The devil wants to take you out of that church

“If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other.” (Galatians 5:15)

Not long ago, I learned that another of my beloved pastor friends was asked to step down from his pulpit. This event marks the third time such a despicable act has entered my world. I know, full well, what kind of destruction this action can wreak as the first time it happened to me. 

I served as my church’s Director of Christian Education about sixteen years ago. The former director didn’t like my actions of starting a youth group, hosting Vacation Bible School outdoors in Biblical apparel, and other such things. She and her family brought me to the church board to mock and pass judgment on me for my ideas. I’ll never forget the rage expressed in that meeting. I thought one of the women might physically hit me when I chose to defend my actions and faith. Ultimately, the pastor sided with the family, and I resigned from my church position. It was a bitterly painful experience. 

After leaving that church, I attended another whose pastor eventually came under fire by his church board. His cardinal sin was admonishing his congregants not to argue amongst themselves over things like the color of the carpet.

“If you are thinking about such things and who you’re going to contend with after the sermon,” he said, “you aren’t a real Christian.” He closed by reminding his parishioners that we are called to serve God and not man. 

A few weeks later, my pastor contacted me to say that he, too, had to defend himself to a governing body that decided his words had offended them. He then asked me to write a statement to the church council attesting to his character and impact on my life. It was my privilege to do so.

Unfortunately, I later learned that the pastor was voted out of his position. My letter and those written by others made little impact on a group that seemed determined to rid themselves of their shepherd.

I’ll never forget his last sermon on Palm Sunday. He preached about the betrayal of Christ as He entered Jerusalem. I cried halfway through his message, barely able to stay in the pew. I never went back, hurt again by men’s actions against those who stand for God. 

And now this. 

I had only recently told my pastor friend how much his sermons meant to me – especially one in which he took a stand against the church’s general acceptance of everything from the indoctrination of children into gender neutrality to the common acceptance of abortion and homosexuality. 

His sermon text that week was based on 1 Corinthians 6, which says the following: “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (v. 9-11)

The pastor explained that we may have condoned or even participated in some of this immoral behavior in the past. He readily admitted that he, too, had led a sinful life before being called and saved by God’s grace. 

But that’s not who we should be now, he reminded his parishioners. Now, we are followers of Christ. We are called to come out of sin and be different.  

His scripture reading continued, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.’ The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (V. 12-13) 

More than just an indictment of our sinful nature, the pastor used this scripture to talk about how we are given the “freedom” to become slaves to Christ. While such a concept may seem contradictory, it is only by freely choosing Jesus that we can wholeheartedly follow our Savior – even into servitude to Him. 

As Paul told us in his letter to the Galatians, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (v. 13-14)

We are called to love one another. This command is second only to loving God. If we love each other, we will be less inclined to attack our Christian brothers and sisters- even if we don’t like what someone else says or if it makes us uncomfortable. 

As I wrote in an open letter to the church, “Your board’s decision will cause unrest, apprehension, gossip, slander, heartache, and turmoil. Such actions are not how God intended His church to comport itself.

“Actions have consequences. You are not helping anyone by ridding yourself of your pastor — quite the contrary. You cannot grow, thrive, and nourish your congregation by breeding distrust, fear, and animosity. Such actions stand opposed to everything the Gospel stands for. 

“I believe the devil is having his field day right now. He doesn’t want anyone with conviction to be serving God as he knows his days are numbered. He will do anything within his power to stir up dissension and drive people away from our Heavenly Father. I continue to be shocked at how easy that is and how quickly people can turn against the faithful. Pastor David Jeremiah calls them ‘the great pretenders.’

“As the Apostle Paul told Timothy, ‘For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.’ (2 Timothy 4:3) 

“I am writing to you, telling you these things, hoping that you will see that [your pastor] has made a difference. He is a man of God called to the ministry of serving others. The world needs more people like [him], willing to stand up and preach on difficult topics while delivering the unflinching, unfiltered Word of the Lord. 

“There will come a day when we will all have to account for what we’ve done before the only God of the universe. [Your pastor] serves our Creator with his whole heart, and I know he will one day hear Christ say, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’ (Matthew 25:21) 

“What will the rest of you say when God asks you why you took such action against one of His servants? You need to consider that question while there is still time, as I truly believe Christ is coming for His church soon. I would not want to be on the wrong side of that judgment if I were you.”

And so ended my letter. Did it make a difference? Unfortunately not. It hurts my heart to say that, yet again, my preacher friend was not invited back, and the church is operating as if he was never there. 

But God knows the true story. Throughout Biblical history, divine prophets – the precursors to modern-day pastors – preached uncompromising messages that were often poorly received. Many of our Creator’s spokespersons were killed by their peers or authorities for the messages they delivered. God’s murdered mouthpieces include the following: 

• Isaiah was tortured and killed by King Manasseh, who ordered him to be sawed in half. 
• Joel died two days after being hit on the head by Ahaziah. 
• Amos was tortured and killed by the priests of Bethel. 
• Micah was killed by Joram, King Ahab’s son. 
• Habakkuk was stoned to death by the Jews in Jerusalem. 
• Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern earlier in his ministry and later stoned to death by Jews in Egypt. 
• Ezekiel was murdered by Jews. 
• Ahijah was killed by a lion. 
• Zechariah was killed by King Joash. 

Given the above, I’d say my Christian brothers are in good company.

God’s messages are never easy to hear, but that doesn’t give us the right to “kill the messenger.” Ironically, as my minister friend preached a few weeks before being asked to resign or be terminated, his prophetic scripture reading included Galatians 5:15: “If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other.”

The world is in chaos right now, with more attacks against the church, Christians, Christian values, and morality than ever before. Now is the time to pull together – not attack, vilify, and condemn. The world does enough of that without our help. We need to stop hurting one another and start healing. 

The devil will do everything he can to destroy God’s church and keep Christ’s message of salvation from being preached. Let’s not be the ammunition he needs to do so.