A friend asked me the question "Is spiritual warfare biblical?" He wonders if our martial terminology around the gentle task of prayer isn't overdone. Warfare implies anger, maiming and killing, when our primary avocation is as healers and peacemakers.

Perhaps we've read too much Frank Perretti. Clearly, confronting evil is biblical (Eph. 6), but perhaps we Evangelicals should consider different words when talking about it.

Before I answered him, I thought, "Well of course it is." I mean, I've participated in deliverance sessions that will curl your hair. I've been around evil. You don't play pattycake with it. You either have authority or you don't. Pretenders and theorists don't last long.

But it's a fair question, one which, rather than answer myself, I'd rather throw out to you, my blog readers. What do you think, should we call it spiritual warfare? How should we approach it?