Rubber Dummies

Background; prior to the D-Day assault at Normandy, Allied bombing attacks were twice as high at Calais and on the day of the invasion Rubber Dummy paratroopers were dropped to confuse and distract the German forces so they would think twice before committing troops to a given area. The Germans were convinced that Calais was where the real invasion was going to take place even when they saw with their own eyes the Allied Armada steaming towards Normandy.

Recently I was listening to the podcast of “Let My People Think” with apologist Ravi Zacharias in which he shared lessons learned from the allied invasion at Normandy during World War II. One of the tactics the allies used was to drop, ahead of their advance on a particular town, a large number of rubber dummies in parachutes, rigged with explosives and firecrackers. The German defenders would often spend most of their ammunition on this ruse, shooting at rubber dummies while remaining completely unaware that the real enemy was yet to attack.

The analogy he used was that many times followers of the Gospel of Christ are like the German’s and rather than focus on the real issues like glorifying God or sharing the Gospel, we get caught up wasting our time and focus. What is our rubber dummy within the body of Christ are wasting all our attention on or “shooting all our ammo” at? Are we consumed with political activism or social causes? Are we trying to legislate morality on people who do not have the benefit of the Holy Spirit? Are we cloistering ourselves away from the world in all avenues of our life rather than being salt and light? Is it a particular Bible translation? Is it hair length, dress codes, form of worship or church traditions? Is it affiliations, associations or things that are not doctrinal distinctives but personal preferences? I am not insinuating these are bad things, and setting ourselves apart as a people consecrated to God is not wrong, but are we wasting our ammunition on internal bickering rather than focusing on true worship and what brings honor and glory to God?

The next time you get yourself spoiling for a fight take a step back and ask yourself; is this a rubber dummy or is this something foundational and non-negotiable in defense of the Gospel? Am I wasting my ammunition of time, money, attention and God-given talent on a rubber dummy while the enemy is sneaking in the backdoor while my focus is elsewhere?

I Peter 5:6-8

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour