Spiritual War against the Church Today
I graduated from college with a BA in Business Management. Studying business I learned to focus on core values, short and long term goals, plurality of leadership, customer equity, and making money on the margin. I was good at developing a business strategy where we could operate without overhead and serve the demand of the public better than our nearest competitors. I studied geography, demographics, and long established competitors in the areas where I thought we could be productive, competitive, and develop a strong customer base. I studied habits of the people within the scope of the area; where they shopped, when they shopped, where they went to church, when they went to work, what roads were used in transit, all to get a better idea of who to target, how to advertise and when to advertise. This and many other dynamics of good business ethics I practiced all in the hopes of being successful for myself, co-workers and their families and of course our boss, the public.
When God called me into ministry, I brought all these talents to the office only to find out the knowledge I’d accumulated and business practices I’d exercised in the world were as Paul described, filthy rags compared to what I was now discovering in Christ Jesus and Him crucified. The world’s standard of success, measured by volume, cash flow, and profits was exchanged for the standard of Holiness, measured by submission, humility, and willing service to others through Christ. I discovered that to be the leader one had to be the servant of all. Rather than using polls to find out what people wanted to keep them happy, content, and loyal, a good business tool, I found what they needed in God’s Word to bring them deliverance, safety, and eternal life. It did not take long to see that giving people what they needed instead of what they wanted made a difference in the volume of parishioners attending. While I was struggling to find a compromise, God showed me through Scripture the call to Christianity is a call to martyrdom not a call to success and luxury as the world portrays. All of heaven rejoices when even one is saved (Luke 15:7)! Just try to humanly measure success by that standard!
Somewhere along the line, evangelicals bought the lie that the Great Commission is a marketing mandate. It was shocking to hear a leading pastor of mega church comment, “If you want to advertise your church to the unchurched, you must learn to think and speak like they do.” Speaking and thinking like I did in the business world was not communicating the Gospel. However, given my understanding of worldly success with this practice, I was not surprised to discover it was implemented in church strategies after studying spiritual warfare. This is exactly how Satan operates. He will do everything in his power to keep the Gospel from being preached! Every tactic Satan is using against the church is an attempt to nullify the Word. He takes Scripture out of context, uses a portion of Scripture to prove a major doctrine rather than using the full counsel of the Word. He even uses Scripture against Scripture in an effort to plant a lie in the pastor’s mind that the Word contradicts itself.
The war goes on but God has His army positioned where they need to be. Stay vigilant, study the Word, contend for the faith, and stand firm in the full armor of God.
