Fortification Mode
“I’ve got a military background. One of the things that I see in Scripture but I’ve also seen in military tactics is the futility of fortifications. Patton said that building fortifications, you’re just building a monument to man’s stupidity. And we get into fortification mode with the church. We’re building a holy fort here.”
This pastor continues his statement by making a good point that the church is “an offensive army” and that we should be attacking Satan’s fortifications.
That said, warfare is both offensive and defensive in nature. And I don’t believe that the church should look to Gen. George S. Patton’s view of World War II strategy and tactics as an application of ecclesiology over the language of Scripture itself.
One of the blessings of daily Matins is the exposure we have to the Psalms. For in Matins, we not only read them and quote verses from them - we sing them in their entirely, causing us to meditate upon them, and even embed portions of them in memory. They consequently begin to shape our piety, and even our language.
One of Luther’s assets was his former monastic life, which involved committing the Psalter to memory through chanting it in its entirety week after week, year after year. And, of course, daily Matins also means reading large chunks of the Holy Scriptures lectio continua in a public setting: out loud - which provides a deeper meditative experience than simply engaging in Bible Study, silently reading a paragraph here or there, reciting isolated verses as proof texts or debate points, or for religious cheerleading.
I find this pastor’s poo-poohing of the language of fortification to be surprising, especially being a Lutheran pastor. Maybe this is understandable considering that not many of our congregations sing daily Matins, but it’s hard to imagine that his congregation doesn’t sing A Mighty Fortress is Our God - which is Dr. Luther’s paraphrase of Psalm 46.
The word “fortress” appears in Scripture 24 times. Sometimes, this is in reference to a literal military fortification (e.g. 2 Samuel 24:7, Neh 2:8, and elsewhere). But in the 14 times the word “fortress” appears in the Psalms, it is used figuratively as to how God relates to His people. Indeed, the church is to take refuge in God as our fortress - which comes through loud and clear in Luther’s most famous hymn.
In the hymns included in Lutheran Service Book, the word “fortress” appears in six of them. In each case, it is used figuratively, and in all but one case, it refers to God, namely:
“A mighty fortress is our God” (656 and 657)
“Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might” (677)
“My fortress and my rock is He” (719)
“My fortress You shall be” (724)
“My fortress that withstands each shock” (734).
The pastor/podcaster’s point is well-taken that the church should be on the offensive against the kingdom of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh, certainly making use of the “sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” (Eph 6:17). But it is not wrong that we should also make use of the defensive accoutrements of spiritual warfare that are also found in this passage: belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, and helmet (Eph 6: 14-17), and relying on the Lord Himself to be our fortress, our fortification, our stronghold, who does indeed call upon us to be separate from the world:
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”