Organized to Plan but not to Fight
My husband and I have been leaders in the church for over thirty years. We’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. The good has been good. The bad has been bad. And the ugly has always been difficult – difficult for leaders who have to deal with it, difficult for the congregation who is sometime left in the dark and difficult for the community who sees the incongruence between the church’s walk and the church’s talk – the very people we try to influence for good. The world is an ugly place – where ugly belongs; but when it spills over into the church it becomes a different type of ugly.
One night when I was sick and unable to “go to church” I was watching a 60 MINUTES episode with Katy Couric where she was interviewing Defense Secretary Robert Gates who served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence. He has continued serving as Secretary of Defense in the Obama administration. He is retiring June 30. It was because of having to deal with the “ugly” in the church that the following part of the interview caused bells and whistles to go off, prompting me to write this article. Here is my transcription:
Couric: When you look back on these two major wars that you have had the responsibility to oversee, what sticks in your craw – what you regret?
Gates: I think the hardest thing for me to deal with is, is, leading a department that is organized to plan for war but not to fight a war. And so everything that I’ve wanted to do, to try and help the men and women in the field, I’ve had to do outside the normal Pentagon beurocracy. And I have had to be directly involved on a week-to-week basis to make sure that it got done. That’s been very frustrating.
Bell #1 – “leading a department that is organized to plan for war but not to fight a war.”
In the church all Satan has to do to keep us from fighting the real war is tempt us to fight each other. Our battles should not be “against flesh and blood,” but “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12) In both the churches in Corinth and Galatia Paul had to deal with jealousy and quarreling. He told the church in Galatia “if you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be consumed by each other.” (Gal 5:15) and he told the church in Corinth, “For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:4) Are we, like these churches really taking our stand against the devil or are we just acting like mere men? Are we fighting the real war or are we just pretending when we fight each other?
Let me share with you some of our modern day battles we fight inside our walls.
Is it okay to have a Christmas tree in the foyer at Christmas time?
Is it okay to include our supplies with another “denomination’s” supplies if they’re taking a relief truck where we want to go but don’t have the means to do it ourselves? Why do we call them a denomination but don’t call ourselves one?
Is it okay to listen to contemporary Christian music since they play instruments?
Is it okay to play a guitar and sing How Great Thou Art – anywhere?
Is it scriptural to play a camp video that has instrumental music before the final prayer or must we having the closing prayer before we show it to make it more acceptable?
If a husband and wife are co-teaching a class, can the woman stand while the man sits? Must they both sit or must they both stand or can only the man stand while the woman must always sit?
Can a woman pray but only in the presence of other women? Can a woman pray in the presence of a man – anywhere, including the home? Can a woman pray but only in the presence of a man if he’s outside the building? Can a woman pray in the presence of a man if he gives her permission? Can a woman pray if a man has given her permission while at the same time another man is present who hasn’t given her permission?
Can two or more men lead a song at the same time? Can both of them be mic’d at the same time or must only one be mic’d to lead a song? Does a man who is not the “leader” have to only wear a mic that doesn’t look like a mic lest someone notice he is wearing a mic? Can only men be mic’d? Can a woman be mic’d only if she is seated in a pew where no one else can see her? Can she be mic’d and sing and stand at the same time? Can a woman stand and sing with a mic standing on a stage with men who are mic’d?
These are the battles that take up leader’s, especially elder’s, time. We make great plans to fight the war outside our walls but I am convinced the shape of the world says we seldom do. John tells us to “open [our] eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe unto harvest.” (John 4:35) -- not at each other. We just can’t seem to remember “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (1 John 3:8b) SATAN is the destroyer. (Not my task.) He is the father of lies. (I shouldn't tell them.) His mission is to divide the church. (Mine is to spread it.) Satan knows, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1). He knows the good that can be accomplished. Yet, Martha continues to complain about Mary because she “labors” in the kitchen alone while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet.” (Luke 10:40) The world acts exactly as the world should; it’s the church that doesn’t. E. M. Bounds wrote in the 1800’s from his book Purpose in Prayer, “Our laziness after God is our crying sin. The children of this world are far wiser than we. They are at it early and late.”
What can we do to re-focus our attention away from ourselves onto a lost and dying world?
1) Fix our eyes on Jesus not the winds and the waves. Heb. 12:2
2) Spend the time we spend watching each other with equipping ourselves for battle. Eph 6:11, 14-17
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes….Stand firm…with the belt of truth …the breastplate of righteousness…. the readiness that comes from the gospel….the shield of faith….the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.”
3) Decide to decide not to fight with our brother but to fight the “good” fight of faith. 1 Tim. 1:18
From the book Amazing Love by Corrie ten Boom, this is the message in a nutshell: “If I straighten the pictures on the walls of your home, I am committing no sin, am I? But suppose that your house were afire, and I still went calmly about straightening pictures, what would you say? Would you think me merely stupid or very wicked? . . . The world today is on fire. What are you doing to extinguish the fire?”
Let’s not just struggle with straightening the pictures on each other’s walls but remember to fight the"good fight" of faith -- the real battle -- seeking and saving the lost.
One night when I was sick and unable to “go to church” I was watching a 60 MINUTES episode with Katy Couric where she was interviewing Defense Secretary Robert Gates who served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence. He has continued serving as Secretary of Defense in the Obama administration. He is retiring June 30. It was because of having to deal with the “ugly” in the church that the following part of the interview caused bells and whistles to go off, prompting me to write this article. Here is my transcription:
Couric: When you look back on these two major wars that you have had the responsibility to oversee, what sticks in your craw – what you regret?
Gates: I think the hardest thing for me to deal with is, is, leading a department that is organized to plan for war but not to fight a war. And so everything that I’ve wanted to do, to try and help the men and women in the field, I’ve had to do outside the normal Pentagon beurocracy. And I have had to be directly involved on a week-to-week basis to make sure that it got done. That’s been very frustrating.
Bell #1 – “leading a department that is organized to plan for war but not to fight a war.”
In the church all Satan has to do to keep us from fighting the real war is tempt us to fight each other. Our battles should not be “against flesh and blood,” but “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12) In both the churches in Corinth and Galatia Paul had to deal with jealousy and quarreling. He told the church in Galatia “if you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be consumed by each other.” (Gal 5:15) and he told the church in Corinth, “For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:4) Are we, like these churches really taking our stand against the devil or are we just acting like mere men? Are we fighting the real war or are we just pretending when we fight each other?
Let me share with you some of our modern day battles we fight inside our walls.
Is it okay to have a Christmas tree in the foyer at Christmas time?
Is it okay to include our supplies with another “denomination’s” supplies if they’re taking a relief truck where we want to go but don’t have the means to do it ourselves? Why do we call them a denomination but don’t call ourselves one?
Is it okay to listen to contemporary Christian music since they play instruments?
Is it okay to play a guitar and sing How Great Thou Art – anywhere?
Is it scriptural to play a camp video that has instrumental music before the final prayer or must we having the closing prayer before we show it to make it more acceptable?
If a husband and wife are co-teaching a class, can the woman stand while the man sits? Must they both sit or must they both stand or can only the man stand while the woman must always sit?
Can a woman pray but only in the presence of other women? Can a woman pray in the presence of a man – anywhere, including the home? Can a woman pray but only in the presence of a man if he’s outside the building? Can a woman pray in the presence of a man if he gives her permission? Can a woman pray if a man has given her permission while at the same time another man is present who hasn’t given her permission?
Can two or more men lead a song at the same time? Can both of them be mic’d at the same time or must only one be mic’d to lead a song? Does a man who is not the “leader” have to only wear a mic that doesn’t look like a mic lest someone notice he is wearing a mic? Can only men be mic’d? Can a woman be mic’d only if she is seated in a pew where no one else can see her? Can she be mic’d and sing and stand at the same time? Can a woman stand and sing with a mic standing on a stage with men who are mic’d?
These are the battles that take up leader’s, especially elder’s, time. We make great plans to fight the war outside our walls but I am convinced the shape of the world says we seldom do. John tells us to “open [our] eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe unto harvest.” (John 4:35) -- not at each other. We just can’t seem to remember “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (1 John 3:8b) SATAN is the destroyer. (Not my task.) He is the father of lies. (I shouldn't tell them.) His mission is to divide the church. (Mine is to spread it.) Satan knows, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1). He knows the good that can be accomplished. Yet, Martha continues to complain about Mary because she “labors” in the kitchen alone while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet.” (Luke 10:40) The world acts exactly as the world should; it’s the church that doesn’t. E. M. Bounds wrote in the 1800’s from his book Purpose in Prayer, “Our laziness after God is our crying sin. The children of this world are far wiser than we. They are at it early and late.”
What can we do to re-focus our attention away from ourselves onto a lost and dying world?
1) Fix our eyes on Jesus not the winds and the waves. Heb. 12:2
2) Spend the time we spend watching each other with equipping ourselves for battle. Eph 6:11, 14-17
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes….Stand firm…with the belt of truth …the breastplate of righteousness…. the readiness that comes from the gospel….the shield of faith….the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.”
3) Decide to decide not to fight with our brother but to fight the “good” fight of faith. 1 Tim. 1:18
From the book Amazing Love by Corrie ten Boom, this is the message in a nutshell: “If I straighten the pictures on the walls of your home, I am committing no sin, am I? But suppose that your house were afire, and I still went calmly about straightening pictures, what would you say? Would you think me merely stupid or very wicked? . . . The world today is on fire. What are you doing to extinguish the fire?”
Let’s not just struggle with straightening the pictures on each other’s walls but remember to fight the"good fight" of faith -- the real battle -- seeking and saving the lost.
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