The Romance of Romans-Part 124

[Michael]

Romans Chapter 16 cont'd

I urge you to take note of and avoid those people who cause divisions
and offenses by embracing or promoting doctrines that are contrary to
the ones you have learned. These kinds of people are not concerned
with serving the Lord Jesus Christ, but with filling their unsatisfied
desires. They employ good-sounding words and manipulative monologues
that deceive the hearts of the undiscerning.
The testimony of your faithfulness to God has been reported throughout
the whole world and I am glad that you've been honored like this. Just
make sure that you preserve your spirit of innocence- be "streetwise"
in good, but not in evil! And soon, the God of peace will crush Satan
under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Yes,
Lord, let it be!

Comments:

Romans is such a positive and powerful oriented letter and it would be
nice to not have to address the issue of difficult people or the
devil. But that wouldn't really do justice to the reality of living
out the gospel in the community of faith. The truth is that when
believers put our hearts together and commit to function as the body
of Christ in our cultures, we will be assaulted by hellish forces that
are pitted against our progress and fruitfulness. Believers and the
leaders of their bands must be forewarned and equipped to deal well
with both the evil spirits and the deceived people who will seek to
infiltrate and disrupt our communities. And we must do this without
being un-Christlike...in a way that embodies his compassion and
respect for people and his great heart of hope and redemption.

Sadly, the seminaries have rarely taught their ministers-in-training
the art of dealing with deceived people and the demonic realm.
Ironically, most church leaders have a very rude awakening that one of
the main slices of their jobs ends up being the need to address the
hardships, setbacks and sufferings associated with spiritual warfare
and inter-personal conflicts in the lives and relationships of their
members.

Early on in my pastoral ministry I internalized an important passage
that helped me to face and navigate in the waters of spiritual warfare
and relational conflict:

"Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know
that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be
quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring
evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant
them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come
to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being
captured by him to do his will." 2 Tim 2: 23-25

Through the many years this passage helped to brace me for the
challenges that I would face in pastoring God's people and to create a
Christ-centered culture around my own soul (and, by extention, the
whole community) that empowered me to gracefully handle the presence
of unstable people...their false beliefs/destructive actions...and the
manipulative spiritual enemy working beyond and through them. The key
to honoring Christ and accessing the Holy Spirit's power in these
difficult and oftentimes, tragic, situations is to begin with finding
a "way of being" that remains poised under the pressures they create.
If we can invoke and remain in the Holy Spirit's presence then the
best practical steps to take will emerge and present themselves.

In my early years of ministry, I found myself "tightening up" in ways
that were counter-productive to solving or, at least, containing these
kinds of problems. My own zeal, energy and personal power became
dominant and interfered with the display of the Lord's wisdom and
power in the matter. Over time, I learned how to reign in my fleshly
reactions and follow the Spirit's leadings. When we do this, the
outcome is not always positive (as we can see from the above passage
via the word "perhaps"), but we do provide people with the best
opportunity possible for a deliverance from evil and a sweet
resolution.

More to come....