Who Is The Enemy In Animal Welfare?

Animal welfarists get angry, and rightly so. Some may not carry out their advocacy in a loving manner. Many blame the perpetrators calling them the enemy. The truth is, God’s people need to begin showing welfarists the correct example of stewardship and dominion, teaching who the enemy really is (Ephesians 6:10-20), getting in the trenches with them in their fight against the tyranny toward God’s creation. 

Animal welfarists are right in many respects. They are responding to evil that has been unleashed upon creation. The movement needs church leadership to infiltrate with God’s love and grace. It very much needs the direction of the Saviour through God’s people to help them understand how to reclaim creation from the stronghold Satan holds over people, especially perpetrators.

Jesus’ disciples are called to stand apart from the rest of the world, to live counter culturally, aligning themselves with Yahweh’s will, and in as much as possible, to refrain from and come up against the autocracy over his creatures. The church is often critical of the animal welfare movement, and yet stand silent on the issues themselves.  None of this is said to judge any one person; I am calling on church leadership – their voice is needed among animal welfarists who are doing the best they can, lacking Godly direction.  Welfarists themselves need the church to reach them for Christ.

God is moving in our world. The message is getting clearer and clearer that he wants his people to be morally responsible for the creation he placed in our hands so long ago. He wants us to reclaim our rightful, Christ-like, loving, power under dominion upon the earth, demolishing the stronghold Satan has had over us in this area since the beginning.

“…and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:3,4

The spirits at work in the world that are behind all the violence, greed, gluttony, wrath, lust, pride, sloth, and envy taking place, using mankind to fulfill Satan’s purposes, are not from God.  Anything happening that does not look like Jesus dying on a cross to redeem all that the Father created in order to establish Christ’s dominion upon the earth, is not from God. Yahweh is not orchestrating the evil we see for some higher purpose. On the contrary, he is working to reclaim what Satan means for evil, to make it reflect instead the good that he always intended for his creation (Romans 8:28; a fabulous sermon on this topic here).  And he needs his people to be his hands and feet alongside him, manifesting the Christ-like looking dominion he lived, died and rose again to establish. This is our place and always has been our place in the scheme of what God is doing in the world!

Conclusion

Advocating for animals by fighting against what is seen happening to them by retaliating in any like manner using hateful language, despising perpetrators, will only exasperate the issues.  It will discourage the church.  The only way to advocate for animals that will in the long run affect a positive outcome is to do so in a loving fashion.  As Bonhoeffer said in his quote, we speak and we act – and we do so out of love.

People who perpetrate are victims, too.  The world is held hostage under Satan’s control.  Christ defeated Satan, “setting the captives free” (Luke 4:18) by the way he lived his life, loving enemies, teaching compassion, mercy, kindness.  It is imperative we “put on love” in all we do (Colossians 3:14).  This does not mean that there should not be consequences for perpetrators, as of course there should be.  We fight for laws to reflect appropriate corrective actions.  We also should seek to help perpetrators gain understanding of what they do.  Humane Christian education is essential.  It is especially important to pray for opportunities for perpetrators to receive the Gospel message and for their repentance.

The reason putting on love is so important is because love is the entire purpose, the entire story, the all encompassing nature of what Yahweh’s kingdom upon the earth is supposed to reflect.  We manifest the Father’s love for all – enemies included – this is how we reclaim the earth, this is how Yahweh is establishing his kingdom upon the earth.

“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles…”  (Proberbs 24:17)

For those who would like to go deeper into spiritual warfare, click on the tag for the subject (here is one article).

Thank you for reading and following our blog.  We pray that you are blessed by it.  Please share with others, thank you!  We welcome comments or suggestions.  Blessings ~ Kathy