The Foot On Neck Principle

13. December 2007 by BruceSmith.

Toward the end of the conquest story in Joshua chapter 10 comes an interesting development. Verse 24 tells of Joshua and his men putting their feet on the necks of the defeated leaders. The verses following tell of Israel’s total annihilation of the enemies they faced. What is the point of all of this brutality and apparent gloating? Are such verses there to assure readers of the terrifying nature of a blood thirsty divinity? On the contrary, I believe these verses are intended to instruct the reader on some critical principles regarding the nature of our battles against those things which seek to destroy us and rob us of the promised land.
For many the Christian experience, even after many years of journeying, is less victorious than it ought to be. While I do not believe that the Christian experience is to be one blissful high after another, free from all struggle, as some television personalities and charismatic mega-church leaders seem to be persuaded, I do believe that God desires the normative Christian experience to be one of fully devoted and thriving followership. That is to say, we ought to be overcoming and defeating besetting sins which rob us of the life and testimony God desires us to have.

Research studies have demonstrated that very few people actually achieve any meaningful and lasting change in their lives. Astonishingly, studies done on heart attack victims bear out the sobering reality that even life threatening situations don’t bring about change in many people. Yet, what the research also shows is that of those 10% of individuals that do achieve lasting change, 90% of them do so amidst stressful and life shaking events. It would appear that we tend to be open to life altering change only when the stakes are high, very high. It is then we get really serious about life change.

Now back to Joshua chapter 10. What I believe verses 24 and following offer us, is a clear view of the critical importance of defeating those enemies which seek to rob us of that which God desires for us. For the Israelites, the command to finish the job and finish it royally, was an instructive measure that had to be headed. Why? Because, until and unless the enemy is totally wiped out, the potential remains for a future resurgence and recapturing of God’s people. The same is true for us. The “foot on neck” principle applies to our spiritual lives just as much as it did to the nation Israel in Joshua 10. The reason so few of us attain what God considers to be normative (fully devoted followership) is that we do not take seriously the nature of our sin. Further, we tend to think what appears “normative” in society, is o.k. for us. We enjoy grading ourselves on a moral curve when it appeases our conscience. Rather than embrace God’s call to holiness, we are o.k. with our relative “goodness” when compared to serial killers, serial adulterers, corrupt CEOs, and fallen Evangelists.

What we must realize if we are to live the life God offers us is that God knows how destructive our sin is to us and to those around us. When He offers us a moral code which is in stark contrast to what we see around us, it is not because He wants to rob us of the fun in life. Rather, He knows full well that unless we abandon the wide road taken by the majority we will never be free of the kinds of habits and cycles which keep us from life to the full. Unless we are willing to put our foot on the neck of those tendencies in us which kill the life of God in us, we will never achieve lasting and life-giving change. Sin, anything short of God’s standard, is that deadly serious–as serious as a heart attack.

Just as it was for the nation Israel in Joshua 10, it remains so for us today. We must be brutally serious about sin, the enemy of our soul. Rather than viewing it as entertainment, in reality, we must see the deadly nature of a distorted practice of Christian living. The label does not secure the life we long for. I know many a Christian who claim the name, yet, break marriage vows which such frequency it boggles the mind. And yet, they wonder why they are not experiencing the life of God as revealed in scripture. Likewise, I know many a “Christian” who wonder why they are always depressed, sad, lonely, and confused, all the while ignoring the many and various addictions to a multiplicity of drugs, drink, and other consumptive practices. Further, many Christians cannot begin to understand why they have never found the “soul mate” they so desperately crave, while they ignore their habitual tendencies to date any person of any stripe or any belief or practice. We tend to be a people who want our cake no matter how dangerous the cake may be once consumed. Yet, we wonder what is amiss. We take the bait like Adam and Eve when the enemy comes to say, “Did God really say…”.

If we are to find the kind of life Jesus assured us we can have, we must be a people who hunger and thirst for the paths which lead us to that promised land. Israel was not called to journey up the hill, casually smack a Canaanite or two, and then carry on like it was just another day. Nor were they to take the hill, and then just hang out occupying the land while getting to know the enemy a bit better. It was not about occupation. This was the point of the command to publicly humiliate the enemy by putting their feet on the necks of their defeated foes. The life of a vibrant, healthy, and victorious Christian is attained as we take the nature of sin seriously, believe God’s way is the better way, and ruthlessly eliminate moral mediocrity from our lives. The life we all want is found along The Way. No other route provide a way to the full life. It has not and never will work.

Put you foot down! Go get the life He offers.

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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