5 highlights from Shawn Ryan's interview with exorcist about spiritual warfare: 'Be willing to suffer'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Monday, July 27, 2026

4. How Christians fight back: 'Be willing to suffer'

Ripperger said he expects societal decline to worsen, but offered advice for how Christians can resist the encroaching darkness. He said Christians are too often ignorant of their own faith, and also unwilling to make the sacrifice necessary to push back.

"The first thing is that a lot of Christians don't know their faith well, and so, a lot of times, they get mopped up," he said. "And a lot of times, they don't fight; or if they do fight, they fight badly, because they don't know what they're doing. And they don't know how to disarm these people."

Noting they ought to be well-versed enough to articulate why other religions and ideologies are in error, he also said Christians need to "man up" and "be willing to suffer."

"The second thing is, we have to be willing to wield the ax. And by that, I mean we have to be willing to clear the deck. We have to start telling people [offended by us]: 'I don't care. I'm more concerned that you know the truth than your emotions are hurt.'"

"We have to stop allowing people to follow their emotions. We have to stop following our own emotions in relationships. We have to be willing to follow reason. And it doesn't mean you go around just being obnoxious. But it means that we have to be willing to fight with people."

Reiterating his earlier reflection on the necessity of sacrifice, Ripperger said, "You have to be willing to be separated from the lesser good in order to pursue the greater good. Guys have to be willing to take the beating, to be separated from the comfort and the adulation of other people. They have to be willing to be separated from that in order to pursue the good regardless of the personal cost, which is the greater good."