A couple weeks ago, as I mentioned, our new Pastor was preaching his try-out sermon. I give him credit, for some of his words could have cost him a position. He was tough. He asked very plainly if we were a cruise ship church or a battleship church.
When you go on a cruise, you go for the rest, relaxation, fun, and entertainment. Now, everyone needs a little of that once in awhile. Even God rested one day a week. However, the church today can't afford to be a cruise ship. We can't afford to have a "What's in it for me?" mentality. We have to have a battleship mentality. We were asked a question that made me sit up in my sit a little higher. If the battle alarm sounded, as it does in a battleship, where would we go? What would our position be? Would everyone work together to fight the battle? Or, like I have seen, would we turn the guns on each other?
Like so many, I have been hurt by people in the church. I have wanted to walk away from the church, or at least the church where I currently attend. A few things keep me going. First, as hurt as I have been at various times, I haven't felt like God has told me to leave. I've cried out to Him to lead me elsewhere, and I don't have peace about leaving. He usually has me pray it though. Ironically, much of the time praying about things and giving situations some time resolves things, even if it is only my hurt feelings.
I stay with my church because I do have battle positions. So many have no position. They don't serve in any capacity. I get that people are busy. I get that they have to work. I don't think that is the issue. I think many just don't want to be bothered. It's those that don't want to be bothered that find it easy to leave when offense happens. From what I have seen, it's those that aren't serving that often do the most complaining. I appreciated that the pastor stated that, if you come to him with a complaint, he's going to ask what you're doing.
There is one thing that keeps me going at tough times. I heard a statistic from a couple Christians that I respect. The statistic floored me. They stated that only about 1 in 4 church attendees are truly saved. While that statistic is difficult for me to believe, I can look at church attendees with a less harsh view. That means that the church has a lot of people looking for happiness by showing up, hearing the Word, but not doing the Word, not living the Word. That means that many church attendees don't have a genuine relationship with Christ. They don't seek His advice most of the time either in prayer or through The Bible. They seek advice from the world. They look for their help from the world and not The Word. When you look at things this way, it isn't really surprising to find people in church acting no better than people in the world. We want better, and pray for them to find Jesus and repent.
The Bible says, "For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Galatians 6:12). Satan thrives on division in our churches and between our churches. I read this verse a lot. I don't think it takes away personal responsibility, but I do remind myself that Satan also has a plan. If he can instigate a fight, he will. If he can encourage offense, hurt, and anger, he will. Satan wants the destruction of the Church. He wants us annihilated. He could care less about our buildings. He wants the people that love Jesus destroyed. Can you imagine the maniacal laugh from Satan when God's people hurt each other?
I say all this because the last several months have been tough. God called our Pastor to another place, and our church has gone through fire in months that have followed. Finding a new pastor has taken some time. In the meantime, it has felt like everything that could go wrong at church has. People have been divided. Hurts have happened. The Board members have been run ragged trying to quench fires that shouldn't have been started. Lots of prayer has gone on by many of us that have seen this happening and know Satan is just using this time to try to knock out the church while there is no pastor to lead.
Well, the battleship is ready for battle. We have fought the fight of faith through the months of transition. We have prayed and waited and prayed some more. We are not a cruise ship. We are a Battleship. Some may be training still. Some may have no position... yet. Some may have a prayer position, for this is the most effective weapon we have.
I ask you, in church and in life, do you have a battle position for Jesus?
