People collect comic books, stamps, lunchboxes, or just about anything that captures their attention. I admit I do have my own collections. One of them is a list of ministers’ postings on Facebook regarding faith that makes me go “Yikes!” I collect them as examples of leadership gone awry, or examples of statement that are misleading at best and heretical at worst. I’m always amazed at the number of responses that affirm statements with “Yes! Amen! Preach it!” (usually with multiple exclamation points), no doubt out of loyalty to the minister, and all the while I want to yack.
For the sake of face-saving on behalf of the person who wrote the two examples, I quote them anonymously. Who posted them is simply unimportant and these two examples have been posted and hopefully forgotten quite some time ago. Furthermore, if it is a public post, it is fair game to discuss and believe me, these two quotes will not go down in history as deep or inspiring.
Okay, here’s one that made me shake my head more than once. “The devil took Jesus to the temple. Plan to meet the devil at church.” Seriously? The statement is a clear reference to the temptations of Jesus after the forty-day fast in the wilderness. Let’s break it down. According to Matt. 4:5 and Luke 4:9 Jesus was lead to the pinnacle of the Temple, not in the Temple, so although the precision is not there, at least it is close enough to locate the text. That’s where the best of the quote ends. The implication is that somehow devils occupy churches and like Jesus, who was tempted by the devil on sacred ground and defeated him by the Word of God, we will encounter a devil in sacred space and have to do the same. What utter nonsense.
First of all, why would anyone plan to meet the devil anywhere, much less at church where we gather to celebrate God in His presence? Is the presence of God not holy enough to clear the spiritual atmosphere? The incredible audacity of the statement’s author is to link the moment when Jesus made a critical declaration of faith in quoting Ps. 91:11-12 to silence the enemy and declare the glory of God (OUTSIDE of the Temple) with a negative criticism of the church as if it is the abode of devils.
The company of believers in a church is not perfect and may not even be sinless. Surely if an individual is demonized and needs deliverance, God’s power is available through believers to cast it out, but it would certainly not be a regular expectation when going to church. This kind of statement falls into the category of devil-chasing where there are none, something that I have little interest in doing. If I encounter one, and I have, I deal with it and move on to the things of God. I am much more interested in what God is doing in His Kingdom.
A bit later, the same minister posted, “Out of disaster God brings forth wisdom. From David’s adultery God brought forth a king.” Double yikes! The implication is that David’s actions, albeit sinful, had some redemptive value. In a failed attempt at being witty, the writer of this quote lacks clarity of thought for the benefit of doubt, not to mention biblical inaccuracy.
First of all, to set the record straight, the child that was conceived during David’s adultery died (2 Sam. 12:18). The Davidic lineage did not proceed from the adultery pregnancy. It was the next child of Bathsheba, Solomon, who inherited the throne and the lineage of Jesus came through David, then Solomon and his son Rehoboam (Matt. 1:7-8).
Next, I would ask, did God bring forth wisdom out of disaster in the case of David? Does anyone really believe that David did not know he committed sin? If we examine 2 Sam. 12, we see that the Lord send Nathan, the prophet, to bring David correction. Wisdom certainly came out of the prophetic words, and God’s love is so great that He brings His Word to deliver David and us from our mess. The point, however, is that God does not need our mess to do that. He has given us equipping to preempt sin and its consequential suffering.
Does God needs disasters to extract wisdom out of it for us? God forbid! God’s wisdom is given a number of ways—in His Word, the revelation from His Word by the Holy Spirit, through the supernatural gift of the word of wisdom, and/or communion with God in prayer. Can we learn something out of a disaster? Of course. We draw conclusions out of cause and effect. Wisdom could just as well come from the natural consolations of the ungodly after the fact. Why waste sufferings? The ultimate point is that that of theodicy. Bad things do happen, but they are never orchestrated by God to give us wisdom. God can surely reveal something out of the mess, but that is not God’s intent. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting (Ps. 138:1). ALL THE TIME.
I bring up these thoughts knowing full well that some readers are thinking, “Wow, how unloving,” or “Judge not.” To that I must say that the most loving thing one can do is to tell someone truth. Furthermore, I am not judging people, I am assessing statements, which I believe should be judged. If there were another inference, it would be that ministers need to think before they post. People take what ministers say seriously and assume that they speak from a position of biblical knowledge and understanding. I take the position that theology matters—a lot, and we are accountable for what we say, particularly as ministry leaders, and I include myself on that. We must be mindful that what we declare should be, to the best of our ability, the revealed truth found in God’s Word that edifies and inspires the reader.