What’s Wrong with This Church?

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about what’s right with this congregation—the faithful way our elders serve, the faithful way we reach out to this community, and the faithful way we serve one another. Some might have thought I painted a rosy picture and glossed over the problems we face. There’s no doubt that we face problems—we’re made up of people, after all, and people aren’t perfect.

I could make a long list of our problems, but I want to go to the heart of the matter: Who is causing problems in this church? That answer is really simple: Satan, our adversary, who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8). Yeah, the context is individual Christian, but don’t think for a moment the devil doesn’t wish to devour churches. Read the second and third chapters of the Revelation to John where the Lord Jesus addressed the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, and you’ll see how Satan infiltrated churches in the first century and sought to devour them. Jesus gave John the Revelation in symbols (Rev 1:1-2), and in chapter 12, John described Satan’s persecution of the early church: “The dragon became furious with the woman [the faithful remnant of the church] and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Rev 12:17). Of course, the whole message of Revelation is that Satan does not—indeed, he cannot—succeed against the people of God: Those opposed to God “will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful” (Rev 17:14).

Satan does not want this church to do well. He wants us to fight one another. He wants us divided. He wants us to grumble and complain and focus on what’s negative. He wants us to give up praying for one another. He wants us to stop giving generously to the Lord’s work. He doesn’t want us to attend the assembly of the saints faithfully. He doesn’t want us to submit to our shepherds. He doesn’t want us to welcome newcomers—well, let’s face it, he doesn’t want us to share our faith and see newcomers in this congregation. He doesn’t want us to be a light in this community. Honestly, Satan wants this church to close its doors and be a relic of the past.

Every single issue in this congregation stems from Satan. We cannot allow him to get the upper hand; instead, we must “resist him, firm in [our] faith” (1 Pet 5:9). Jesus has defeated the adversary: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8). Satan has been defeated, and his days are numbered. We need to march forth in the full confidence that we have the victory through Jesus. We need to march forth with the confidence that Satan will not gain the upper hand in this church, that we will thrive and prosper as we walk with our God. Let’s get to work and keep Satan from our midst!

This article was originally written by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., for the weekly newsletter at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.