In the school I am attending, we talk much about shaping the battlefield. The U.S. Army manual tittle ADRP3-0: Unified Land Operations states; “A shaping operation is an operation that establishes conditions for the decisive operation through effects on the enemy, other actors, and the terrain.” In short, shaping the battlefield is all of the things that must be done to prepare that battlefield to give our units the best possible opportunity for success.
In churches across America, we do the exact opposite. We talk much about Evangelism and making efforts to go straight to sharing the gospel, but we rarely discuss shaping the environment.
The Holy Spirit amazingly still works in people’s lives, but could we be hindering the Spirit’s work by neglecting this important piece of the work?
I believe shaping the environment consists of Prayer, Bible Study, and Service. We must take time to set the conditions for more and more people to be open to the gospel.
We must pray. We must merge our interests with the Holy Spirit, so that he can speak through us! The Bible says that “we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV) That is our first task in shaping the environment for evangelism. We must get ourselves right with God, first, in order to be an effective ambassador of Christ.
We must study the Bible. The Bible teaches us that the word of God is useful for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV) If we are to do good work in the future, we must know the scriptures. This is the second task of shaping our environment, knowing the Bible.
We must do good works. Jesus set a great example for us. Jesus, throughout the New Testament, did good works. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. We must be people of service. This is a third shaping effort—to do good works.
Can God use us if the environment is not shaped? Yes, he is God. But, if God has called us to take the gospel to the world, we must take the time to shape the environment so the gospel can move among the people.
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Photo: DVIDShub.net
1st Lt. Travis Leach, 3rd Platoon Leader in Alpha Company, 1-160th Infantry and member of Riverside Sheriff’s Dept., calls in a situation report after his platoon seized the objective during a platoon attack live-fire exercise held at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. on June 12, 2015. The exercise tests the ability of the unit to fire and maneuver on an objective to accomplish the core mission of the Infantry – close with and destroy the enemy. (US Army photo by Capt. Cody Gallo)