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The War for the Soul of the Church
The war for the soul of the Church is well under way. Everywhere we look we see battle lines being drawn. And because the Lord loves and dwells in the hearts of all His people, He is to be found simply everywhere we gather. The problem is, people who pray, read the Bible, and worship with sincere hearts are to be found many times on differing sides of relevant theological and practical questions concerning Church life. It has always been so.
And since God intends to arise among His people into greater clarity before the eyes of the world, we are all going to have to discern His priorities in our generation. We are going to have to pay attention. The fact that godly people will disagree with one another on a whole variety of issues is simply not the point. What is the point is whether or not we handle ourselves during such times in a way that reveals the heart of God.
If we express our own anger, impatience, critical attitudes, etc., instead of Christ, then we undermine His work even though we may be on the correct side of the issues being discussed.
Everyone recognizes that a secular historian will color his work with his own views of what is significant; each one emphasizes certain events over others. So here is a question. If people cannot even agree concerning how to prioritize concrete past events, how will we ever come to one mind in the Church about Heaven’s present spiritual priorities?
In any discussion, the various sides will have scripture verses to support their view. But even though it may take some time, those who love the Lord with a pure heart will eventually come to one mind. It is just a matter of surviving the process. God establishes spiritual maturity in those who respond to Him instead of reacting to others while He builds His house.
But we must believe in Him. It is often very difficult to discern the Lord’s mind when emotions run high. And if we fail to recognize and acknowledge Him in the midst of what is occurring, we will surely displease Him. And without faith it is impossible to please him (Hebrews 11:6 ESV).
We must discern Christ in His ongoing work of building His house. While many will speak in His name, not all will reflect His timing, His heart, or His priorities. In other words, we will all have to make value judgments, and opinions will vary.
For example, in Paul’s day, some considered him as one to be honored, while others thought quite the opposite. Some brought a good report concerning him, while others spoke evil. Some even thought him to be a deceiver even though he was in fact a true apostle of Christ (2 Corinthians 6:8).
And it was the same with the Lord Jesus. Some held Him to be a prophet or the Messiah, while others saw Him as a demonized deceiver (John 10:19-20). When He came to Israel two thousand years ago, Jesus became a sword of division to that generation, the focal point to determine the future direction of peoples’ lives. Some chose to follow Him, while others stood in fierce opposition.
So also today, we must discern those who accurately reveal Christ in any given situation, and we must then believe in Him and in what He says. At the same time, we must resist the wrong direction articulated by those who speak in His name while promoting their own agendas.
In His earthly ministry Jesus was destined to be a sign that would be opposed (Luke 2:34). And was He ever opposed! There was so much concerning Him that was difficult to understand and to reconcile with the prevalent interpretations of the prophetic Scriptures as well as with the many religious oral traditions.
Why would we think it would be any different in our day? We have been baptized into a war whether we like it or not. While many decry the divisions that have occurred down through Church history, the greater issue of concern is the lack of Christlikeness too often exhibited in the midst of those times of relational tension.
We must keep in mind that God shakes His house to reveal the true condition of His peoples’ hearts. For example, as some degree of separation between believers starts to occur, one of the Lord’s priorities is that we recognize the ones approved by Him to reveal His Son in the circumstance. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you (1 Corinthians 11:19). Not all will discern correctly.
When the “super–apostles” brought their confusion to the Corinthian church, God’s plan was for the believers to discern Christ in Paul’s words and then turn away from the corrupting influence of the pseudo–apostles. Some in the church would choose correctly; some would not. But the way in which the believers made their choices, and the way in which they spoke of others who differed from them would be key in God’s evaluation.
But be sure of one thing. If all did not respond appropriately to Christ, a separation would occur. It simply would not be God’s will to paper over the differences and put a smiley face on the situation. “Let’s all just get along. Come on, God wants us all to be one.” Such “unity” would only serve to obscure the Lord as the congregation kept focusing on keeping the peace among people with very different priorities. Words spoken would be based upon how some people might react rather than upon what God was saying.
And it is what God says in any given situation that brings His wisdom and power to bear enabling His people to move on in Him. Those who listen and believe will follow Him. Those drifting away from spiritual intimacy with Him, or who are more enamored with the personalities of men or with the methods they use than with Christ, run the risk of missing Him in their generation just like Israel did two thousand years ago. If they do, they will still be God’s children. And we must guard our heart attitudes and words at such times.
But we must also follow the Lord. In doing so, we might notice some separation beginning to happen. To be clear, those who do not accurately discern Christ in the situation and believe in Him will find it increasingly difficult to continue walking together with those who do.
At such times, we must be careful that we cause offense to no one so that our service unto the Lord is not discredited (2 Corinthians 6:3). If people must stumble over something, it must not be us. Jesus is God’s only stone of stumbling and rock of offense (1 Peter 2:6 - 8). As He continues to reveal himself among His people in word and deed, some will be offended at Him.
Sometimes He will welcome people we are uncomfortable with or speak in ways that make us feel uneasy. At such times let us humble ourselves before Him, and search the Scriptures, and wait upon Him for wisdom. Undoubtedly, we will ultimately discover that the problem was not with Him but with us. Remember the psalmist David’s words: With the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous (Psalm 18:26 ESV).
Sometimes, in order for the Lord to show me how crooked I am, He must reveal himself to me in a way that shakes up our relationship. He does so because one of the greatest dangers we face in the Church is our tendency to internally fashion the Lord into our own image while at the same time resisting His process of conforming us to Him. But He is the goal and He is the way to get there. Let us keep our eyes humbly fixed on Christ, the Author, Designer, and Builder of His own house.
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