Enemy

Last Sunday one of the elders said something that has stuck in my mind. He said "the Enemy does not like what we are doing here at this church. The Enemy does not like what we are doing in this town. We need to pray for the leadership of this church so that they will be protected from the Enemy's attack."

Now, all right, I have grown up around such talk and I pretty much know where he is coming from. But I have to admit, I'm sitting there going "huh?"

For one thing, who or what is this "enemy?" And how does he or anyone else know that this "enemy" does not like what is going on at this (or any other church)? He gave no evidence for this assertion, or what we can expect. We are all supposed to know and understand what is meant. But what if we don't?

The "enemy" is Satan, that much I get. Apparently the reason he isn't named is that by naming him you give him power. It's just the opposite of the situation in the Hebrew Bible where the name of God is so holy it can't be said. We can say all the names of God we want. It's the other guy who can't be mentioned. So we have to talk in circles.

Now I do not think that this church is about to go the way things were back before the Enlightenment, where people, mostly women, were burned and hung in the name of God because they were seen to be in league with You Know Who. I would hope that these people who I call friends have more intellect and common sense and common decency than all that. (Besides, that sort of thing will get you a long time in the slammer in this state.) And if I were to mention my fears they would remind me that we are talking spiritual warfare, not physical warfare. But sooner or later the spiritual and the physical intersect. Remember, these very same people believe that it is possible to be possessed by demons. And when people feel threatened by forces they can't understand (or even if they think they understand them), things can turn ugly quickly. Islam is not the only religion of the sword.

I am not a believer. Am I an agent of Satan bent on infiltrating and subverting this church? I don't think so. I genuinely like the people I have met there (even if I don't agree with some of their ideas) and I like the pastor. He is an interesting speaker. I feel that I have been quite restrained in my dealings there, I have not given voice (except in this blog) to my doubts and thoughts. Sometimes I feel that I am there on false pretenses because it is assumed that I am one of them and I don't go out of my way to contradict this assumption.

But it bothers me that when I hear blanket statements like "the Enemy does not like what we are doing here" without any evidence given to back up that claim, that the stage is being set for precisely the sort of thing the speaker would say he is trying to warn the church against--and that is suspicion and division. Yes, right now they are going pretty smoothly. The church is actually growing. We are being allowed to meet without harassment; I haven't heard anyone complaining about us. So what does this leader think is going to happen? Or is something happening that I'm not aware of, some kind of politics, some kind of infighting? It was that sort of thing that drove me out of the Catholic church. Talk about being besieged by the Enemy, now there's a church that's under heavy attack. Maybe I should put a request that we pray for the Catholic church in the prayer request box! See, that's what gets me, they act like they alone are holding the fort for God here in this town, what about the other churches? Aren't we supposedly all in this together? It bothers me that these statements aren't even questioned but passively accepted. I know why. It is the same reason I am silent. Because it is considered rude and disruptive to openly challenge anything said from the pulpit.

But maybe there ought to be a forum where some of these concerns can be safely raised . . .