If one was to devise a scheme to destroy churches, he/she would find ways to attack the pastor. In other wards, attack the church by attacking the pastor.
The Christian family is under attack today because if the evil one can create havoc within the body, then he can probably undermine the work of Christ on earth. Some church members have an unreasonable expectation of the pastor or church administration. One example is that they expect them to be close to perfect, so how is the evil one ramping up his attacks on pastors and church leaders?
Church Division
There may be nothing more destructive to a church than division and, when the congregation starts to divide over non-essential issues, then the pastor or the church leaders can end up being stuck in the middle of it.
Recently I saw a news story on popular local TV, Bukedde where Christians exchanged blows with their Pastor for changing the name of the Church without their consent. If the enemy can create a division or rift between the members and the church leaders and the pastor, he can destroy the integrity of the leadership and the church will suffer as a whole.
Churches are meant to be places of love, peace and harmony, where God is praised and Christ is present by his Spirit.
Media
I have lost count of days Pastors have made headlines over what is happening in and around church. True or unfounded, rumor and gossip is almost the same as character assassination or slandering a person’s name. Many Facebook pages are lit up with rage during such controversy. Because the enemy knows that fallout is widespread when leaders crumble, he always aims his arrows at those who lead God’s church.
Satan doesn’t bother with church’s that are simply going through the motion, churches that are not busy doing kingdom-work, churches that are not evangelizing, and churches that are not discipling members to grow in holiness.
Discouragement
The devil’s strategy is really quite simple: he wants us to mess up, give up, or get puffed up–in any order. Discouragement may be one of the enemy’s most effective weapons because when discouragement hits, it takes away the vitality and purpose of the pastor and church leadership.
Every one of us faces discouragement from time to time and so this is why it is so important to be the Barnabas in the church. Here’s what I mean. Barnabas was an encourager and gave people the benefit of the doubt. When no one else trusted Saul after his conversion it was Barnabas that spoke up for him. When Sanballot kept attacking and trying to discourage the workers who were trying to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah, he knew where to hit them.
If the enemy can discourage the pastor and church leaders then he can weaken the work of the Lord or make it stop altogether.
Conclusion
Seldom does the enemy attack in such a blatant fashion that his attack is undeniable–especially when striking leaders so gifted that they think themselves impenetrable to attack.
The more successful a church’s ministry is, the more likely they’ll be under the enemies attack. He’ll use church division, gossip and rumors, burnout, discouragement and trying to create havoc in the body of Christ to bring down a church. He normally starts at the top…with the pastors and church leaders. He reasons that if he can destroy or make the leadership ineffective, then his work is done.
The church of the Lord Jesus Christ must mean more to us than to allow any of these tragedies to happen. More specifically, a world in need of the gospel must mean so much to us that we put on the full armor of God, stand against the schemes of the devil, and not let the enemy win in the first place (Eph. 6:11). The Great Commission demands nothing less.
What to do?
Think about the story of Peter’s imprisonment in Acts 12: He not only was imprisoned during a widespread persecution of the church, but he also was bound between two soldiers, and four squads of soldiers were assigned to guard him. Surely this is a prophetic glimpse of the overwhelming resistance that key leaders face.
But Scripture says constant prayer was made by the church for Peter’s release. After a glorious visitation by angels and a dramatic jailbreak in answer to a nonstop prayer storm, something incredible happened that we cannot miss: Peter was led to the city’s iron gate–which opened of its own accord (see Acts 12:10).
The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 speaks of the church as a body with many parts. Sometimes the body gets ill, and needs healing. Prayerful, loving people, who act with integrity and keep their eyes focused on Christ, are the ones God uses to bring that healing. Build a prayer shield around your pastor today.
