How can we know when the devil is responsible for conflict in a church?
I asked that question over lunch many years ago to a worldwide expert on spiritual warfare, Dr. Ed Murphy, who wrote the massive book The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare. Dr. Murphy was a professor of mine both in college and in seminary and had been supported as a missionary by my home church.
His answer? “That’s the $64,000 question,” he replied.
James seems to indicate that conflicts originate in our sinful nature. He writes in James 4:1-2: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight.” Paul appeals in the name of Christ to his spiritual family in Corinth and pleads “that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (I Corinthians 1:10). Neither James nor Paul indicate that Satan is involved in every conflict, whether it’s between a husband and wife, parent and child, or pastor and staff member. Many conflicts – perhaps most – arise out of our stubborn desire to get our own way.
It’s important that we discern the real source of a conflict so that we know best how to resolve it. Jesus’ words in Luke 17:3-4 indicate the best way to resolve an interpersonal conflict: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Jesus states that rebuke + repentance + forgiveness = reconciliation.
While we have all experienced interpersonal conflict, and know how to resolve matters in most cases (though we often lack the courage), devil-inspired conflict is very, very different.
In the midst of a knockdown, drag-out debate with the Jewish leaders in John 8, Jesus attributed their attitude toward Him to “your father, the devil.” Beyond supernatural discernment, how did Jesus know that His enemies had aligned themselves with the enemy? Boldly and confidently, Jesus says:
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
This is the single greatest statement in all of Scripture on the work of Satan, made by the single greatest authority on spiritual matters. In short, the devil is “a murderer” and “a liar.” That is, Satan specializes in destruction and deception.
The Jewish leaders were trying to destroy Jesus. They hated Him so much that they wanted to kill Him. He knew it and deliberately attributed their hatred to Satan. And because those who want to destroy another person will use any means necessary to accomplish their goal – including blatant lies – Jesus attributed the malicious charges of the Pharisees to Satan as well.
Peter, who may well have witnessed this very debate, wrote in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Over the past several weeks, I’ve seen a large coyote trotting through our backyard on two occasions. (None of the backyards have fences.) This morning, while driving home from an errand, I saw what might have been the same coyote walking through a neighborhood near our house. (I pulled off the road to watch him. He split.) What is that coyote doing? “Looking for someone to devour” (like a rabbit). While that coyote doesn’t frighten me – my four-pound dog Tito barked at one and made it run last summer – a roaring lion gallivanting through my neighborhood certainly would!
But notice Peter’s language: the devil is seeking someone “to devour.” He is in the job of destroying Christians. While he destroys believer’s bodies all the time through terrorism and martyrdom, he also tries to destroy Christian movements and churches by targeting spiritual leaders (like Jesus, the apostles, missionaries, and pastors). And what’s saddest of all is that sometimes Christians are the perpetrators of that very destruction.
Let me confess: I have known some Christian leaders I don’t like. Some are interpersonally cold. Others never listen to anyone’s voice than their own. A few just care about money. A handful are massive hypocrites. But I would never, ever take action to destroy them or their ministries, even if I had likeminded allies. That’s doing the devil’s work for him. That is what he wants. Remember, the Pharisees and Sadducees believed they were doing God’s work by arranging for Jesus’ execution when all the time, they were just putty in Satan’s ugly little hands. Their hatred for Jesus caused them to form an alliance with Satan.
In addition, Satan aims to deceive people into believing lies. His arsenal includes innuendo, exaggeration, speculation, rumors, misinterpretation, false accusations, and outright falsehood. Jesus asked His countrymen’s leaders in John 8:46: “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” They couldn’t. But because they wanted to destroy Jesus, they eventually chose to deceive people into believing that He was guilty of three capital crimes: blasphemy against God, desecrating the temple, and sedition against Rome. Jesus was executed on trumped-up charges and behind them all was the forked tongue of the deceiver himself. Satan’s lies were parroted through the mouths of religious people.
If Satan uses destruction and deception to eliminate Christian leaders – and he hasn’t changed his template in twenty centuries – how can twenty-first believers defeat his attacks?
First, seek restoration rather than destruction. When Christians lie about a leader to get rid of him, that’s Satanic. When believers “play politics” to kick out a leader, that’s Satanic. When believers charge a leader with unproven charges to force him to resign, that’s Satanic.
Before Christmas, I was sharing the story of the way I was forced to leave the last church I served as pastor, and the person with whom I was speaking, a long-time Christian leader, interrupted me and said, “That’s Satanic.”
The biblical way to handle a sinning or ineffective leader is to gently encourage that person (Galatians 6:1-2) to repent of any known sin (1 Timothy 5:19-21) with the purpose of “winning” them (Matthew 18:15-17) or “restoring them” (Galatians 6:1) to spiritual health. While the New Testament clearly permits “kicking out” believers from a church, it is only to be done when those same believers have been sinning and repeatedly refuse to repent (Matthew 18:15-17; Titus 3:9-10). The New Testament knows nothing about destroying a leader’s reputation or lying about him just to force him to leave.
Second, seek truthfulness instead of deception. Christians, who believe that Jesus is “the truth” and that “the truth will set you free,” can sometimes become the purveyor of lies. If we like someone, we are slow to believe anything negative we hear about them. If we don’t like someone, we are quick to believe the dirt. The better way to handle rumors and speculation is to go to the source about an accusation and ask him/her about its accuracy. If possible, ask the person for evidence that they’re telling the truth. Sometimes it takes just one phone call to dispel a rumor.
But more than anything, be determined to tell the truth in every situation and to every person. I know that’s what our parents taught us to do, but it’s amazing how Christians have a hard time doing just that sometimes. The best way to combat lies is with the weapon of truth. Tell the truth, over and over and over again, and watch Satan run! Lie and he’ll move toward you. Be truthful and he’ll scamper away.
One of my mentors was forced to leave his church as pastor, but before he left, he told the congregation that he would vigorously defend his character and his ministry. (And he had an attorney friend in the church to make sure that happened.) Pastors, when people lie about you and you leave the record uncorrected, who gains? Not Jesus. Not the kingdom. The enemy does. And he not only seeks to harm you, he seeks to harm that church as well.
If you’re in a church, and you’re unhappy with your pastor for some reason, refuse to harm him or spread lies about him. Instead, pray for him. Encourage him. Do something tangible for him. Expect nothing in return. If matters don’t change after a while, refuse to say, “This is my church! He needs to leave!” Instead, you quietly depart and begin searching for a church where you can fully support the minister and the ministry.
The greatest thing Peter ever said was that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus attributed Peter’s insight to “my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:16-17). But maybe the worst thing Peter ever said followed Jesus’ prediction that He would eventually be killed: “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Jesus immediately told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!”
If God could speak through Peter one moment, and Satan could speak through him the next, then you and I need to be on our guard so that the enemy does not use us as well.
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