Volume 28, No. 23
June 29, 2003                       

D-Ception

   The “D” in D-Day could easily stand for Deception.  Here’s some little-known background on the crucial battle that defeated the Nazis in World War Two.

   In 1945, Adolf Hitler knew the Allies were planning to invade Europe and he was convinced they’d cross the English Channel, landing at Calais, France, the shortest distance between Britain and the continent.  That’s why he put the biggest guns and strongest units of his “Atlantic Wall”  near Calais.  Knowing an attack there would be suicide, the Allies chose another landing point:  Normandy.

   To mislead the Germans, General Dwight  Eisenhower and his staff invented the nonexistent First Army and based it in Dover, England, just across the channel from Calais.  General George Patton was chosen to lead the phony force because he was the commander most respected by the Germans.

   To convince the Nazis the phantom army was preparing for invasion, the Allies put inflatable tanks, balsa wood bombers and canvas landing craft where the German airforce could photograph them.  Communication personnel generated frequent but fake radio traffic, and bogus intelligence reports were “lost” and allowed to fall into enemy hands.  Even false marriage and death notices were carried in the newspapers of the towns where the pretend army was supposedly stationed.

   The whole time, the Allies drew constant attention to their decoy, Calais, by bombing it heavily and running extensive naval maneuvers just off the coast.  On the night before the Normandy invasion, Allied planes dropped silver foil over the channel near Calais, which fooled German radar into thinking an invasion force was close.

   Those fake-outs were so good that when Hitler’s commanders finally spotted the amphibious force headed for Normandy, they thought it was just a diversion.  Rather than sending reinforcements, they held back, waiting for the “real” attack on Calais.  By the time the Nazis realized the truth, it was too late. They’d been defeated, largely by a phantom menace that never fired a shot.

   We face the same threat.  The dark forces described in Ephesians 6 are patiently but progressively poising themselves to inflict maximum harm with the time-honoured tactics of diversion and distraction. It’s happening in our individual lives, our churches, and in Christianity as a whole, with devastating impact.

   For starters, take a good, hard look at yourself. If Satan wanted to destroy your life, where’s the most obvious point of attack?  Chances are, you’ve taken precautions, especially if you’ve had trouble there before.  But evil is patient and doesn’t always take the most direct route, particularly if it leads to an area of your life that’s heavily guarded.  Instead, the Deceiver favours a sneak attack.  He’ll hit you where and when you least expect it, sometimes exploiting wonderful people, honourable intentions and strong, honest emotions to inflict the damage.  To keep us off guard, he sends decoys and diversions that lure us into putting all our spiritual energy into places he never intends to attack.  While we brace ourselves for an assault on our most conspicuous temptation or insecurity, Satan comes at us from a totally unexpected direction, usually in a way that seems harmless, until it’s too late.  While there’s still time, check the fortifications of your heart and reinforce even the smallest gap “so you’ll be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.” (Eph. 6:11)  “Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers...” (v.18)

   But we must be alert to the real danger, not the elaborate diversions of the enemy.  As a church family, and as the whole Body of Christ, we must refuse to waste time and effort fighting petty squabbles over pride, personalities, preferences and opinions while we’re surrounded by hurting people who need God.  We must rededicate ourselves to practising “love with faith” (v.23);  valiant, vigorous, victorious love that conquers fear and loneliness in even the darkest place.  Just think of what the power of God could do in this city, this country, and this world if we Christians applied it to the real battle.  We’ll never be fishers of men if we’re the ones always taking the bait.

By Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the Followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To subscribe, contact sgamble@bfree.on.ca