"S" is for Satan, and how he takes no greater pleasure than in distracting Christians from our mission. No, he may not be able to claim our hearts, but he sure can screw with our heads and create chaos.
The topic of the day is dissension in the Church. As you may or may not know, I'm a member of a small church plant in Hollywood aptly named the Hollywood Church. I haven't been with them from day one, but I've been with them for over 2 of their 2 1/2 years of existence. I love my church, and am so thankful that God led me to it and the people involved with it.
Lately, we've been experiencing our fair share of "disgruntled" members, and it's resulted in a significant flight from our church. In the grand scheme of the size of the church, the numbers aren't too terribly overwhelming. But because it's a good chunk of my very small core group, it's a significant amount in my world.
Unfortunately, I started to let myself get caught up in the issues and considered bailing myself. But then I realized I wasn't going to be "one of them." I'm not going to bail on my church because it's not satisfying my every need. I'm sorry, but that's just selfish. Do I have issues with certain aspects of the church? Absolutely! But I'm sorry, unless these issues get in the way of the gospel message being preached each and every Sunday, then they're trivial. Should they be addressed? Yes. But should they cause you to leave? No.
So I challenge each and every one of you to quit running from problems in your church and instead be a part of the solution. Pray, communicate, get your hands dirty. It's not supposed to be easy. The Christian life isn't a walk in the park. And I'm not just addressing the issues we're having at the HC. This goes on everywhere. Probably even more so in the Bible Belt than out here. Quit leaving Grand Avenue for First Baptist. Quit leaving Eastside for Grand Avenue. It's ridiculous. Quit leaving your church without fighting for it. You're letting Satan win.
