Spiritual warfare #2

 Spiritual warfare #2

 

Christian mythology (a.k.a. “theology”) has created a toothless, clawless, and witless devil. Let me remind the reader that ultimately, Satan is defeated. He has only the ability that God allows. That does not mean he is not dangerous.

 

Paul tells us to know Satan’s tactics so we will not be outwitted (see 2 Corinthians 2:11). Let’s look at what Satan can do to a church. Believe it or not, Satan can HINDER the ministry. Paul noted, "For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked [hindered, prevented, obstructed] our way." [1 Thessalonians 2:18 NIV] The word translated "blocked" has also been translated "hindered," "prevented," and "obstructed."

 

Paul was not the only one hindered by Satan. Jesus also experienced the hindering abilities of Satan. "But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." [Matthew 16:23 ESV] Let that sink into your thinking. Jesus recognized Satan’s hindrance. If Jesus was unable to escape active satanic hindrance, what makes us think we can escape it?

 

In Paul’s case, he was hindered by prison. In Jesus’ case, the hindrance was the words of a person. My suspicion is that Peter did not mean to hinder Jesus. Rather, Satan used Peter. It’s hard enough to deal with hostile external forces, but when considering the hindering influence that can come from internal sources, the task becomes very difficult.

 

When the church works to influence people, evangelize, or speak truth, the process can be stolen. Jesus told His disciples a story and then explained it to them. In Mark 4:15 we read, "This is the meaning of the seed that fell on the path: When the word is scattered and people hear it, right away Satan comes and steals the word that was planted in them." [CEB] When someone hears the truth about Jesus, the enemy of our soul will do whatever is necessary to keep that seed from growing roots.

 

While it may not seem threatening, the ability to hinder church leaders and churches is discouraging for the health of the church in the long run. The ability to make the worker’s efforts fruitless has a discouraging effect. Discouragement is disruptive and can nudge some towards unwise actions and thoughts. The end of this disruption may be the destruction of a church leader, worker, or the church itself.