Are you tired and weary, pastor or ministry leader? Do you feel like you’ve been battling against opposition in your church for some time, now? This won’t make you feel any better, but I assure you, you aren’t alone. In fact, I’ve been right where you are! I don’t have a simple solution for you, but I wanted to offer some reflections on scripture that have helped me in times like this.
We all have them. That obstinate deacon that not only opposes every initiative you introduce, but expresses personal animosity toward you. That busybody who continues to spread negativity through the choir, WMU, or the staff. It’s easy to harbor bitterness and anger toward those people. After all, they are personally attacking you.
We’ve all read Ephesians 6:12. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We all know this to be true. We try to remind ourselves of this in the middle of the battle. But it is difficult.
I remember it well. I had only been at the church for about six months. I noticed almost immediately a barrier to the Holy Spirit working. What began as simple opposition to small changes exploded into all-out conflict over Christmas. Three people in my church were banding together to oppose me personally, my vision, my leadership, and God’s work at the church. God had begun to grow the church, but not the way these three people wanted. I began to notice that when one or more of these individuals were not in worship that the Holy Spirit moved in greater ways. In fact, the first Sunday of the new year we had record numbers of people join the church and commit to Christ! It just so happened that two of those three weren’t there that Sunday!
As I began to pray about it more intently, it became obvious that these three didn’t simply represent opposition to me, but they were opposed to the Holy Spirit’s work in the church. When they were present, a sense of evil existed. I thought this was my imagination at first, but it became more and more apparent as time went on. I can’t say whether or not these people were followers of Jesus, but I can tell you the fruit of their life was more like verses 19-21 of Galatians chapter 5 than verses 22-23.
I struggled with anger and a lack of love for these individuals. It is so difficult to separate people from the evil surrounding them. I kept going back to Ephesians 6:12. My prayers began to change dramatically for the situation and for these people. I began to realize in a real way that whatever these three people were, Satan was absolutely using them to try and thwart God’s work in the church.
At first I was taken by surprise at the schemes and attacks that came my way. However, as I began to realize the spiritual battle taking place and as my prayers changed, I noticed a difference. I began to pray for strength to fight, for wisdom to make decisions, for victory over darkness. Things began to change. I won’t pretend that it was easy. I wouldn’t even say that I experienced complete and utter victory in every situation. What I can say is that God began to work and answer those prayers. When my perspective changed and I realized that the fight was bigger than me, my ministry, and my church, God showed up. He moved. He won. It wasn’t pretty for some of those individuals, but God was ultimately glorified.
So, are you tired, frustrated, angry? Remember, this is a spiritual battle. Stop trying to fight with mere human tools. Ask God to intervene. Ask God for strength. Ask God for wisdom. Ask God for victory. The good news is 1 John 4:4 is true: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
