Put on the Whole Armor of God

(10) Last of all, I must remind you that we are all fighting in a spiritual battle. We are weak human beings, so let your strength come from our Great Warrior Chief. (11)The only way to stand strong against the war plans of the evil trickster is to put on Creator’s war garments. (12) But remember, we are not fighting against human beings. Our battle is against the evil rulers, the dark powers, and the spiritual forces of the unseen world above and around us.

(13) Once you are fully dressed for this war, you will be able to stand your ground in this day of the enemy’s rule. You are now ready to make your stand—so stand strong. (14) Wrap the sash of truth around your waist, cover your heart with the breastplate of making wrongs right again, (15) and put on your feet the moccasins of Creator’s peace treaty, so you will always be ready to tell the Good Story as you walk the road of life. (16) Then you must raise high the shield of trusting in Creator; this will put out the flaming arrows of the evil one. Dont forget to (17) put on the headdress of Creator’s power to rescue and set free, and use the long knife of the Spirit—which is the word of Creator coming from your mouth.

(18) All of this is done by prayer, sending your voice to the Great Spirit, asking him for all that is needed. As you pray with the help of the Spirit, stay alert and keep all of Creator’s holy people in your thoughts—praying for their needs. (19) Also ask Creator to give me the right words to speak and the courage to make known the mystery of Creator’s Good Story. (20)This is the reason I now represent the Great Spirit as a captive in chains. So, pray that I will speak with boldness and not hold back.

-Ephesians 6:10-20, First Nations Version


Photo by Kelly Drury


Maybe you’re emotionally strong. Maybe you can handle a lot of pressure, work at something for long hours, day after day. Maybe you’re the emotional anchor in your family and everyone leans on you for support. I’ve often wondered – when does being strong become tiring? I guess you could say it depends on the source of one’s strength.

Strength, courage, and resilience have always been a part of who we are as Native peoples. But a retelling of history has shown us how the Native way of life was disrupted and destroyed. A people driven from their lands, forbidden to speak their languages or express their cultures. Diseases introduced. Near-extinction. Killed. Intentionally pitted against one another. Children taken from families and placed in faraway boarding schools facing abuse of every kind. Taught to stifle God’s gifts of culture. Worst of all, taught to be ashamed of being Native.

For many, strength is survival. For many, and I know for me, strength is a struggle. It’s a constant challenge to feel and identify. It’s no secret that many Native communities are facing serious difficulties. Poverty, violence, poor health, suicide, unemployment, addiction, and hopelessness are widespread. In part, these difficulties are symptoms of unresolved historical trauma. This concept of historical trauma attempts to convey how the effects of collective injuries such as genocide and discrimination can linger for generations. I know for me, strength is a struggle.

Any typical translation of the pericope of Ephesians 6:10-20 is a battle cry from the Apostle Paul written originally to addresses spiritual issues at the Church at Ephesus. According to Paul, the battle that rages is a spiritual confrontation with eternal consequences between the people of God and Satan’s minions. Any typical translation of this would confuse and discourage me because of its original context. The metaphor of the armor of God utilized by Paul in this passage implies a sense of a fully armed, well-trained warrior, and in context, a Roman soldier. Paul admonishes us as believers to utilize the armor of God in order to effectively withstand the incessant spiritual barrage which they will daily confront. As a descendent of a historically traumatized people, my armor is not the armor of a Roman soldier. My armor was deemed pagan. In the Western church, I have been fully re-armed in a context that has belittled and dehumanized. To be native and to put on the armor of God with a Western worldview is to fight a battle that rages within, a battle that Paul rightly calls a spiritual confrontation.

In my life I’ve become tired, felt alone and misunderstood. For as long as I’ve walked in my Christian faith journey, I’ve felt out of place in the armor of God. I’ve worked and continue to work toward understanding the process of decolonization – and how the gifts of culture and way of life that God has equipped me with is strong and acceptable.

The First Nations Version encourages me to do exactly that: be strong in the gifts and skills my Creator God has placed within and before me. This recent translation is a reminder that the spiritual battle which Paul describes in Ephesians 6:10-12 is not meant to be fought from afar. It’s a battle much closer than we think. We are commanded to be ever ready to put on the complete armor of God and to run to the battle however God presents it to us.



Bethany Printup-Davis is a seminarian at Wesley. 
Interested in the translation used in this reflection? Read more here.

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