Burn Your Boats: Why Comfortable Christianity Is Exactly What the Enemy Wants
St. Ignatius, Sun Tzu, and the call to stop looking back and start living with holy fire. By Kevin Philip, Boats on Fire Catholic Ministries
The Battle You’re Already In
St. Ignatius of Loyola describes our Christian life as one among the battle of the Two Standards: “the one of Christ, our Commander-in-Chief and Lord; the other of Lucifer, mortal enemy of our human nature” (Spiritual Exercises, 136).
Ignatius reminds us that “Christ calls and wants all under his standard, and Lucifer, on the contrary, under his” (ibid. 137). He doesn’t describe it as a battle between two equal armies squaring off in a gentleman’s game for dominance (sorry, Hollywood!). Jesus’ victorious Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection is a crushing trifecta to Lucifer and his minions. However, like an animal writhing in its death throes and desperate to take you down with him, Lucifer will tempt you with the shininess of wealth, prestige, and pride … knowing that these snares are the gateway to “all the other vices” (ibid. 142).
The Enemy Doesn’t Need You Evil—Just Comfortable
His aim, however, isn’t solely our Salvation.
Lucifer’s plan for your life includes the Big, Comfy Couch of Mediocrity. He will be doubly pleased if he can impede your spiritual growth, quench your zeal, and make you any less than living to your fullest potential and completely consumed by the fire of God (Hebrews 12:29).
An Ancient General Understood Something We Often Forget
Sun Tzu was a Chinese thinker and military man who lived around 400 BC. He was convinced that comforts (big or small) can distract us from victory.
“At the critical moment, the leader of an army acts like one who has climbed up a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him … he burns his boats and breaks his cooking pots” (Sun Tzu, Art of War, 38-39).
When faced with insurmountable odds, Sun Tzu understood that the only possible movement toward victory is unrelenting forward motion.
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FEATURE
Burn the Boats. Break the Pots.
Christians have a duty to kick away the ladders toward sin, to burn the boats that carry us back to the old ways, and to destroy the cooking pots that stifle forward motion. God asks us to surrender ourselves completely to him and to plunge deep into Love’s Crucible: the Living Flames of his Sacred Heart.
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
You Have One Job
The Second Vatican Council remind us that we have one job to do: to proclaim the Gospel with a zeal more intense than that of the early Church. You and I have been tasked by the Father to Proclaim the Gospel with the power, anointing, and fire of the Holy Spirit (see Vatican II’s “Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity”).
Say “YES!” With Everything
You only need to surrender to the Holy Spirit and say, “YES!” with every iota of your being. Hold nothing back and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus in the miraculous might of God.
The Same God Who Created the Universe Wants to Empower You
The God who created every molecule is ready to give you all of his creative might to empower you to burn your boats and carry out your one job: to Proclaim the Gospel (Acts 1:8).
Kevin Phillips
Boats on Fire Catholic Ministries
https://boatsonfire.net/
