“Pssst, want to know a secret?”

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Pssst, want to know a secret?

Do you ever wonder how Satan might convince someone to not be a member of a faithful church? Consider these arguments:

1. You do not have to answer to anyone. Well, Satan is partly right on this one. In reality, everyone answers to the Lord (II John 9). Still, when a person is not part of a faithful church, he/she does not have elders looking out for their spiritual wellbeing (I Pet. 5:1-3). They will not have members calling and checking in to see if they are okay (Gal. 6:2). Satan is right – if you are not part of the Lord’s church family, nobody will be following up with you.

2. You do not have to worship God all the time. Christians are commanded to come together as a church (I Cor. 11:17-18; Heb. 10:25). If one does not belong to a faithful congregation, he/she gets to go whenever they decide. They will also have extra cash in their pocket because they will not be financially giving as a member of the church (II Cor. 16:1-2).

3. You do not have to pray for other members or visit them when they are sick or have lost a loved one. If you do not belong to the family of God, you can be selfish and not care about the needs of those around you. Members of the church, on the other hand, care for one another (I Cor. 12:12-25; Rom. 12:15). Remember, Satan wants to convince you that your troubles are so great you cannot help others with their burdens.

4. You do not have to worry about church discipline. Here again, Satan is partly right. If a member of a faithful church wants to listen to Satan on the first three points, a local church is required to purge out the leaven (I Cor. 5:1-7). This is done to help bring the fallen back. A person who does not repent and rejoin the church logically cannot be withdrawn from again. Satan knows this and wants the fallen to find comfort in avoiding earthly discipline. Like children running away to avoid punishment, some will even avoid becoming a member of a local church just to prevent that from ever happening.

5. You do not have to feel guilty about sin. The devil knows that there is less and less guilt as one’s conscience becomes seared (I Tim. 4:2). A person who avoids a faithful church will become more and more comfortable with sin – just as Satan wants.

6. You do not have to evangelize. If someone does not attend a faithful church, than the effectiveness of their evangelism is greatly diminished. Perhaps even more important to Satan, they likely will not bother with evangelism anymore. On the other hand, the faithful Christian is always thinking of ways to encourage people to become part of Christ’s church (Matt. 16:18; Col. 1:18; Mark 16:15-16).

7. You do not have to pledge your allegiance to Satan or the Lord. Anyone who does not confess Christ will be denied (Matt. 10:32-33). However, Satan’s followers do not have to say that they follow him. Satan’s follows are being loyal to him by just by not following the Lord! As Satan knows, we can belong to him whether we intentionally follow him or not!

We all need to make sure we are not following the god of this world (II Cor. 4:4). Do you really want to be influenced by the one who has a lake of fire awaiting him (Rev. 20:10). “Pssst, hey, do not listen to Satan!”

                                                                                               Chuck

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