Recently, I applied to join the local chapter of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), based on my experience with many of our country’s recent conflicts: Panama, Gulf I, Iraqi Freedom, and others. I quickly learned that my rank of Casual Observer in the CNN Corps did NOT entitle me to membership!
My real experience with war is thankfully very limited, so to prepare for this essay, I turned to the most reliable source I could think of: a major motion picture!
Frank Miller’s 300 is the story of the 300 Spartans who held back a massive Persian assault for three days at the Battle of Thermopylae.[1]
When Paul wrote about Spiritual Warfare and the implements of that war, he used Roman imagery to illustrate his message, which would have been very familiar to Paul and his audience. Even though the Battle of Thermopylae was centuries over by the time Paul wrote, the Romans emulated the successful fighting style of the Spartans. So can we learn something spiritual from an R-rated movie? I admit it’s a stretch, but if you are with me this far, then read on, my brother!
Reading assignment: Ephesians 6: 10-17
So how did the 300 Spartans fight, and how does it relate to modern Christianity and Spiritual Armor?
1 They were highly disciplined.
Ø Spartans were trained from youth to fight.
Ø Christian, are you ready for battle, what is your training regimen?
2 They showed up – despite popular opposition.
Ø The rest of the Spartan army stayed home.
Ø Christian, are you in the fight?
3 They came prepared.
Ø The Persians tried to intimidate the Spartans by threatening to “blot out the sun with their arrows”. To which the Spartans replied, “Then we will fight in the shade!” Bravado? Machismo? Yeah, but backed by the Spartans’ hoplon (shield) which was made tough to weather the storm of arrows.
Ø Christian, are you carrying your hoplon? If you are indeed in the fight (see #2), Satan will shoot so many missiles and arrows that the sun will seem to be blotted out. As Paul writes, extinguish them with your Shield of Faith.
4 They refused to surrender or compromise.
Ø The Persian captain commanded the Spartans to lay down their weapons, prompting King Leonidas’ famous reply: “Come and get them!”
Ø Satan would love for you to drop your spiritual armor, make him come and get them.
Ø King Leonidas was offered everything men desire: safety, high position, power, wealth, VIP-room at all the best clubs in town, etc. All he had to do was to bow down to Xerxes.
Ø Draw your own conclusion here.
5 Last and most important: The 300 stood together.
Ø When Paul wrote in Ephesians, he was not imagining a Medieval Knight, so often pictured in Christian images. If the 300 had used a lone-ranger approach, they would have been gone in minutes and we never would have heard of them. The Spartans (and later the Romans of Paul’s day) fought in phalanx, shoulder to shoulder. In the movie, the loner Ephialtes is rejected because he cannot hold his shield up to protect the next man in line. King Leonidas repeats the phrase drilled into him by Spartan training: each soldier protects the man on his left from neck to thigh.
Ø Christian, look to your left – are you holding up your shield of faith to protect your brother neck to thigh? Look to your right – whose shield is protecting you?
[1] Warning: gratuitous nudity, sex, and the most violence this side of Saving Private Ryan.
