-Yes, deal with your anger before sundown (i.e. as soon as you realistically can), before the enemy has a chance to inflict some damage on the body. Diabolos. He is the enemy (Satan means adversary in Hebrew). This falsely-accusing, slandering, gossiping one, the enemy of God, of our souls - he comes to destroy (John 10.10), to tear down what is good, what God has built. Imagine what would happen if ISIS were somehow able to set up a military base of operations in the area where you live. Who in their right mind would allow such a thing if it were within the scope of their power to prevent it? Exactly. hat is precisely what Paul is talking about here. Do not give the enemy a base of operations in your life or in the life of your assembly. In other words, we must maintain a military level of vigilance over how we deal with our anger, as well as how we speak truth in love to one another. Diabolos is also the father of lies, the crafty master deceiver who was a deceiver from the beginning and continues to deceive the whole world (John 8.44, 2Corinthians 11.3, Revelation 12.9). He takes dead aim at God's Plan A for reaching the world - the oneness of the Body of Christ - and will do whatever he can to destroy it. What he loves to do is create distance and doubt and distrust by falsely accusing others in my mind (cf Revelation 12.10, Zechariah 3.1, 1Peter 5.8), tempting me to not believe the best about my fellow believers. Bitterness, unforgiveness, vain imaginations - he will slander others in my mind and wreak havoc in relationships however he can (or is allowed to) in a relentless attempt to create schisms and pull God's people apart (which over the centuries he has managed to do and continues to do with devastating effectiveness). Unfortunately, while falsehood and anger (my anger) and unforgiveness persist, that gives space to diabolos, an open invitation for the enemy to move out and come in and steal kill and destroy all that God is building in my assembly. I am sleeping with the enemy - or may as well be. But love. Love conquers all. Love believes (and bears!!!) ALL things (1Corinthians 13.7). Love casts out fear - and anger, and bitterness, and resentment, and unforgiveness. We must embrace humility and love and one another and wade into and move beyond our hurts and woundedness and perceived slights and disagreements. We must do whatever it takes to come together and build up the body and guard our oneness. Because if we let the diabolos separate and keep us apart, for whatever reason, then he has gained a victory. Not ultimate victory, which is certain (for the good guys). But he will have taken some ground against the Kingdom of heaven. And it was entirely preventable.
No comments:
Post a Comment