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Where the Enemy Lurks
by I used to have the naive assumption that if the people within a building referred to themselves, and the building, as a "church", that it was immune from any attacks from the enemy. Not only is that not Biblical, it gives many a false sense of security and hope. Perhaps this is why so many pastoral techniques, scams, and lies have been able to succeed at such an amazing rate. But aside from the downright falsehoods being relayed by prosperity preachers and others not adhering to the Word, I think we have a far greater issue with the church: focus. Our lack of focus as believers is crippling our ability grow as Christians. We all know that the enemy will not boldly declare who he is, showing up in the church parking lot with a red cape. No, he is much more clever than that, although I am loathe to give him any credit whatsoever. But what if he were to influence leadership to believe that appearances mattered more than worship? What if leadership believed slogans and logos were more important than relationships? What if the enemy influenced leadership to forget about the war going on and instead guided them into comfort, coffee, and halloween themes? Facebook is the fingernail on the body of Christ--yet too many are treating it as the primary blood flow, considering more important than the Bible itself. We are closer to our twitter accounts than we are to the man in the third row at church who has a sick child in the hospital. Shall I update my twitter expressing my sadness to hundreds of other faceless individuals, or actually speak to the man and give him encouragement? What about those of us in the pews, padded chairs, benches, or aluminum seats? Are we more concerned about the color scheme of the kid's church or the hearts that go into teaching our children about Christ? Are we fascinated by the big screen on the church's stage or do we understand that there are countless, nameless individuals who clean the floors, toilets, and diapers at the church? Some of our leaders are enamored by the newest fad. Most of the congregants are in awe of the laser-light shows and numbers of folks in the band. And what about the children? Are they brought up in a church that focuses on the basics (Bible, Christ, God's love and grace, etc.) or are they more entranced by Veggietales and play dough? Let us also get back to worshiping our Lord in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, not what sounds good on the radio. Use what you have. As long as your congregants have a voice, you can have a worship experience. Don't mistake a lack of musicians for a lack of worship opportunities. My prayer is that the church focuses on Christ instead of culturalism, God instead of gimmicks, and the Bible instead of broadcasts. My hope is that the leaders of the church focus on creating disciples instead of daydreaming about numbers. My hope is that the leaders of the church focus on teaching instead of tweeting, counseling instead of complaining, and reality instead of relevance. My prayer is that the body focuses on serving instead of sitting, worshiping instead of worrying, and the truth instead of trivialities. The body needs to be there for the leadership, the lingering, and the lost. The body needs to initiate missions and movements instead of instigating complaints about what's not being done. Facebook is not a vehicle for salvation and Twitter has no capacity to love or equip. Just because the band is live does not indicate a much powerful level of worship--give me a heart for God a Capella and you'll see rows of crying eyes, wanting to hear more. Church shouldn't be a concert. Yes, the enemy is among us. But we can render him powerless with our focus upon Him. Let us focus on Christ. Let us focus on Our Lord. Let us focus on His Word. Let us focus on the one true source of salvation. Call on Him and focus. William Wright--married, with children. Educated in Seattle, saved in Zephyrhills, "raised" in Tampa, and still growing in Austin. "I once considered myself a selfish church hopper...I now realize that my hunger drives me to continue to seek nourishment. I'm a growing babe!"--William Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |