3, Paul wrote,

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

The NIV translation leaves me a little bit disappointed because it uses the term "world." "World" can be construed to mean "terra firma" - the physical earth. There are some good things on the earth. In the original language, Paul used the term which means "flesh." That term is preserved in both the KJV and the NASV. "Though we walk, in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh." (KJV). Perhaps J. B. Phillips got it about right when he translated the section this way, "Although we lead normal human life, the battle we are fighting is on a spiritual level."

That which seems reasonable, justifiable and fair by human standards is frequently at variance with Christian thinking. That simply means we don't deal with problems the same way the world does when we have a Christian mind set.

We are constantly tempted to conform to this world. The world controls the flow of money, prestige and power. Because we live in the world, there is a tendency to think we're going to get the short end of the stick if we don't compete on the world's playing field, using the world's rule book and master the world's strategies.

Paul would remind us that there are two classes of people in the world and two classes only, those who mind the things of the spirit and those who mind the things of the flesh.

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
(Romans 8:5).

To think our way through spiritual problems, we must wage war with carnal minded people on spiritual terms. In verse 4, Paul said ". . . the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world." Those who mind the things of the flesh battle with the weapons of intimidation, manipulation, propaganda and deception, but we cannot afford to wage war with those weapons. It's like using chemical weapons in wars between civilized nations. It's unthinkable.

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