Satan Hates True Christian Community
~ by Pastor Rob Krause
Now that’s a provocative title scoring high on the "oooo" charts!
The War in the Stars
I remember when I watched Star Wars as a kid. Han Solo was the "old guy" who hung out with "Chewy" because Chewy was cool (he couldn’t talk, he was infested with fleas, he had a mean-looking belt, and he could beat-up Storm Troopers — what boy wouldn’t want to hang out with that?)
But, I remember the moment of disappointment for Jedi-boy Luke when Han said, "Hey kid, I go alone." Han was "Solo" for a reason. That reason happened to be that he was Harrison Ford and could take on an entire galactic army by himself for the right price. I digress. Many Christians remind me of Han Solo. They remind me more of the "solo" portion, "Hey brethren, I go alone."
Here’s the Christian community principle: Satan hates true Christian Community, but he doesn’t mind at all if believers take on his galactic army alone.
Satanic Pants Prove my Point
Back in January ‘06, brother Phil Johnson over at the Pyromaniacs blog posted an interesting article about a Swedish guy in Europe who was designing jeans with a Satanic symbol on them to make Christians angry. Read this downstream designer’s statement carefully: "I don’t oppose people believing in God privately but I hate congregations." He also says, "I think organized religion is not good for society." The Swede obviously prefers disorganized religion and uses a monogram of his father the devil to incite anger.1
But look at the guy’s motive — he hates the assembly, the communion of believers — and he knows Satan does too.
Therefore, it is essential to disciple our people into true Christian Community that loves the Christ of that community.
Heaven Unleashed Through Christian Community
James Spurgeon2 wrote a fantastic follow-up comment to the above article that I was referencing. I’m going to copy James’ comment here and leave the thought with you to Chewy on:
It is worthwhile to note that Jesus did not console the apostles with the promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against them as individuals fighting alone. But he did state that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church. I assume that Jesus knew what the focal point of Satan’s assault would be.3
- Would this be considered "hate speech"? Where’s the European Union now? He’s not even trying to draw cartoons here. [back]
- a writer & thinker that I regard highly. He is also part of the Pyromaniacs team. [back]
- Matthew 16:18 [back]
