Here’s a great quote from the late Dr. Ralph Winter:

People who are won to Christ rarely understand that they have been recruited to become soldiers in an all-out war. However, admittedly, individuals on their own can’t “win a war.” To win a war you need a whole lot of things.

The United States during the Second World War would be an example. Swarms of servicemen (including women) swirled about on planes, trains, and buses, heading off to ports of departure for the various theaters of war around the world. Eleven million were sprayed out across the globe in the Army, Air Corps, and the Navy.

But 200 million civilians staying behind were equally occupied by the war. As millions of men disappeared from their jobs, women took their places. A largely women’s workforce (“Rosie the riveter”) built entire ships in 30 days, medium bombers in four hours. Nylon was needed for parachute cords – no more stockings. No more coffee: incoming ships had no room for such trivialities because more crucial goods took their place.

Any idle moments or unused material were instantly challenged by “Don’t you know there is a war on?” Family outings on Sunday became illegal if any gasoline was used. It had other more crucial uses. You could get a huge fine for unnecessary driving – driving unrelated to the war, like, yes, a family outing on Sunday!

Today, when Evangelical believers get together, they don’t compare notes on how to win the war against the “works of the devil.” They compare prices on home furnishings, vacations, adult toys. Truly, they don’t know there is a war on! To them we don’t live in a wartime economy but a peacetime context.