WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE ARE HURT IN (BY) THE CHURCH?

What we need to remember is Satan is an imitator. He was cast out of heaven because he wanted to be like God. Do you remember when Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery? When Jacob died the brothers were afraid that Joseph would retaliate against them now that their father was dead. Joseph said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20, NLT).

Satan does just the opposite of what God does so he can build his kingdom. And the only way he can build his kingdom is to take from God’s kingdom or to keep us from entering into the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of freedom. One of the synonyms for kingdom is dominion. When we make Him (Jesus) Lord of our lives, He sets us free. “He whom the son sets free is free indeed” (John 8:36, NLT). His dominion (rule) is not to dominate us, but to free us from bondage. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15, ESV).

One of the greatest blessings that God gave the world was the Church (the body of Christ), and the church (brick and mortar), for the building up of the saints. [Any mention of the church in the remainder of this post, for brevity’s sake, can be understood as either or both.] Satan’s design is to take that which was meant for the most good and use it as one of his greatest tools to cause the most harm to the saints of God.

The one’s who hurt us the most are the very one’s whom we trust and love the most. Jesus said in Matthew 13:24-25: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away.” I can think of three types of seed which our enemy, Satan, will sow.

The first type of weed is the leadership weed. “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act” (Matthew 7:15-16a, NLT). As a matter of fact, one of the issues covered the most in the New Testament is that of false teachers and prophets. One of the greatest tools in Satan’s toolbox are leaders, pastors, and teachers, the very ones who are supposed to edify and build up, that can be causing the greatest harm to the Church. The opposite side of the coin is that sometimes “true” teachers, pastors, and prophets can cause harm in moments of weakness. The wisest person to ever live, other than Jesus, said it well. "There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes mistakes" (Ecclesiastes 7:20, GNT).

The second type of weeds are the lay people in the church, the majority that comprise the church. We are all a work in progress. Our position is in Christ, but our progression is by the work of sanctification through the Spirit of Christ. As a result, we all experience times when we are not walking in the Spirit as we should be, resulting in Satan using us to hurt or discourage others. We can do this by the way we treat others or by the way we speak to/about others, the latter being the most common. “The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person's entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself” (James 3:6, CEV). Words are seeds, when sown, that can reap a harvest of evil, “producing a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Satan uses the law of sowing and reaping for his own purposes, to kill, steal, and destroy.

The third type of seed that is sown are unbelievers in the church. Satan is more than happy when unbelievers are in the church as long as they don’t truly repent of their sin, because he can use them for his nefarious purposes. The church is full of unbelievers who have not truly bowed their knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. These are the ones spoken of in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

So what is the one thing we can tell someone who has been hurt by the church? Church is a place of healing and redemption. If you have been hurt by the church, or someone in the church, it didn’t originate from a righteous and loving heavenly Father. Nor did it originate by leaders and lay persons who are walking in the Spirit.

If we can recognize who and what spirit is behind the “quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder, (2 Corinthians12:20), that at some time or another we have all experienced as believers, then hopefully we can all be more understanding and gracious to overlook or dismiss things said or done that cause us hurt.