Hiro Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who fought in WWII – and kept fighting till he was absolutely convinced the war was over. Only then did he surrender. That historic moment came on March 9th, 1974 – 29 years after the war had ended!
Because of his remote hiding place in the Philippines, he didn’t know Japan had surrendered. Despite having received intermittent leaflets announcing the end of the war, he distrusted them. He believed they were lying Allied propaganda to lure him out of hiding, so he could then be taken prisoner. Not until his former commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, traveled from Japan to his jungle hideout to formally relieve him of his duty by the order of Emperor Showa, did he then surrender.
2nd Lieutenant Hiro Onoda kept fighting a war that had long ended. He should have surrendered years earlier, but he didn’t know the war was over!
As Christians, we ought to follow his example, for we too are engaged in a war, though granted, it’s a different kind of war. Ours is a spiritual conflict. But like Onoda’s war, ours ended a long time ago too, in fact two millennia ago when our Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ, defeated our enemy at Calvary’s cross.
Please come out this Sunday as we dig deeper into this war that never seems to end in the sermon I’ve entitled, “The Problem is Me.”