Tuesday, February 5, 2008

A Crack in the Armor

Bruce made a comment the other day that has had me thinking quite a bit on Satan. From the vantage point of a pastor, we can see many different issues going on in the church. It is obvious that Satan is running rampant since we showed our new vision for the church. At first, it caused both of us great grief; but after some thought, we realized this should be no surprise. Satan is always at work, walking around as a hungry lion seeking whom he may devour. On August 1st, the I 35w bridge collapsed in Minnesota, killing 13 people. It was caused by a defect in the structure. This defect was seen in 1990 but the warnings went unheeded. Over time, crew continued to add weight to the bridge, concrete on concrete. The weak area was pushed to its limit, and down came the bridge.
While Satan is not all-knowing, he makes it his business to search out our weak points. He will find what is vulnerable and exploit it. The lion does not seek the gazelle in the middle of the herd. He seeks the one on the outside, alone. There is power in numbers; this is what Christians call accountability. No matter how strong you are, we are moving into the next phase of our church's history. Satan will seek out your weak points, your secret sins. Find someone that can be trusted to know these sins and can hold you accountable. Remember, that great bridge would still be standing if only they would have put one more piece of steel on top of the one that failed.

1 comment:

Jess said...

I definitely agree. I think someone who holds us accountable can push us to focus on those cracks we are trying to ignore. Sometimes we'd rather put bubblegum in the crack and hope it holds. But, when someone else is examining your armor, it becomes harder to ignore the cracks.