There was a series on crosswalk.com earlier this year. 10 Ways We May Be Destroying Our Churches. Of course, there are more than ten. So, I borrowed the thought and called my series Ways people in church destroy churches from the inside.
Obviously, the church in the adjacent image has seen better days. At least, it’s seen better days for its outward appearance.
Did it have better days inside?
Well, we just don’t know.
Presumably, if someone went to the trouble to build it, there was a good reason, people wanted to worship God, and it did have better says as a house of worship.
But just as obviously, something happened. Was the town left behind because of something outside the scope of church control? Like a town where everyone just left because there were no job opportunities, or something like that?
Or is this one of many churches, where the “church” inside the building destroyed itself? Were the people so far from God that no one wanted to attend anymore? Not even those who were responsible for the undoing of the church? Was it the church leaders? Was it the elders in the church? The long-time “members”? Or maybe new people came in and things changed too much?
So many things can and do go wrong. And churches, that’s the lower-case “c” church. God’s Church will never die.
Summary
This page gives an overview into the spiritual health of the church, emphasizing the importance of unity and the dangers of divisions and conflicts. It offers biblical insights on living by the Holy Spirit, the consequences of sin, and the impact of actions like gossip on the church’s wellbeing.
Church Destruction: Discusses how individuals within a church can contribute to its decline, both physically and spiritually.
Biblical Warnings: Highlights warnings from Paul about divisions and conflicts within the church, emphasizing unity and spiritual growth.
Spiritual Living: Encourages living by the Holy Spirit to avoid sinful nature and promote the fruits of the Spirit within the church community.
Consequences of Sin: Addresses the serious nature of seemingly small sins like gossip and their impact on the church’s spiritual health.
In conclusion, the web page emphasizes the importance of nurturing and preserving the church community from within. It highlights the dangers of division and the destructive power of seemingly small sins like gossip, urging individuals to live by the Spirit and uphold the sacredness of God’s temple. The message is clear: to avoid being part of the problem, one must actively seek to be part of the solution, fostering a church environment that reflects the love and wisdom of God. This call to action serves as a reminder that each member of the church has a role to play in its longevity and spiritual health.
Warnings about how people in church destroy churches from the inside
There are warnings from Paul about divisions in the church. One of them is below:
On Divisions in the Church
1Co 3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
1Co 3:5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1Co 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
1Co 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
1Co 3:18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
I could go through, verse by verse and explain it all. However, I don’t think that’s the best approach here. Instead, I want to point out the two verses on how to avoid being one of those people who destroys a church from the inside:
1Co 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
Yes, that’s pretty powerful, isn’t it? If we are God’s temple, because God, the Holy Spirit, resides in us, then shouldn’t we want to build up the church rather than destroy it? Of course, we should. And yet, sometimes we do the very things we know we shouldn’t do. Just like Paul wrote about as well.
How do we not destroy a church from the inside?
Well, since the Holy Spirit resides in us, then the best way to not be someone who destroys a church from the inside is to use the power of the Holy Spirit within us. As we know that’s not always what happens. But when we do fail, when we are the cause of disruptions, we must work to turn back and avail ourselves of God’s Spirit in us.
Live by the Spirit within us, rather than our old selfish desires
To that end, here’s another passage:
Life by the Spirit
Gal 5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Gal 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
As with the previous passage, and with many of the other warnings, this one lists “the biggies”. Yes, these things do happen. But the ones we consider “little sins”, they happen far more often.
I was surprised when I did a search for the word “gossip” in the 1984 NIV. It showed up one time in the New Testament letters. One time! No, it’s not one of those like most of the list above in Galatians. But then, it’s probably one of the more common things.
“Little things” matter!
If you don’t remember the one time, it’s here:
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians
2Co 12:11 I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12 The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance. 13 How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
2Co 12:14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less? 16 Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! 17 Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent you? 18 I urged Titus to go to you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not act in the same spirit and follow the same course?
2Co 12:19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. 20 For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.
Yes, it has the “big one” and the “little ones”. But let’s not forget, they’re all “big ones” to a Holy God. They all need to be forgiven. And we need to be able to ask forgiveness for them, which means we also need to be able to acknowledge them as requiring forgiveness. Oops.
Conclusion – Ways people in church destroy churches from the inside
So yeah, the little things do matter. By the way, little things matter because we try to call them little, but God says they’re big.
But hey – how bad can something like gossip be?
We’ll get into this more in the series, but here’s just a peek at what’s coming in the very first installment on our words and how destructive they can be.
Gossip often conceals its evil nature and lures us in. A remark to your closest friend about another appears innocuous on the surface; but, our Sages tell us, it constitutes a sin that in some ways dwarfs murder, adultery and idolatry combined! Indeed slander drives the Divine presence from among us. 1Gossip: The innocent evil
That’s not good. It’s downright bad.
But maybe it’s still worse than you think. Driving the Divine presence from us can also lead to this:
To the Church in Ephesus
Rev 2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Rev 2:4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Rev 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Removing the lampstand is, if you’re not aware, Jesus declaring that the church is no longer one of His.
That’s not a church I want to be part of.
And it’s a place I want to be part of putting in that situation.
The thing is, there’s probably nothing new in here for most of you. Nothing you don’t already know. At least, as individual pieces of knowledge.
But have we all put them together?
Every time I do that, and it does happen when I write, it’s like the Holy Spirit in me waking me up to one more thing to ask forgiveness for. One more thing to ask for help to not do anymore.
And one step closer to being the person I want to be.
How about you?
If we can walk with the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, in our lives, then we won’t destroy a church from the inside. In fact, to the extent we do it successfully, we cannot destroy a church from the inside.
But of course, we will fail. Then we have to repent. Ask forgiveness from God and the person(s) involved, and get back on the path.
I’d like to say most of you have never done any of the things that are part of this series. I wish I could say that of myself. Sadly, we’re all works in progress. But then, not all that sad, because we are forgiven by God and we can get closer and closer to Him.
All images by MS Designer from my instructions
Footnotes
- 1Gossip: The innocent evil