Jump Start # 3379

2 Corinthians 2:11 “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

I don’t know if I remember any period in my life when I have seen so many congregations under attack. Troubles about leadership, misunderstandings, hurt feelings, accusations, slander, marriage issues—the list is long and the pain is great. Brethren are hurting. Satan seems to be running free among God’s people. And, in the course of these things, some are becoming discouraged. Some are confused. Some are leaving. Some are quitting for good. The war is definitely on.

Paul recognized the great power of Satan. He understood that Satan could easily get the upper hand. He wanted Satan to have no advantage over God’s people. Paul knew that Satan had many weapons and plans. We are not ignorant of his schemes, the apostle told the Corinthians.

Like a batter facing a Major League pitcher, he knows what he is capable of throwing. He has watched films. He has studied him. Slider. Fastball. Sinker. He knows. He’s ready. And, so it must be for the people of God today, especially shepherds.

If Satan gets the upper hand, if Satan takes an advantage, there will be destruction that follows. Getting a foothold in a congregation is what Satan would love. Having someone do this dirty work. Find a puppet which Satan can pull the strings. He’ll use slander and malice to splinter our fellowship. He’ll introduce false ideas through the pulpit. When he gets the church fighting each other, the lost will have an excuse to remain lost. God will not be glorified and Satan will smile.

Some lessons for us:

First, times change and so do the tactics of Satan. Those who are stuck in the past will not even notice Satan walking right past them. The “isms” of long ago, Calvinism, Premillennialism, Atheism, Deism, Humanism—the stuff of great lectureships are not the tools of the devil today. No one stays awake thinking about those things. Satan has moved on to other attacks. Have we noticed?

Second, getting a church stuck on autopilot is a sure way to grab them without anyone noticing. Little alertness. No watching. No steadfastness. Asleep at the wheel, complacent, going through the motions, and Satan can have a hay day. We need to be challenged. We need to be busy in the Lord’s work. We need to be involved in each other’s lives. We need to remember our purpose and our mission.

Third, thinking more of self than the Lord is another way Satan can have his way with us. What do I get out of this? What’s in it for me? Why should I? Me. Me. Me. When that is the focus of our lives, Satan has already hung curtains in our heart. It’s not about me. It’s not about what I feel. It’s not about what I think. It’s all about the Lord. It’s always about the Lord. Here’s what I think, doesn’t count. Here’s what the Bible says ought to be the words from our lips.

Fourth, resisting the Devil still works. Satan will run if we put up a fight through the Lord. Satan only gets an advantage when we allow that. When we drink deeply from worldliness and the culture of today, Satan gains a foothold. But when we draw a line, stand with Christ with conviction, courage and faith, Satan doesn’t have a chance.

Yes, churches have troubles. They have troubles, because people have troubles. As long as we keep seeking the will of God, Satan will be kept outside where he belongs. Patience. Love. Communication. Open Bibles. Those are the tools that will get us through tough times.

In the end, God wins. We know how this will turn out. Will we be with God? That’s the question.

Roger

Jump Start # 2668

2 Corinthians 2:11 “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

NOTE: Monday is a holiday so there will be no Jump Start.

In our verse, the apostle reveals two important truths. First, Satan has schemes. He’s trying to trick us, fool us, and blind us to the reality of wrong. He is hoping to cover our eyes to the consequences and destructive outcome that sin has in our lives. “It’s not so bad,” is one of Satan’s greatest lines.

The second truth in this passage is about us, the people of God. We are on to Satan. We see through the smoke and the slick talk. We are not buying what he is saying. In the language of the passage, “We are not ignorant of his schemes.” Satan has schemes and we know what they are. We have his play book. He’ll lie. He’ll use people close to us. He’ll jumble things up in our minds. He’ll twist Scripture. He’ll march pleasure right before our eyes. He’s good, real good at what he does, however, we are on to him. He’s not surprising us.

It is interesting how Satan will make danger look innocent. We are attracted to what seems nice and cute, only to find out how terrifying sin can be. There is a section of Yellowstone Park where the mighty bison roam freely. They cross the road. Some even walk down the road. Hundreds and hundreds of massive bison. Cars stop on both sides of the rode. People get out and take pictures. Stories are told of how some parents put their small children next to one of the bison for a picture. Some foolish parents even try to put their child on top of a bison. The bison are a wonder to watch. Big. Gentle looking. One is drawn to go and pet one. But every year someone is seriously hurt and some even die because these adorable bison are massive wild animals. People believe that they are harmless, even domesticated. But they are not. They can toss a person in the air, charge a car and become very aggressive.

And, Satan does that with temptation. It appears innocent, sweet, nice and we do not see how wild, aggressive and destructive it can be. Temptation looks at the now, not the later. Temptation focuses upon the fun, not the consequences. Temptation fools one into believing a dangerous situation is not dangerous at all. But in an instant, all that fun, all that excitement can change. The step is taken, temptation turns into sin and now one has crossed that forbidden line. Now that person is standing out of bounds. Now that person has violated the law of God. And, at first, the person seems to get away with it. This is great. It’s fun, he believes. But just as a mouse trap comes rapidly upon the unsuspecting mouse, sin traps us, changes us and hurts us.

Temptation can wear lipstick and be nothing more than a little office flirting. Cute. Fun. No harm. But like standing beside that giant bison, in a moment, everything changes. The little flirting turns into a sexual affair. And, trouble begins. Lies must be told to hide things. Deception, secrets and fear of getting caught becomes the focus. Emotions get involved. Things get tangled up. The kids. The wife. The house. Does one leave it all and get a divorce? What a mess one has gotten into. That adorable bison charged and now we are in trouble.

Temptation can appear as black and white numbers on a spread sheet. So many numbers. Such a large corporation. Such waste. Just change a few numbers here and there. Nothing too great. Nothing that the company will not miss. And, now temptation has you skimming money from an account that is not yours. You justify it so easily. They waste that much money on paper every month. The big shots always get such big bonuses and yet you are carrying the load of the work. Do that just a few more times and you can afford to purchase the truck you’ve always wanted. It will be ok. And, like that temptation becomes a sin. That cute bison becomes aggressive. And one day, it is discovered. People show up at your desk. You are escorted out and now you have a court date. You lost your job. You will face jail time. You must pay an enormous amount of money back. And you wonder how did all of this happen?

Temptation can appear as a little white pill. You’ve been bothered and stressed with the pandemic and school at home. You can’t sleep. You are anxious and just not yourself. A friend passes a white pill to you. Take this, it will make you feel better. You look at the pill and think “why not?” And, she was right. You don’t feel so anxious. You seem to be in a better mood. The kids don’t irritate you so much. Your friend was right. But that one pill didn’t last very long. So you ask your friend for some more. You find a way to get some from a doctor. You take more than what you are supposed to, but they sure make you feel better. And, like that temptation has become an addiction. Now, you must have more of these pills. You ask others if you can have one or two of theirs. You come up with ways to get more, and some of the ways are not good, right or legal. Every bit of extra money you can scrape up goes to getting more pills. And, when you are without the pills, your life is a tragic mess. That adorable bison that you wanted to pet, has turned and gored you. He was wild but you wouldn’t believe it.

Paul’s words are: we are not ignorant of his schemes. I wonder if that is true? I wonder if we simply refuse to think that something dangerous can be inside something so wonderful like a mighty bison? Sure gives us something to think about.

Roger

Jump Start # 1560

2 Corinthians 2:11 “In order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

This week we are taking a look a plans, spiritual plans. In the parable about discipleship, Jesus used the illustration of a man who first sits down and calculates if he has enough money to build a tower. Without that careful planning, the tower project begins, but it will not be finished. Uncompleted. Failed. That’s were many plans go to, the land of unfulfilled. Books never finished reading. College never completed. Ideas that just went of to “never-never” land and there they died. Even our concept of a bucket list involves making plans.

Our passage today is about Satan. He, too, has plans. Paul said we are not ignorant of his schemes. The word “schemes” is also expressed:

• Designs (ESV)
• Methods (Phillips)
• Sly ways (Peterson)

The devil has plans. His plans are to wreck your faith, destroy your marriage and crush the church. He’ll use anyone and anything to accomplish this. He will use people that you know. He will throw discouragement and disappointment at you. He will try to get you angry with God. He will tempt you to walk away from God. The devil isn’t flying by the seat of his pants. He’s smart. He knows what he is doing. The stats show that he is very effective.

The devil has plans. God has plans. It certainly seems strange that so many congregations do not have plans. Maybe it’s time to start thinking that direction. Maybe it’s time to think about what’s the best classes that needs to be taught to these people at this time. Maybe it’s time to think what’s the best method to reach out to the community at this time. Maybe it’s time to consider mentoring future elders. Maybe it’s time to map out a strategy for five or ten years. Maybe it’s time to spend an entire Saturday sharing ideas and possibilities. Maybe it’s time to bring in some folks who are already doing these things and allow them to help us. Maybe it’s time to think about what the future looks like.

Making plans is exciting. Making plans brings in hope and a brighter tomorrow. The church needs people who are planners and thinkers and can see what isn’t but could be. Their voice shouldn’t be stopped just because it has never been done before. Their voice shouldn’t be stopped just because it’s going to cost some money. What doesn’t cost these days? Make sure it’s Biblical. Make sure it’s best for the group there and then map out some different ideas.

Let me share some with you:

I know a place that removed the tract rack. They found that very few people ever read tracts anymore. In it’s place, they put a nice TV monitor and they rotate messages there. It’s very attractive.

I know a place that instead of always teaching 13 weeks classes in a quarter, chose to teach a series of ten week classes and then brought all the classes together in the auditorium for three weeks of special topics.

I know a place that offered a five week class, followed by another five week class.

I know a place that took a couple of months of Wednesday nights and brought in guest preachers and built a theme around what they were going to talk about.

I know a place that changed their Sunday night services to Bible classes, instead of another sermon.

I know a place that used two preachers sitting in chairs instead of standing behind a pulpit and talked in a conversational format on Sunday evening.

I know a place that is working more with Facebook and Twitter to get the message out to people.

I know a place that is finding better ways for folks to use their phones and tablets during worship.

Ideas. Plans. Goals. Thinking about what a visitor sees when he walks into the building. Thinking about what a young family really needs today. Thinking about the best ways to teach Jesus today. Some dismiss these suggestions and ideas. Yet, they offer nothing else. They are content to let things stay as they are. They do not realize that many of the things that they are doing are no longer working. They are unable to let go of some old ideas for better ideas.

There are so many talented people in the kingdom today. Folks that know media communications and are very good at what they do. So often, they are not used. The work moves on very slowly while opportunities are slipping past them because they are not making the most of what is available today.

The devil has plans. God has plans. It’s time for the church to have plans. It’s time to brighten up those dull, dark classrooms. It’s time to find ways to connect better with people. It’s time to find the best ways to get people closer to the Lord.

Roger