Noble Church Conflict by the Book

Discover Inner Healing, Renewed Hope and Powerful Fellowship for Challenging Times
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-0-615-23128-0
Verlag: BHC Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 194 Seiten

Break free from the bonds of destructive church conflict and discover how God's Word brings inner healing, renewed hope and powerful fellowship for challenging times. Thoroughly biblical and exceedingly practical, Church Conflict by the Book enables you to understand and extinguish the flames of conflict - beginning in your own heart. If you care deeply about the health and effectiveness of your congregation, Church Conflict by the Book is a must-read. After all, conflict is a matter of 'when' and not 'if.' Even if everything is peaceful in your church today, now is the best time to prepare for the future! Church Conflict by the Book has been endorsed by several Christian leaders, including Gene Getz, director of the Center for Church Renewal and author of the Life Essentials Study Bible, Woodrow Kroll, president and host of Back to the Bible International, Frank Page, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, and Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, and president of the Timothy Barnabas ministry to church leaders.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Noble, David

Leseproben

Why Can’t We Get Along?

Have you wondered why we experience so much conflict in our churches? We should be able to get along with one another. After all, we are brothers and sisters in Christ, filled with the Spirit of God and called to live in newness of life. We enjoy “every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Despite these realities, destructive conflict continues to damage far too many of our congregations. The Bible tells us why - we’re in the middle of a spiritual battle!

This chapter will help you understand Satan’s tactics against believers and experience victory in the midst of church conflict. Other Christians are not our enemies; the Bible clearly indicates that the Devil is our real adversary. Spiritual battles must be fought using spiritual means. So let’s look to God’s Word and put on the full armor of God so that our churches can stand firm against the Devil’s schemes!

The War Around Us

Nearly every American was touched by the harsh realities of World War II. Rationing affected almost every household. News from the front lines made daily headlines. Everyone knew someone who was serving in the armed forces and many people had lost loved ones. Despite these hardships, very few Americans questioned the war. They knew the danger was real. They believed that victory was worth the sacrifice, however dear and costly.

Today the average American is detached from the experience of war. Life seems to go on as normal no matter what happens on battlefields around the world. Politicians openly question the justification for fighting. Public opinion is divided, not united.

Given these dramatic changes in how the average American experiences war, it’s not surprising that many Christians and churches disregard the reality of spiritual warfare. It seems removed from their daily experience. Rather than address what is facing their families and churches, they choose to continue blissfully from one Sunday to the next, leaving themselves unprepared for Satan’s inevitable onslaught.

This approach to the Christian life ignores the Bible’s clear call to be alert to spiritual warfare. The Apostle Peter warns, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), and the Apostle Paul admonishes, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:11-12).

We’re at War!

We’re at war, whether we like it or not. Satan is preoccupied with our destruction. If we fail to grasp the reality of spiritual warfare, we will be unguarded when he attacks. Our enemy is a real enemy and he has a battle plan for the demise of the church and every believer. Spiritual warfare – the battle of Satan and his demons against God and His children – will be waged until Satan is finally banished. We must be alert to this reality and be prepared to stand firm against enemy attacks.

If you’re prone to underestimate Satan’s power, consider what he did in biblical times. Satan destroyed Job’s health, family, and possessions (Job 1:1-22), incited David to rely on military power (1 Chronicles 21); tempted Jesus three times (Luke 4:1-13), influenced Peter to rebuke Jesus (Mark 8:31-33), entered Judas prior to his betrayal of Jesus (Luke 22:3-6), and prompted Ananias to lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). And what Satan didn’t accomplish personally he achieved through his demons who afflicted their victims with physical, emotional, and behavioral disorders (Matthew 9:33; Matthew 17:14-18; Luke 8:27-33).

There is no reason to believe that Satan has changed his tactics. In Ephesians 6:11, the Greek New Testament describes Satan’s schemes by using the word methodeais, from which we get our English word “methods.” Beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden and continuing to this very moment, Satan uses the same methods to deceive people by leading them to question God’s Word and appealing to their sinful desires. Satan is deceptive. However, he is not at all innovative so we can learn to detect his strategies.

Satan is your avowed enemy, waiting for just the right time and place to attack you. He has declared war on you and your church. However, God is sovereign over Satan and limits what he can do (Job 1:12; Luke 22:31-32). Satan cannot destroy you or Christ’s Church, but he can render you and your congregation spiritually ineffective by inciting sinful attitudes and actions that destroy your testimony and your unity in Christ (John 17:20-23).

Take a few moments to reflect on the ways that Satan’s “fingerprints” have been evident in the churches you’ve attended. Joylessness, anger, selfishness, gossip, jealously, accusation, divisiveness, impurity, and deceit are clear indicators of his demonic presence. Satan’s schemes can be subtle or obvious as he attacks the Body of Christ.

Satan is a Defeated Adversary

Satan is at war with you. He stirs up ungodly actions and attitudes in an attempt to weaken or destroy the witness of individual Christians and entire congregations. However, the Bible clearly tells us that Satan is a defeated foe! Colossians 2:15 describes how God has triumphed over Satan’s evil forces through the cross of Jesus Christ:

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

This verse uses the vivid imagery of a Roman general leading his captives victoriously through the streets of Rome, publicly humiliating them as the spoils of war.

This is what God has done to Satan and his demons. He has defeated them through Jesus Christ, publicly and completely, and He wants to share His victory with us. When Satan prowls around looking to attack a weak area in us or our church, God calls us to believe His Word and claim Christ’s victory over Satan. He calls us to stand under the shelter of the cross, allowing Christ’s victory over Satan to become our victory in the present moment, in the middle of the attack.

As a fully devoted follower of Christ, put on the fighting equipment God has given you – the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of readiness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the Spirit, which is God’s Word (Ephesians 6:14-17). Know that the weapons you “fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Find hope and courage in the fact that no matter how severe Satan’s attacks might seem, he is powerless against the armor of God. Not only that, you know the outcome of the war!

And the devil…was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 20:10).

If we understand how to use the spiritual weapons God provides, we are fully readied and protected from the enemy’s onslaught. If we are prepared to use them mentally and spiritually, we can conquer anything that sets itself against God and His children.

There’s a war going on around us, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – a war that will continue until Satan is completely vanquished. Be realistic and believe God’s Word. Be sober and alert. Put on the full armor of God. Allow Christ’s victory over Satan to be your victory over Satan, moment by moment, day by day.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you (Romans 16:20).

The War Within Us

There’s a reason why the war around us frequently becomes a war within our churches. Satan knows that if we open ourselves to his influence, he can get us to act like unbelievers and wreak havoc in our lives and churches (Ephesians 4:27). Don’t give him the opportunity!

In Acts 2:41-47 we read how the early church experienced tremendous blessings following the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The church grew exponentially as believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).

However, it was not long until human sinfulness marred the fellowship and unity of the Jerusalem church. Acts 5:1-11 describes how a married couple, Ananias and Sapphira, sold a piece of property and claimed that they had given all of the proceeds to the church. They had, in fact, kept some of the money for themselves, intentionally misrepresenting their giving to God. Not long afterward, a churchwide conflict erupted between Greek-speaking and Aramaic-speaking believers (Acts 6:1-7). A complaint arose because needy widows from the minority Greek-speaking group were being overlooked during the daily distribution of food.

These problems were resolved but not before human sinfulness had created short-term disruptions in the fellowship and unity of the Jerusalem congregation. Several years later more strife broke out among the Jewish Christians who were “scattered among the nations” (James 1:1). James wrote them and asked, “What causes fights and quarrels among you?” (James 4:1a) Note his use of the plural words “fights” and “quarrels,” suggesting the presence of several conflicts in congregations throughout the Roman...