By Thaddeus Williams, Connection and Community Missions Pastor
"We have seen the enemy, and it is us."
This familiar quote originated from a famous report during the War of 1812 following the Battle of Lake Erie. Over the years, it has been slightly altered to its current form and is often used in public discourse to highlight mankind's tendency to create our own problems.
Unfortunately, I believe this idea of the enemy within can sometimes apply to the church.
Look around the world today, and what do you see? You see anger, division, pain, suffering, and the list goes on. It is not a pretty sight. This should come as no surprise as we live in a fallen, broken world. However, what is surprising is the church's role in all of this. I think if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we are caught up in the middle of it all, and not usually in a good way.
When you ask an unchurched person what they know about the church, you might hear a lot of different answers. In my experience, people often associate the church or Christianity with a political ideology or a warped view of the gospel that is based on works rather than faith and grace. While it is easy to default to the "us versus them" mentality and blame the liberals, culture, or media for the problems our world faces today, it might be time for us to take a hard look in the mirror. Could it be that many of the problems we see around us are the result of the church not being the church? Have we have sacrificed the mission of God for other agendas?
We know we face a cunning enemy who seeks to kill and destroy (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8). Satan's attacks can be insidious, infiltrating the church, causing distractions, creating division, and leaving behind destruction and despair. This not only damages the body of Christ but, by extension, the surrounding community suffers as well.
Like many of the churches listed in the Book of Revelation, the American church seems to have forgotten her first love. Today, in a world with social media and 24-hour news cycles, it is easy to lose focus on the task at hand and get wrapped up in the argument around the hot-button issue of the day. This results in the church being associated with groups and ideologies that do not reflect the diverse body of Christ. Although we may be right to take a stand on a particular issue, it may not be the hill we need to die on. Furthermore, when we engage in debates on issues that we are passionate about, it is easy to come from a place of condemnation rather than compassion and become known only for the things we are against. But what would happen if we became known for what we are for as opposed to what we are against? What if we begin fighting for justice and equality with the same fervor we have in fighting gay marriage? What if we devoted as much energy to reaching the lost as we do to overturning Roe vs. Wade? I believe we would witness an incredible move of God and see our communities, cities, and nation transformed!
I still believe that the church, when fulfilling its mission of proclaiming the gospel and advancing the kingdom of God, is the hope of the world. To be sure, we stand at the edge of heaven and hell with eternal lives literally on the line. It is messy and sometimes downright ugly. But we must stand united, remember who the real enemy is and what we are really fighting against, and get back to what we are called to do. I am reminded of the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:12, "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."
Let's get back to the Father's business and be the light in this dark world!
