“He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.” I Timothy 3:6,7
“Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” II Corinthians 2:10-11
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:11
I’ve been writing about the Devil’s plans for our churches. (You can read the first post by clicking here and the second post by clicking here.)
I’m reminded of the classic, 1929 novel and 1930 film, All Quiet On The Western Front. The story line is about starry-eyed young men going off to fight in WWI, thinking of it as a grand and glorious adventure. Within days after reaching the front, the horror of what they saw traumatized them beyond what words can describe. The Devil’s attacks on churches should be taken as seriously as a WWI bayonet charge. This is a bloody, violent conflict we’re talking about.
So please, please, take these warnings seriously.
Here are the “wiles,” the strategies of the Devil which I’ve described so far, followed by three more.
(1) Division – The age-old, “divide and conquer” strategy.
(2) Debauchery – Destroying our testimony/effectiveness with sensual indulgence.
(3) Deformity – Keeping Christians and churches childish and ineffective.
(4) Delusion and Deceit – Some of our members don’t realize that they are lost. Others know it and try to deceive others.
(5) Disrespect for leaders and Defiance of the Word of God.
(6) Decline – Churches turning inward and sliding downward towards death.
(7) Deterioration – Allowing bitterness or resentment to slowly ruin our church culture.
We have all seen the sad cases of couples staying married, just barely, decade after decade. They don’t really love or enjoy each other; it’s just more convenient – and it used to be more socially acceptable – to stay married.
But churches do this too. Scripture calls upon us to make an all-out effort to develop close, familial relationships in our churches and to keep those relationships “hot” and sweet, year after year. Summarizing the texts I’m about to cite: We must put a high priority on maintaining our unity, pursuing our brethren when we’re aware of any disconnection with them and liberally forgiving our brothers and sisters (Matthew 5:23-26, Matthew 18:15-35, Mark 11:25, Romans 12:9-16, Ephesians chapter 4, Philippians 4:1-3, I Peter 4:7-11).
Not guarding our relationships zealously results in a church family characterized by coldness, shallowness, insincerity and bitterness.
(8) Doctrinal Deviation – Using truth-rejecting, divisive persons to destroy congregations with unorthodox teachings.
I’ve saved this strategy for the (almost) end of this series of posts, not because it isn’t important – for it is profoundly important – but because it isn’t subtle. It’s the first thing that comes to mind, at least for pastors, when we think of the Devil’s assaults on churches.
Not far into His ministry, Jesus told us this was coming (Matthew 7:13-28). The warnings of John 10 could not have been more strongly worded: False shepherds will lead their followers to misery, death and destruction. The Apostle Paul confidently predicted attacks from “savage wolves” (Acts 20:25-31). Every New Testament writer uses his own vocabulary to warn the saints about the corruption of the faith by doctrinal deviants.
As someone who works with a broad spectrum of evangelical denominations, I can say that I see this attack recurring in every Christian tribe and every size of congregation. Comparatively minor “deviant teaching” is harmful, dividing and dissipating the energy of otherwise united congregations. Serious heresy is far worse, causing men and women to deny the most basic tenets of the gospel and leading deceived individuals, churches and denominations down paths of destruction.
(9) Defeat – Churches becoming worthless or disbanding.
Obviously, it’s a win for the Devil when a church closes its doors. The one who is triumphantly building His Church (Matthew 16:18), who will, without fail bring the “full number of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:25) into His kingdom before He returns, must sometimes snuff out the light of an isolated local church (Revelation 2:5). I’m sure our Lord does this with great sorrow.
Much more common however, is the tragedy of the church which continues to exist, without presenting any evangelical threat to the Evil One at all. It still has a building and it still gathers on Sundays, but the Devil no longer has to bother with it. It can be bypassed on his way to attack a gate-crashing, kingdom-building, sinner-rescuing church on the next street or in the next town, for it has become what some of us sadly call a “junk church,” of no use to God and presenting no threat to the Devil.
……………………….
Do any of these scenarios have to destroy our churches? A thousand times NO!
We can humble ourselves in prayer, putting no confidence in our human flesh, pray steadfastly and watch carefully.
We need not fall victim to the Devil’s plans for our churches, but we do need to understand them.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
- How do we see the Devil attacking our church right now?
- Is our church guilty of taking the Devil and his schemes too seriously, not seriously enough, or do we watch out for his wiles with prayerful, humble diligence?
- How zealous are we in our church for keeping our “family” relationships healthy?
- How watchful are we regarding what Brian calls “doctrinal deviation” (false teaching or heresy)? Is it possible to be too concerned about this?
- If the Devil is threatened by churches which make disciples out of the raw material of unconverted people, how concerned do you think he is about our congregation?
