There is an old saying that goes, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Essentially, it’s expressing the idea that you should try to get along with people who are fighting the same opponent you’re fighting. It is exactly the sort of thing an enemy would say to get you to let your guard down.
There are certain circumstances where it is obviously a good idea to set aside my differences for the sake of mutual success. If I’m chained to a pagan who is chained to a grizzly bear, I’m going to work with the pagan against whatever plans the bear is making for dinner.
But after we have dealt with the bear, I need to remember that I’m still chained to an enemy. Any actions the pagan took to overcome our mutual enemy were done to preserve himself. It would be a mistake to think he was motivated out of concern for my well being. With the bear out of the way, the pagan becomes my greatest threat.
At this point, I need to remind you that our relationship is based solely on our mutual enemy. This was “the enemy of my enemy” and not an actual “friend.” Please keep this in mind because the rest of this article is going to cause you tremendous emotional trauma if you don’t.
These days, the church is finding itself chained together with pagans and all sorts of beastly foes including loss of freedom, cancel culture, and political oppression. Renowned pagans like Bill Maher, Ricky Gervais, Dave Chappelle, Elon Musk, and others are standing up to these enemies and we’re happy to join them in the fight. We’re sincerely glad to have the help!
But the church must not forget that there are other monsters in the chain like abortion, transgenderism, sexual immorality, feminism, Marxism, CRT, humanism, and a bunch of other sins. The pagans won’t help us battle these enemies because pagans are not enemies of sinfulness. Pagans are allies with darkness. After we’ve worked with pagans to vanquish the common enemy, can you guess who becomes the new common enemy?
The disciples asked Jesus if they should shut-down a dude who was driving out demons and He told them no.
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.”
(Mark 9:39)
This is the biblical version of “The enemy of my enemy is a friend.” Notice there is an important difference! The action is done in Jesus name. The credit for good works goes to Christ. Pagan righteousness is never done in the name of Jesus. The ungodly will only do what is good when it serves their purposes.
Remember, when you’re applauding the heathen for championing a cause that you believe in, they aren’t your friends. Even when they aren’t currently fighting with you, they are always at war with God.
