The last thing Satan wants to do is to frighten Christians into a united force.
A more effective strategy is to get Christians to become annoyed with one another over things that should not matter. It is not hard to get people to attribute bad motives to things, and sometimes a couple of irritating incidences is enough to create a petty Mexican standoff.
There must be nothing more exasperating for our angelic counterparts than to listen to Christians obsess over decades-old ‘frustrations.’ Who wants to listen to that from eternity?
But we all have our “Pains.” Annoying people who have disturbed our equilibrium and thus have justified that special status in our hearts of “persona non grata” (Latin: “person not welcome”).
Now, “Person not welcome” doesn’t necessarily mean “person not there.” But rather one is viewed with jaundiced eye until they give us a reason to wish they weren’t there.
Unless the Holy Spirit is allowed to convict our hearts of such sin, and move us on to Kingdom things, we will go nowhere and achieve nothing—Satan wins a cheap victory!
A church looking to the future develops a culture where “Everyone wants everyone else to do well.” Petty slights, real or imagined, are swept aside as everyone moves everyone else along on the Road to Glory.
When someone tries to pull you into their latest drama, remember…
“For lack of wood, the fire goes out,
And where there is no whisperer,
contention quiets down”
(Proverbs 26:20).
Churches have suffered slow, cruel deaths under the weight of inconsequential annoyances. But praise God that Christ forgives us of our immaturity and unites us in his heavenward cause.
Peter Scholtes said it well in his song,
“They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity
May one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians
By our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians
By our love
John Staiger
0 Comments