We live in the most fast-paced culture in history. We have everything we need and want at our fingertips and still sometimes it’s not enough. There’s a fast food restaurant I drive by a few times a week that expects their team members to get their drive-thru done in 2:30. That’s from the time the order starts until the time the customer drives off. And they expect the order to be perfect. But what they don’t take into consideration is the traffic. The restaurant is right along the busy highway and you often have to wait to pull out due to traffic. So what happens? Cars get backed up in the drive-thru line, even though their orders have already been fulfilled. However, until they drive over a specific point in the line and the timer resets, the clock is still ticking.
When the corporate office in another state looks at the daily reports, all they see is numbers. They don’t see the fact that the team members are doing their best to get the orders out in time, while making the food look presentable. Upper management is notified the problem needs fixed immediately, and he tells the store manager, who then tells his team members, and by the end of the day everyone feels defeated. Why even try? The moral goes down, the food gets sloppier, and the clock goes up. Nothing is resolved.
Corporate doesn’t see people. They see numbers. They don’t take the time to really understand what’s going on. They don’t encourage their team. They don’t acknowledge their hard work. They don’t teach them. They simply make unreasonable demands, knowing someone else will eventually apply for the job. People aren’t people. They’re just numbers.
God said in Hosea 4:6, “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me.” When Hosea was called to be a prophet to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, it was up to the priests to teach others about God. It was up to them to tell others about the Good News, to offer sacrifices for their sins, to walk with them on their faith journeys. Instead, they were choosing themselves and refusing to acknowledge God. God calls the priests out for rejecting His knowledge.
It wasn’t a simple, gentle correction. God refused to acknowledge them any longer as priests and He told them He would no longer bless their children. People were perishing because they were relying on the priests to give them a better understanding of God, to atone for their sins. And these priests, called by God, were willingly being disobedient.
Isn’t this still true today? People are perishing daily in their faith, their journeys, even their literal lives without fully knowing the truth. I’m not talking about perishing without salvation. I’m talking about men and women who love the Lord and will spend eternity in heaven, yet they’re perishing broken and in bondage because of lack of knowledge. Because those called to lead the church, shepherd the sheep, and disciple the body of Christ aren’t teaching the truth about spiritual warfare.
[ctt template=”3″ link=”I2_Cd” via=”yes” ]The church MUST start teaching the truth about spiritual warfare. [/ctt]
I believe those called to lead the church, the body of Christ, who refuse to grow in their knowledge of freedom in Christ and spiritual warfare are in trouble. They’re going to be held accountable for their own sin of ignorance, as well as the sin of ignorance in those who truly don’t know. So many churches today don’t want to talk about the devil or demons, either because they’re afraid, they don’t believe, or they themselves haven’t been taught. I believe today seminary is one of the most dangerous places for a person called to ministry because they don’t teach the truth about who Jesus really is and that miracles still happen today.
I recently heard a startling statistic from Jimmy Evans, a well-known and respected pastor, that 60% of believers don’t believe the devil is real. More than half of today’s Christians – people who have professed faith in Jesus Christ – do NOT believe the devil is real. That, my friends, is a big problem that must be fixed. That’s why we have to talk about spiritual warfare. We have to talk about the freedom Christ offers. We have to talk about deliverance. We’re never too glorify the devil and we should always spend more time saying the name of Jesus rather than satan, but to not talk about it, to not teach about it, is disobedience.
Marriages are perishing everyday because the enemy is winning the battle in the minds of that couple. Women are getting abortions everyday because the enemy is winning the battle in the mind of that desperate, scared mother. Kids are dying of heroin overdoses everyday because the enemy is winning the battle in the mind of that scared, rejected, angry teenager. Women are staying in relationship with that narcissistic abusive man because the enemy is winning the battle in the mind of that broken, shattered, woman who believes she has no value and deserves to be treated as such.
If we’re not teaching the world that Christ has come to set the world free, then people will continue to perish. It’s time for the church to step up, stop pretending the devil isn’t real, stop pretending warfare isn’t real, and start teaching the truth. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. The church isn’t about quantity, it’s about quality. Are we making disciples? Are we helping others be set free. Every single church should have a deliverance ministry available. Imagine what would happen if that were true? Imagine the freedom. Imagine the chains being broken off addiction, abortion, abuse, broken marriages. It can happen! But only if we stop walking in ignorance.
We are not called to live in captivity. We are called to be free. But as long as we walk in ignorance, and as long as the church refuses to walk in knowledge, we will continue to be thirsty and not understand why. We will continue to be spiritually famished and perish.
[ctt template=”3″ link=”2bMz3″ via=”yes” ]We are not called to live in captivity. We are called to be free.[/ctt]
One of my heroes in the faith, Derek Prince, says “multitudes of Christians do not know the clear simple truths and teachings of the Word of God.” We have to change that, my friend.
The following is a prayer from one of my heroes in the faith, Derek Prince, from his teaching, “Invisible Barriers to Healing.” I would invite you to join him in saying this short prayer out loud as you repent and are set free from the sin of ignorance and commit yourself to seeking and knowing the will of God.
Oh God, we acknowledge that in many ways we are ignorant of your word and of your will through our own fault. Tonight God we confess this as a sin. We repent of it. We ask you to forgive us and to help us to seek the truth from this night forward more diligently, in Jesus’ name. Amen.