Unity Stops the Enemy In His Tracks

Contrary to what many think or believe, ministry is seldom easy. The truth is, most of the time ministry is oftentimes chaotic, mucky, and downright painful. When one is in the ministry they willingly put themselves (and their family) under fire in order to reach those who we may for the cause of the Kingdom of God. Sadly, the “fire” seldom comes from those in the world, but is, in fact, “friendly fire.” (I use that term loosely!) There are those positioned in almost every church that believes it is their “calling” to keep the pastor “in line” and they pick apart, criticize and seek to destroy pretty well everything the pastor does UNLESS they enjoy a personal benefit from what he/she is doing. Then they sing the pastor’s praises. But most of the time they are seemingly on a mission and that mission is to stir up strife. One might ask just why they would do this. The answer is simple… such people seek power and control. I’ve been in the ministry as pastor since 1991 and I’ve seen this more times than I can count and will say that such people have brought the overwhelming majority of the problems I’ve ever faced in the ministry. Sadly, the innocent parties in the church will generally eventually leave the church rather than fight for the name of their pastor, so those churches do not grow and the person maintains “control” in their small group of people and does grave damage within the Body of Christ.

The question we need to ask ourselves is how long will the church, allow this nonsense to continue? When will we finally pull back the covers and expose those who bring disunity and sow seeds of discord within the Body? Casualties dot the spiritual landscape as people are wounded, abandoning the church and often the walk away from serving Christ because of the sour taste left in their mouths toward God himself, due to the actions of the few who have nefarious intentions as they try to control those in the ministry and the churches where they attend. It’s high time that the Body rises up and puts an end to such behavior that has brought such destruction to countless churches and has hindered the mission of the Church of making disciples of Christ. If those who “only want to keep the peace” need to understand that they are guilty of allowing this stuff to continue. If they would rise up and act in unity, the actions of those stirring up trouble would be exposed and disarmed. If that were to happen, they would either repent of their actions or they would leave, thus freeing of the church of chains that have hindered growth for way too long. Church of the Living God… it’s time to rise up and stand against the attacks of the enemy and allow the Church to arise!