May 11th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

Looking at the letters to the churches in Revelation can, as I stated in past posts, cause us to examine our churches with a critical eye, placing ourselves in the place of Christ – the only One who is worthy and able to judge and rule over His Church.  Few things can be as painful in the life of believers as conflicts and serious issues within their local church bodies.

Occasionally through these posts we will pause to consider some practical questions regarding responding to issues in the body, preserving unity while standing for Truth, and other issues we must personally wrestle with if we are to have a proper understanding of how to be a healthy “cell” in the body of our local church… rather than turning into cancer.

Today I’ve asked my good friend Julie (who blogs at Come Have a Peace) to share with us – her perspective is godly and wise, and I hope you will be challenged and blessed by it as I was.

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As a young child I felt so safe riding with my dad, but when my ankle was caught in the spokes of the spinning tire, our bodies were thrown to the cement. My body was broken and bleeding, beginning a long process of healing emotionally and physically. Forty-two years later, the scar remains vulnerable and can send pain shooting through my body if a force strikes the wound.

After twenty years in ministry, I’m sure life in the church can be painful. Thinking we’re safe from harm in the Body, we’re shocked in disbelief when we are hurled from comfort, hurt by catastrophe in the Body.  Even as a pastor’s wife and missionary, I’ve experienced some painful injuries that left scars over old wounds.  Why is life in the church so fraught with pain, if it’s full of followers of Jesus?

The church is a breeding ground for conflict for that very reason:  it is full of followers of Jesus, human followers.  There is no doubt that, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus,” (Phil. 1:6), but until then, we still wrestle with our flesh.  Satan sees life in the Body as a ripe opportunity to stir up trouble and accomplish his ultimate purpose; he’s seeking to shame God’s name. Too often the church isn’t on guard, remembering we’re in a spiritual battle, and church life is fair game for our enemy.

The Power of Pride

If Satan can deceive us with pride, super charged by our pleasures and comforts and success, instead of paying attention to dangers as kingdom followers in a fallen world, he can catch us off guard.  Just like a dangling ankle caught in spinning spokes, Satan uses little noticed dangers to derail and injure believers, hurling faith to the ground, leaving unity and testimony broken and bleeding before a watching world.

He used this same tactic with some of the churches mentioned in Revelation, and the same disease still spreads when he infects the hearts of God’s people. If he can convince us our faith is more about fulfilling ourselves than knowing our awesome God, he pulls the bike right out from under us. Many believers today are unprepared, because they don’t know their God and intimately walk with Him. Without His Word woven through us, we fail to be convicted of what offends God, and we become more like the world than like Christ. We need to see ourselves as God sees us.

The Power of His Truth

Recently our family found ourselves struggling with a difficult and potentially disastrous challenge in our Body.  God doesn’t leave us vulnerable and without help when His church is attacked, and it is certain it will be attacked; His word tells us to be prepared for it. He wants us to know His truth and to turn to Him.  Satan is prepared for this, so he entices us by suggesting we’re our own source of wisdom and understanding or that getting advice and input from other people will bring us answers and solutions.

The real truth is that God has given us all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).  His Word is able to divide and reveal what’s true.  When conflict stirs up a cloud of church-life muck, He wants us to find clarity and wisdom by searching out and knowing His truth.  We are better equipped to face attack when we know His Word and are in the habit of turning to it. Without it, we risk being tossed around by the wind of conflict, (James 1:6) unstable in all our ways.  Only through its guidance do we know what to cling to and what to let go.

As we sifted through the ugliness of sin, mixed with pride, mixed with miscommunication, mixed with feelings and convictions, only God’s truth clarified what His unchanging standards are, what He values, and how He wants us to live. Once we know His truth, obedience must follow. Life in the world has tainted the Bride of Christ, His church, so we have forgotten our purpose in the world:  to display Him to the world.  “We are ambassadors for Christ,” (2 Cor. 5:20), and so we need to know God’s Word.

The Power of Prayer

God wants us to turn to Him, but Satan knows it doesn’t take much to draw us from our Lord and tempt us to talk to other people in and out of the church.  What may begin as prayer can turn into fueling flames of conflict. Our Heavenly Father wants His church to ask Him for wisdom, (James 1:5) and He promises He will give it when we ask.

As we‘ve worked through weeks of wisdom-seeking in our circumstances, God has given us peace and comfort, courage and direction, as we sought Him in prayer and in the pages of His Word.  Times of prayer and fasting and silent waiting were answered by confidence and clarity and comfort.  His peace really does pass our understanding, and it bears the fruit of forgiveness and perseverance.  We need to respond to who God is.

The Power of Overcoming

Revelation promises blessing to the “overcomers,” those who are steadfast in trials and traumas of this life.  Living steadfast means we, “stand firm in one spirit … for the faith of the gospel,” (Phil. 1:27).  As God’s people, we’re to display His nature to the world, and Satan pronounces us impotent when we cease to live by the spirit and stand firm in unity.  Body conflict is one of Satan’s greatest weapons for marring God’s name.  When we find ourselves injured in the Body, we need to turn our focus from our own pain and remember we represent God’s name. Satan rejoices when we’re distracted by conflict. We have to remember our purpose.

The Power of His Return

One day every knee will bow and recognize God is who He says He is (Romans 14:11).  Christ wants His church to be without spot and blameless (Eph. 5:25-27), a unified body displaying Him to the world.  We have to be on our guard against the dangers we face, though we expect the church setting to be safe and secure.  Satan is seeking whom he can devour and use to assault God’s name.  If he derails us we will need care, healing, and recovery to regain our strength and confidence.  The stakes are too high to leave our scars unguarded or to refuse to get back on the bike and ride again.  It would be too much to ask, if it wasn’t for Christ living in us, but His return is certain, His reward for overcomers sure, and His name too great to let ourselves get in the way of the glory He is due. As imperfect people die to themselves  and persevere together,  God’s name is praised and He is made known to all the world.