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Dear brethren,
This week I pray that the Lord will empower you to stay at the task of
"declaring the praises of God" and celebrating the fact that we are "a chosen
people, a royal priesthood...called out of darkness into His wonderful light"!
(I Pet. 2:9)
I share with you this thought-provoking article, sent to me by a very good
friend.
I pray it blesses you all!
In His Grace and for His glory,
~Ptr. Jesse Dedel
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If I were the Devil
…this is how I would attack pastors
by Greg Stier
Dare2Share.org
If I were the devil I’d get pastors to build great big churches where they
could teach nice things about a nice God. I’d make sure they avoided the
dangerous God of the Bible. I’d get them to preach a whole lot about the
patience and kindness of God and leave out his holiness and justice. Or I’d get
them to preach about the holiness of God to the exclusion of his love and
grace. I’d have them preach a one-sided message about a one-sided God instead
of the breadth of who He is.
If I were the devil I’d tempt pastors to buy into a distorted gospel of
prosperity. I’d convince them to preach a message of "God wants you to be rich"
while much of the world dies of starvation. I’d take them deeper into a
downward spiral of heresy and greed. Eventually I’d get them to empty the bank
accounts of bent, old Bettys and blue collar Bobs to finance their
Lexus-driving, $3,000 suit wearing, mansion-dwelling lifestytle of "holy"
hedonism. I’d help them cloak their message of greed with a "whatever you
donate to this ministry will be multiplied one hundred fold in your own bank
account" giving promise.
If I were the devil I’d convince pastors to stay stuck in their old ways. I’d
convince them in the power of tradition and tradition alone. I’d challenge them
not to think outside the box when it comes to the way they communicate to this
generation. I’d motivate them to preach purely theological sermons that were
truth heavy and application light. I’d push them to make every week a creedal
download with little to no practical application. If this approach didn’t work
with pastors, I’d do my best to convince them to trash tradition and preach
purely practical sermons with no theology at all. I’d sell them on the lie that
it was all about their illustrations, their jokes and their five steps to
whatever. I’d challenge them to do this without truly preaching the Word or
teaching theology at all. The last thing I’d want them to do is do what St.
Peter, St. Paul and St. James did: preach doctrine and application in a
balanced way. I would
never want these pastors’ congregations to realize how practical and relevant
the Word of God is to their everyday lives.
If I were the devil I’d especially attack male pastors through sexual
temptation. I’d start “innocently” enough through their thought lives. I’d
remind them of that one drop dead gorgeous woman in their congregation who
laughs at all his jokes and stares a little too intently when he preaches. I’d
then slowly get him to quietly obsess over her and secretly wish that something
happened where they could suddenly be together, alone. I’d convince him that it
was okay to counsel her in private, that nothing was going to happen. And then
I’d do everything in my power to make sure it did. For the pastors who didn’t
fall for this more obvious strategy I’d use a secondary strategy of internet
pornography. I would create an endless cycle of guilt and quietly seeking
forgiveness from God to slowly rob the integrity and dignity from his public
preaching and his private soul.
If I were the devil I’d convince pastors that they didn’t need accountability
from their closest friends inside the church. I’d persuade them that they
needed to keep up the facade and not fess up to their inner struggles. I’d
convince them to avoid baring their deepest spiritual battles, hurts and sins
to a close, godly friend whom they trust. I’d use scare tactics to accomplish
this. Things like, “If word leaked out of your personal struggles you could
lose face, influence and, maybe even, your job.” I’d get them to have close
friends but not too close. I’d have them buy off on the age-old lie that a
pastor cannot have a best friend in their own church. In doing this I’d be
helping them to perpetuate a dual life, the fake life they proclaim truth from
behind the pulpit and the real life they live when nobody else is watching,
listening or applauding. The hypocrisy would make me smile.
If I were the devil I’d convince pastors that they had to do everything. I’d
challenge them to lead all the meetings, do all the counseling, oversee all the
marrying, do all the burying, to be involved in all the everything of the
church. I’d remind them that the former pastor of their church did all these
same things. I’d coerce him through the expectations of the old guard in his
congregation. I would do everything in my power to get these pastors to avoid
Ephesians 4 verses 11 and 12. The last thing I would want them to realize and
embrace is that their primary responsibility is to equip God’s people to do the
work of the ministry. If they were to read and apply these dangerous verses
they could lose their inner sense of self-importance and probably gain ten,
twenty or maybe fifty times their spiritual impact on the congregation. That
would make me mad if I were the devil.
If I were the devil I’d undermine the typical pastor’s confidence in the Word
of God. I’d get them to believe the lie that something so ancient could never
truly change a tech savvy generation that is so sophisticated. I’d do this by
raising up an army of brilliant philosopher "theologians" who would slowly and
subtly undermine the faith of these pastors in the reliability and relevance of
Scripture. I’d use these theosophers to communicate fine sounding arguments
through cool conversations, hip books and brilliant blogs. I’d use all these
tools and more to create doubt about the truth of God’s infallible Word, the
relevancy of truth and the power of the message of the cross. Oftentimes I
would come at these pastors sideways through another pastor or the youth leader
on staff to make pastors feel like they're preaching an obsolete message to a
too-cool-for-school crowd. I’d go beyond getting them to change their methods
of communication,
I’d convince them that the Scriptures, the gospel and the truth is powerless
to deeply and wholly transform a soul. I’d use the vast intellect of my
blogging pawns to create anger, confusion, discouragement or distraction in the
minds of ministry leaders. I’d unleash a new brand of repackaged gnostic
pietism on the body of Christ and label it relevant.
If I were the devil I’d convince pastors not to preach the gospel weekly. I’d
try to persuade them that the service schedule was too packed with music,
sermon points and announcements to take a few minutes out to present the most
important message in the world. I’d soothe them with thoughts like, “The church
is for Christians” or “You elude to the gospel enough in the flow of your
weekly sermon” or “You present the gospel on those special outreach weekends”
or whatever. I’d try to distract them from realizing what the early church
embraced, that the gospel was “the power of God for the salvation of everyone
who believes….”
If I were the devil, when these pastors decided to actually share the gospel,
I’d have them preach a message that sounds like the gospel but is really no
gospel at all. I’d get them to make the sinner "say a prayer" whether he truly
understands and embraces the gospel or not. I’d have them challenge those who
are unregenerate in their audiences to commit totally, try harder, submit
fully, and surrender all. I’d get them to preach anything and everything but
faith alone in Christ alone for the salvation of their souls. I’d empty a great
word like "repent" of its true meaning and fill it with the filthy rags of good
deeds cloaked as the gospel of grace. I’d deceive them into evangelizing with a
self-centered gospel that focuses more on what the sinner does than on what
Christ has done.
If I were the devil I’d get pastors to tolerate youth leaders who teach more
devotionally and less theologically. I’d convince them that it was okay if
their teens weren’t learning theology and how relevant it was to the everyday
life of the average teenager. I’d challenge them to encourage their youth
leaders to give safe talks about safe things, things that teenagers related to,
enjoyed and understood. I’d encourage them to avoid complex theology like the
Trinity, the inerrancy of Scripture, justification by faith and the like so
that they "don’t lose" their teenagers. Instead I’d motivate them to embrace
youth leaders who serve McNuggets of truth, deep fried in fun and dipped in
sweet sauce so that their kids don’t get bored and their parents (aka
“tithers”) don’t get mad and leave the church.
If I were the devil I’d get good churches to do lots of good things. I’d get
them to build houses for the needy, give food to the poor and reach out to the
hurting. I’d encourage them to do all of these things in the name of Jesus but
without ever actually sharing the gospel message to those they serve. I’d
motivate them to "hack at the leaves of evil" and feel good about it, not
letting them realize that they have left “the root of evil” intact. I’d
convince these pastors to convince their churches that preaching the gospel was
action and service alone. I’d paint a picture of Jesus that only served the
poor’s physical needs and leave out his drive to fulfill their deeper, bigger,
spiritual needs. If these pastors insisted on preaching the gospel I’d get them
to focus only on the proclamation of the message and convince them that serving
the hurting in their community was not important at all.
If I were the devil I’d attack the writer of these words with his own
inadequacies. I’d remind him of every time he has messed up and failed. I’d
show him his own hypocrisy. I’d convince him that he had no right to write such
judgmental words. I’d challenge him to take the kinder, gentler course of
typing safe, funny things. If that didn’t work I’d convince him that he is
somehow better than any struggling pastor.
But I’m not the devil. Satan is. And he doesn’t need any help. He is already
doing a very good job at attacking pastors. Don’t you think?
If you were the devil how would you attack pastors?
*After writing much of this article I realized that Paul Harvey wrote his own
version of "If I were the Devil" long before I wrote this one. Shout out to Mr.
Harvey. Good day!
Greg Stier is the President and Founder of Dare 2 Share Ministries in Arvada,
Colo., where he works with youth leaders and students, equipping them to be
effective in sharing the gospel. Dare 2 Share has impacted the lives of more
than 300,000 teenagers across the country. With experience as a senior
teaching pastor and in youth ministry for almost 20 years, he has a reputation
of knowing and relating to today’s teens. Greg is widely viewed as an
authority on teen spirituality. He is known for motivating, mobilizing and
equipping teens for positive change. For more information on Dare 2 Share
Ministries, please visit www.dare2share.org. Or visit his blog at
GregStier.org.
Jesse B. Dedel
Asoociate Pastor / Director
International Charismatic Service / Master's Commission Phil-Asia
Alternate Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mobile phone: +639209251419
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