Persecution vs. the Enemy's Attack

I take issue with teaching that goes like this:

"When you start walking in signs and miracles, the enemy will retaliate — by this method or that — to make your life miserable or to persecute you."

They're conflating two different things.

1. Persecution for proclaiming Christ.
2. The attack of the enemy.

These are not the same, and mixing them up leads people astray. It causes fear and double-mindedness.

Persecution is what Christ told us to count the cost of. People will hate you because you know him, because you carry his name, because you proclaim him. That's the cost. And in the middle of it, he sets a table for you in the presence of your enemies — at times feeding you from their very hands (Psalm 23:5).

The enemy's attack is a different thing entirely. They come against the children of God — and against those who aren't — because they are evil by nature. There's no rhyme or reason to it. They'll find any way in that they can. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10); that's not retaliation, that's just what they are.

Here's the part people miss: when you get your house cleaned up, the enemy who was already inside is now put out — no longer inside. So now they have to climb back over the wall. They have to force the gate again. That makes them easier to spot coming. But the fact that someone whose house isn't clean doesn't seem to be under attack doesn't mean they aren't there. If they're already in the house, they don't need to make it obvious. They're already close enough.

This is the same picture Christ gave of the unclean spirit that goes out, wanders through dry places, and then says, "I will return into my house" — and finding it swept and put in order, goes and brings seven others more wicked than itself (Matthew 12:43-45). Once the house is clean, the spirit that got kicked out doesn't vanish — it either looks for a way back through the gate, or looks for another body to inhabit. Their attack is now more visible because they're attacking from the outside, trying to force their way back in, instead of already being on the inside. That does not mean it is retaliation. They do not need a cause to attack.

And this is where the teaching gets it backward on Scripture too. God said if you obey him, you will come against your enemies and they will flee before you seven ways — completely scattered (Deuteronomy 28:7). That's the promise: obedience routs the enemy sevenfold. But we've flipped it into:

"If you come against the enemy, they'll come back at you seven different ways."

as if obedience invites sevenfold retaliation. It's the opposite of what the verse says. If you think that way, you will come against the enemy expecting retaliation — opening the door for them to come in again and wreak havoc. When the truth is, they're not coming back. If you come against them in obedience, they are completely scattered. That's the promise.

So here's the wicked thing in this teaching: someone activates your gifts with good intention, tells you "now that you're walking in these gifts, the enemy is going to retaliate against you" — and what actually happened is the one who imparted the gift just opened a door. Because the word carries authority. The enemy doesn't need an excuse — by their own nature they'll come in, and now it's easier, not because you provoked them, but because the door's been named for them.