Definition

The military defines engagement as “In land and naval warfare an engagement in which a unit is considered fully committed and cannot maneuver or extricate itself. In the absence of outside assistance the action must be fought to a conclusion and either won or lost with the forces at hand.”

Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines engage as: “to pledge oneself: promise; guarantee; to begin and carry on an enterprise; to take part: participate; to enter into conflict; to come together and interlock (as of machinery parts).”

To mobilize and deploy forces and ministries but not to engage in the spiritual battle would be to assume an act of surrender. The above definition has three parts and implications for the church:

• “To take part, or participate” indicates that people must take ownership of the mission and join their energies to the overall battle against the enemy,
• “To enter conflict” indicates that we are committed to the mission before us; no room for retreat.
• “To come together and interlock” indicates that we must join forces together and lock ourselves in unity for the outcome of victory.
The Scriptures speak about the need to engage in battle against the enemy of our souls:
• 2 Corinthians 10:4: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
• Leviticus 26:8: “Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.”
• Luke 10:1: “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.”
• James 4:7: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
• Matthew 18:19: “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”

Each church should actively “engage the enemy” with participation from each church member. When “interlocked” encouragement and counsel are present to assist in maintaining the motivation to remain in the battle and win the victory.

Every Christian has spiritual gifts that are necessary for the Church to be victorious in the battle. As the church engages the enemy “interlocked” each person will have opportunity to utilize his special giftings.

Readiness Checklist

To successfully complete the engagement phase you will need to:

• Chart the activities of all units
• Accuratly report unit results
• Celebrate successes
• Evaluate and modify strategies
• Send all units out again
• Use intelligence (feedback) to assure success
• Keep troop morale high