By Francis Frangipane
There is no greater opportunity to become Christlike than in the midst of pain and injustice. When Satan is raging with evil, God is planning to turn it to good. If we maintain our integrity in battle; if we let love rise to its purest expression, we will touch the heart of God. Such is the path to God's power.
I have set my heart to eliminate many of the vulnerabilities to, and effects of, church splits and other ungodly divisions. At the same time, I realize that we can do almost everything right as pastors and churches and still suffer divisions. For some of us, this may actually be part of God's greater plan for our lives--that we should endure rejection, conflict and slander as part of the process of truly becoming Christlike.
A Collective Madness
Let me address those who may currently be engaged in splitting a church. My earnest admonition is that you flee quickly from the dividing group. For once you fully embrace the resolve to split your church, a type of "collective madness" occurs. You will know what you are doing is wrong, but will become so hardened that you detach yourself from guilt. You will be aware that your anger is venomous and unchristlike, but you will be powerless to mute your words.
Beloved, no one needs to slay love to defend truth. Love is not truth's enemy; it is its validator. If what you say cannot be said in love, do not say it. It is not of God. To speak without love is evidence that the collective madness has begun to infect your soul.
Satan's Hour
Let us isolate this terrible insanity that drives people to say and do things they know are wrong. For the sake of discernment, we shall call this season of madness "Satan's hour." It is a period when the restraining powers of justice and goodness seem to withdraw. Instead of love, or even civility, what governs the dissenting group is the manifest "power of darkness" (Luke 22:53).
It is as though people invite the legions of hell to temporarily escape the abode of the damned and find access to their secret resentments--the unresolved issues that exist in their hearts. The resident evil within human nature is fully awakened, and then empowered by hell to fulfill demonic gratification.
This collective madness is the exact opposite of a visitation from heaven; it is a visitation from hell. It is not the healing of bodies, but the wounding of hearts. It is not reconciliation between souls, but estrangement of friends. It is not truth spoken in love, but emotions discharged in wrath. It is not the gospel of peace, but the heartache of strife. During Satan's hour, friends become enemies; loyalties become betrayals; and unity degrades into unreconcilable division. Satan's hour is an uncontested, seemingly unstoppable, invasion from hell, where every hidden jealousy, every secret, unresolved bitterness in the human heart is unsheathed and used as a weapon in the hands of demons of strife. It strikes churches, but it also manifests during a divorce and in other personal relationships. Its goal is to divide and destroy.
Indeed, Jesus Himself, during His last days on earth, watched this invasion from hell advance upon the people of Jerusalem. Its power infected even His own disciples. Yet, if we study the terrible, demonic events which were compressed into Jesus' last earthly days, we can gain a vital insight into the demonic activity in church splits and divorces. More importantly, we can see how God can bring victory through it.
First, this swarm of evil did not take Jesus unaware. Throughout the time of His ministry Jesus frequently warned His disciples that a time of unfettered evil would come (Mark 8:31; 9:12; Luke 17:25). As the day arrived, Jesus announced to His disciples that the prince of darkness was coming (John 14:30). Yet, knowing a time of satanic darkness was at hand did not make enduring it easier; knowing such a time was imminent, however, did help Jesus to prepare.
Thus, Jesus was fully aware of several things that would occur during Satan's hour: evil would strike in full force and His disciples would be severely sifted (Luke 22:31); His followers would scatter; and one of the twelve would betray Him. Even Jesus' closest friends would deny they ever knew Him (Luke 22:60-61). Satan's hour was a time when reality itself seemingly bent in service to the power of darkness (Luke 22:53), and the Father offered nothing Jesus could use to stop it.
We cannot help but picture Jesus always upbeat and overcoming, but when hell was unleashed, even God's Son was not invulnerable to Satan's oppression. "Grieved and distressed," Jesus took His closest friends aside and spoke intimately with them about His heartache. "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death," He said, as He urged Peter, James and John, to keep watch with Him. Yet, the heaviness of satanic battle overwhelmed them. Even John, who had rested his head on Jesus' breast, could not lift his head from slumber--all escaped into sleep, hiding themselves from excessive sorrow (Matt 26:38-45).
Staggered by the weight of the spiritual attack against Him, Jesus "fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by" (Mark 14:35). We know Jesus ministered peace wherever He went, yet now His intense, internal struggle ruptured blood vessels on His face, which beaded on His skin. Again, He sought to wake His disciples. Roused from sleep, they actually saw the droplets of blood on Christ's brow and cheeks; still, they could not endure.
I think it is significant that Jesus returned to His friends three times during the hour of His Gethsemane prayer (Matt 26:39-45). Beloved, there are some agonies in life for which God alone seems not enough; we crave also the comfort of our friends (Prov 17:17). There is no substitute for our Heavenly Father's Presence, yet our soul also needs the embrace of a loyal companion, the shoulder of a faithful friend. Yet, Jesus' friends were not there. They slept while He prayed. They fled when the Pharisees came (Matt 26:56). During the trial when, of all people, they could have certainly defended Jesus' character and doctrine, they hid. Even if others would forsake Him, surely these who broke bread with Him, who knew His heart, would speak in His defense. Yet from Gethsemane to the cross, Jesus heard the voice of just one friend. It was Peter's, who less than a day earlier had sworn undying loyalty, swearing now he never knew Him (Matt 26:69-70; Luke 22:61).
Our Master experienced betrayal, abandonment, slander, mockery and gross injustice. He endured the heartache of His disciples' immaturity--their failure to pray, failure to stand and failure to defend the truth about their most wonderful friend and Lord.
Dear follower of Jesus, what our Messiah endured and what the disciples suffered, in various degrees, are all the elements found in a church split. What happens to a pastor--what might have happened to your pastor during a church split--is similar in nature to what Jesus Himself suffered in His last few days.
How Jesus Overcame
For a pastor, there exists only one way out of the tragedy of a church split: become like Jesus. You see, God's greatest goal for our lives is not that we become successful ministers, but that we become Christlike. Pastoring is simply an opportunity to be transformed into Christlikeness. This means that, when we go through injustices and conflicts, Christ's character and mercy must be manifested in our mortal lives. As we follow Christ's pattern, we learn to respond to human failures as Jesus did.
The wounding that occurs to a pastor during a split comes on several fronts: the failure of friends or church members to speak in his defense or to persevere, on his behalf, in prayer. Confusion and fear, suspicion and doubt overshadow people who know better, paralyzing them into inaction. To counteract the failure of His disciples during their personal sifting, Jesus assured them, "but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32).
There are valuable lessons for Jesus' disciples that only failure can teach, and Jesus knew this. His disciples frequently slipped into pride and strife. After their failure, they were humbled, broken and contrite enough for God to use them. The Holy Spirit redeemed their failure, using it to excavate their souls of pride. These same disciples would soon be willing to suffer and die for Jesus, and count it an honor to do so. They never denied Him again. Knowing they would fail Him, Jesus prayed that their faith would not fail and, upon returning, they would become a strength for others.
For the disciples, their biggest problem was carrying the guilt-burden of their failure. Yet, immediately after warning them that they would, in fact, each deny Him, Jesus comforted them, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 13:38-14:1). Incredibly, even before they fell, Jesus sought to remove the weight of condemnation that would inevitably seek to overwhelm them.
So, pastors, as Jesus loved His disciples, even though they failed Him, so we need to love those who, though falling short of our expectations, still remain with us. They will strengthen others. We need to remove any sense of condemnation or blame from those who have disappointed us. As they see our Christlike reactions, they too will become united to serve God's highest purposes.
How Jesus Handled His Enemies
Jesus loved His disciples and His love covered and redeemed their failures. However, the next people we must deal with are those playing the role of the enemy, the instruments of injustice, who sought to destroy a ministry through gossip and slander. We must find Christ's reaction to these and emulate His behavior.
While we may have many legitimate arguments to wage against our accusers, Jesus stood silently before His. Beloved, there is a time to take your stand and defend what God is doing, and there is a time to become silent and simply entrust yourself to God. Peter reveals how Jesus processed the storm of accusation that came against His soul. Peter writes, "while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously" (1 Peter 2:23).
If your words will not persuade your attackers, beloved, recognize it is time to be silent. Yet, Jesus was not just silent; He bore their sins on His cross (1 Peter 2:24). So also for us: It is not enough that we not react negatively; we must respond positively to those who come against us, just as Christ did. We must pray the mercy prayer, even when it may appear that they have successfully put to death our vision.
You see, Jesus knew Satan's hour was coming. Yet He also knew that if He could maintain His vision of redemption and His capacity to love, it would be through this very time of darkness that redemption would triumph for mankind. Though grieved and deeply troubled, still Jesus prayed, "What shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came" (John 12:27).
Jesus understood that for redemption to be accomplished, His love would face its most severe test. Jesus knew this battle was over one thing: would He allow love to reach full maturity and its most perfect expression? Would He maintain His passion for man's redemption even as men mocked and crucified Him?
So it is with us. God allows injustices to perfect our love. The cross is the cost we pay so love can triumph. This battle is not about you and your enemies, but about you maintaining love in the midst of injustice.
Dear pastor, let us redefine our meaning of success. Here is the success that will bring the power of redemption into our world: When we have endured Satan's hour and, instead of reacting, allowed adversity to refine our love, we will have succeeded in the purpose of our existence.
Beloved, regardless of the test God calls you to endure, it is not about you and your relational opponent. The real issue is about you and God. Will you allow love to be perfected? Will you transform Satan's hour into an offering of your life in Christlike surrender?
Lord Jesus, my soul yearns to be like You. Master of all that is good, grant me grace to succeed in love. Guard my heart from its natural instinct for self-survival. Let me never choose the way of hardness; let me, in all things, find the way of life. Even now, I offer myself for those who have struck me. Thank You for the opportunity to become like You. Amen.
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Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, A House United available at www.arrowbookstore.com as well as Francis' In Christ's Image Training course - www.icitc.org. In Christ's Image Training course. Register now for this life-changing course. Visit www.icitc.org for more information.
Satan's Hour
The Summing Up of All Things in Christ
By Francis Frangipane
"He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to his kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth" (Eph. 1:9-10).
God and Time Are on My Side
Paul tells us that the price Jesus paid has not only brought the church into salvation, but Christ's atonement will also redeem all of creation as well. The apostle explains that a unique season would occur at the end of the age. During the last years of this dispensation God would actually begin to gather "all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth."
This great gathering together of all things is not so much a singular event as it is a series of divine initiatives. Thus, the word translated "summing up" was an accounting term used by the ancient Greeks. It simply described the sequence of addition used to bring separate items to a singular total. Other translations use the phrase "gathering together" or "gathering into one" all things in Christ. Those who love Him will be consumed by Him in love; those who hate Him will be consumed in judgment. Either way, God will leave nothing but the fullness of Christ permeating the universe.
What is important for us to know now is that we are in that season spoken of by Paul in the Scriptures. Indeed, even now there is an energy, a power, from God that has begun the process of gathering. We see evidences of His power as He gathers Israel to its land and the church to its unity and destiny. This is a profound truth. The world is being carried forward into a reality that shall ultimately be filled with Christ. Whether it takes five years or fifty years, this is the great "mystery of [God's] will" which shall occur at the end of the age.
To win our war for righteousness we must keep focused on this larger, cosmic perspective of a world consumed in Christ. Yes, the world remains darkened in its fallen state. Yet, every time we pray, "Thy Kingdom come," we are asking for the Holy Spirit to enter us, and then use us to redeem and transform every darkened facet of human existence.
We look at the system of the world and believe it is beyond hope. We see the entertainment industry, for example, and believe that God must destroy it to keep it from contaminating the rest of the world. But what if, at this time, it isn’t God's plan to destroy the world, but to invade and transform it? What if He wants to sum it up in Christ? We must pray as if a time will come when godly movies will become commonplace, where the world will be ministered to by the Christian morals that reveal Jesus Christ. Imagine a day when the power of the cross would permeate the entertainment industry so much so that it would be known as "Holywood" instead of Hollywood.
We might look at world governments with the same cynicism and unbelief, but remember God is going to sum up "all things" in Christ. The time is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10,11). So, we must learn to look at the wickedness of the world with the vision of the kingdom of God. For at some point in time, worldwide, it will be proclaimed with great shouts of joy, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ" (Rev. 11:15).
God's plan for the end of the age is to invade every single dimension of life and sum all things up in Christ. Whatever refuses to yield to Christ will be destroyed; what yields to Him will be transformed. This is the mystery of God's will. This is the big picture.
When I hear of terrible natural disasters such as we’ve seen in Japan and other places in recent years or when I watch the turbulent upheavals in the Arab world, I pray as though, somehow, the outcome of what I see is ultimately going to be fulfilled in Christ. When I pray concerning evil in the world, I don't look at the illusion of permanence that appears to protect evil; I look right past it toward the day of God's kingdom. I see what's wrong, but I'm also saying, God's will is to sum this thing up in Christ. I pray as though God and time are on my side.
Becoming Like Christ
The big picture, the wide-angle view, is that all things shall ultimately be summed up in Christ. Certainly, the Lord will use many mighty ways to fulfill this great plan. However, there is one dimension integral to the process of divine consummation that directly pertains to us. Paul writes, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men . . . He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death" (Phil. 2:5-8).
Paul says, "Have this attitude in you . . ." What attitude? The attitude Christ demonstrated when He saw mankind's sin and vileness. He didn't destroy evil people. He didn't isolate Himself from mankind's wickedness. He didn't sit in heaven criticizing man. Christ, who "existed in the form of God," took upon Himself the actual form of man. He completely identified Himself with humanity, even to the point of being found in man's very likeness.
In Christ we see the pattern of how to transform our world: We enter it, take its very form upon ourselves, and by becoming bond-servants (not judges), we give ourselves to whatever it takes to redeem it. To better understand this, substitute the idea that Christ was "being made in the likeness of men" with this: He took upon Himself "the form of need."
So, even though Christ existed in God's form, He knew He couldn't transform the world without taking man's form. As God, He could destroy mankind, but could not redeem mankind. Keep this in mind: You cannot transform anything from the outside. You have to enter the need and take its form to bring redemption.
The Bible clearly and repeatedly states that Jesus is not alone in the mission of redemption. He began alone and set the pattern, but He also is the first born among many brethren. Just as Christ entered us in order to redeem and transform us, so those whom He raises up at the end of the age will do what He did, but on a smaller scale. They will see the need, take its form, and work from the inside to bring redemption.
For example, let's look at the political arena. As Christians, we are so quick to judge politicians and think that the whole system is irreversibly corrupt. Yet, Christ desires that people with His nature enter the system and be a light there. Transformation is an inside job. The church, however, has taken an outside position to things in need, standing aloof from the world in need of redemption. Our only contribution has been to judge and criticize what is wrong.
When we simply judge something without praying for it or seeking to transform it, we can remain isolated from the nature and pattern of Christ. Not until we have the attitude that was first in Christ, do we begin to truly grow in our Christian experience. We must allow Christ to manifest Himself through us. It is the very area of need that we see and remedy that is the "land of our anointing," where the nature of Christ has opportunity to be unveiled through us.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Here again, God's pattern is to identify with the need, not putting Himself above it, but sacrificing Himself for the redemption of that need. He shoulders the need Himself. This is the nature of the cross. Christ became "sin on our behalf." He identified with our need so that we could be transformed by His righteousness. Whether it is a school, a neighborhood or place of employment, God desires that we identify with that need and bring light into it.
So the big picture is that everything will be gathered in Christ. The incremental movement within that big picture is measured in each of us seeing the need of the world around us, identifying with people who are trapped in sin, and bringing freedom to them by revealing Christ. After you have identified yourself with the need, you will no longer judge it. As a part of it, you desire its redemption rather than God's wrath. You pray for it like you pray for yourself.
May God deliver us from prayers of judgment and destruction. God's will is not to judge or destroy, but to redeem. He hears our prayers if we pray according to His will. Why then would we pray otherwise? So pray instead, Lord God, raise up people from the inside to transform (my school or our government or the entertainment industry).
We must stop thinking and praying negatively. God is doing something today that is so marvelous and so wonderful that He says: If I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Picture taverns becoming churches. Picture churches working together to see cities changed. This is the mystery of God's will, to see everything summed up in Christ. Let us look at nothing as though it cannot be transformed. Rather, let us remember that in what we desire to see redeemed, eventually all things shall be filled with Christ. God and time are on our side.
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This particular message, about the summing up of our lives in Christ, is a central theme of our In Christ's Image Training course. Register now for this life-changing course. Visit www.icitc.org for more information.