INTRODUCTION
As we consider the state of our culture around us, it is manifestly clear that things are not normal. We all see trouble on the horizon, but some qualifications must be made. We know that many terrible things are coming—most of which are not going to happen.
Worry agonizes over a thousand things, most of which do not materialize, and all that expended energy doesn’t do anything much except tighten up all the muscles in your shoulders and neck, and give you problems with sleeping. So each day has enough trouble without you bringing in your imaginary supplements (Matt. 6:34).
At the same time, some of these difficulties are obviously going to materialize. What should we do to prepare for them?
THE TEXTS
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: But the simple pass on, and are punished”
(Prov. 22:3).
“The simple believeth every word: But the prudent man looketh well to his going” (Prov. 14:15).
SUMMARY OF THE TEXTS
Anxiety just spins your wheels pointlessly. But sharply distinct from sinful worry, we do find in Scripture the virtue of prudence. A prudent man sees possible trouble coming and prepares accordingly. The first proverb above commends the wisdom of such preparation, and warns us that the simpleton goes on blithely unaware and catches it in the neck (Prov. 22:3). The second proverb condemns the practice of reading every hysterical thing on the web you can find, and getting yourself into all of a doodah. That is a simpleton’s way also—giving way to doomscrolling, which is a hindrance to wise preparation.
What pending trouble does is remind us of our duties, but these are not just our duties in times of pending trouble, but rather are our constant duties, as pending trouble so kindly reminds us. So what follows are seven key principles to remember as you seek to get you and your family into fighting trim. You could call these pastoral exhortations, or perhaps pastoral exhortations from a Dutch uncle. This is how you should strive to become a wise spiritual prepper.
WORSHIP GOD REGULARLY
One of the early fathers said lex orandi lex credendi—the law of prayer is the law of faith. Liturgy shapes us. The way we worship shapes us.
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to
be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13).
“Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men” (1 Cor. 14:20).
Come to worship prepared for the time to help you gird up the loins of your mind. Prepare for the worship to mature your understanding. This is the way.
DEAL WITH PERSONAL SIN
Learn to confess your sins to God, honestly and forthrightly. He sees down to the sludge layers at the bottom of your heart anyway, so there is no sense trying to blow sunshine at Him. Simply acknowledge it. Ask Him to deal with it as only He can deal with it. You know He wants to.
Confess your sins (1 John 1:9). Forsake them (Prov. 28:13). Just as Achan was for all intents and purposes fighting for the Canaanites, so you also are on the other side if you are nurturing and hiding some misbegotten sin in your life. You cannot prepare to withstand the enemy when you have made your own secret alliances with the enemy. And this means that, to take one common example, if you have a secret porn habit, regardless of your ostensible politics, you are cheering the progressives on. Stop rationalizing, and just deal with it. All of the lunacy that we are currently dealing with is downstream from the sexual revolution, and could not have happened apart from that sexual revolution. Reformation in the church—which is most necessary—is not going to happen apart from full and complete repentance on this issue.
MINIMIZE ENCUMBRANCES
When we are told to run the race in Hebrews, we are told to prepare ourselves to do so by setting aside the weight that so easily entangles us. We are beset by sin, the passage tells us, which was my first point, but there are also weights that get in the way.
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).
In ordinary times, it is good and proper to use up all your available bandwidth with various projects, challenges, commitments, and so on. But now may be the time to streamline. This is not because the coming crisis is a time to be lazy, but rather because you are freeing up available bandwidth so that you can protect your family more effectively. Those of you who have a lot of projects going are doing it so that you might provide for your family, which is a good thing. But your other central duty is that of protecting your family, and we may be moving into an era where protection takes priority over provision.
Streamline your affairs, wherever possible. The riches of this world and the cares of this world are not sinful in themselves (Matt. 13:22), but they do have the capacity to choke out the Word.
STOCK UP ON THE WORD
Now is the time to become serious about storing up the Scriptures in your heart and mind. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Prov. 119:11)
You worship God in a church that is logocentric. You can’t turn around in the liturgy without bumping into Scripture. You have the kind of service that enables you to memorize multiple passages of Scripture simply because you have heard them read or declared so often. In addition, you should be a regular, diligent, focused Bible reader. And sing the Word. Learn the psalms. Sing the psalms also (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19).
DO NOTHING THAT FEEDS YOUR FEARS
It would be better to go into a time of trouble with a true evangelical confidence and no freeze-dried food, than to have a generator and lots of gas that represented, in a rather tangible way, the sum total of all your fears.
Do not prepare for trouble in any way that paralyzes you. Hoarders and preppers are often susceptible to the temptation that says, “There is no conceivable way that we will ever be on the offense.” But you can’t score points unless you have the ball.
We need a new brand of preppers—postmill preppers, prepping for actual victory, which leads to the last point.
ASSUME THE POSTURE OF VICTORS
We should be preparing in our hearts for that glorious moment—after fierce fighting—when we raise our flag on the top of a spiritual Iwo Jima. As Chesterton once put it, there is one taste of paradise on earth, which is to fight in a losing battle, and then not lose. Or as Aragorn put it, “Men are better than gates.”
“This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).