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TITLE: Demons in Our Midst By Norm MacDonald 11/09/07 |
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Demons in Our Midst
“They are dead”, she said rather bluntly. I had no idea who Grace, our church secretary, was talking about, until she pulled me aside and whispered their names. Then my whole body went numb – stone cold numb. I could not breathe. My knees began to quiver and I just knew I was going to hit the floor. “Are you alright?” she asked. “Pastor, are you going to be okay. Should I call someone?”
“What? Were you saying something? No, no, you do not need to call anyone,” I insisted. “I will be fine. I think.”
There was very little news coverage. It was all rather blunt and to the point. An older couple killed when an oncoming fright train crushed their car while crossing the railroad tracks just a few miles outside of town. If only people knew what really happened, it would be more than news, it would be a revelation. A sign from God that would shock the community – at least it shocked the hell out of me!
It was just a few months before the accident when it all started; Rather innocent enough in the scheme of things. We were an old establish church struggling to survive in a small West Texas town. When they called me to be their pastor, I was still in college and had just gotten married. It was my first full-time position. We were excited and naive beyond our years. However, that did not seem to matter. We were determined to make a difference for the cause of Christ.
I hit the ground running. Still taking classes during the week, I worked hard at night studying, preparing sermons, and trying to get the church back on its feet. It had a great history in the town, but presently we were barely seeing fifty - sixty in Sunday School and maybe a few more than that in worship. This was in an auditorium that would seat a couple of hundred people. The place felt empty. Not only the building, my heart also, at times. Nevertheless, we worked hard and were faithful in season and out and God began to bless our ministry. People were coming to know Christ and our impact in the community was positive.
If I knew then, what I know now, it would have been apparent that with every growing organization, there are going to be problems that go unrecognized. As I had said earlier, I was a bit naive. Ignorant might be a better way to describe it. Whatever you choose to call it, when the enemy began to infiltrate our ever-expanding body, no one recognized it, until it was too late.
I was in my study getting ready for Sunday service and one of the deacons came in and sat down across from my desk. “You don’t look very happy,” I said softly. He just sat there and without warning, he began to weep. “Billy, what’s the matter?”
“We need to talk after church. And I need you to meet some one who is a friend of mine. He experienced something today in Sunday School that embarrassed him and quite frankly, embarrassed me too.”
“What happened?” I pleaded. He would not tell me until we had concluded our morning service. Shortly following the service, Billy and his friend Steve met me in my office and Billy began to explain what happened.
“This is Steve’s first time here with his family. Steve went to the men’s class that Howard and Jack are teaching. It was a small group this morning and before too long,” his voice getting louder, “they had Steve thinking he needed to be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Then they wanted to lay hands on him so that he could speak in tongues! Pastor, they had the man in tears so he got up and left the room and came looking for me! Can you believe it?” he shouted!
“Billy”, then looking over at Steve, “Steve, are you certain this is what happened? I am not questioning your word, but this sounds so unlike Howard and Jack.”
“Pastor, can I call you Pastor?” said Steve. “Sure.” I replied. “Pastor, that is exactly what happened. I didn’t know what to do. Billy led me to Christ a week or so ago and this is my first time in Sunday School. We were going to talk with you between services about being baptized. But this whole thing has really got me spooked!”
I doubt Steve realized how appropriate the term “spooked” was in describing this situation. Not only that, if he were to know what was to come, spooked would be the least of his worries.
“Steve, first, let me say, I appreciate your openness. Secondly, I am so sorry you had to experience this. I will not try to go into detail now, but suffice it to say, when you accepted Christ, you got all of God there was to get. There is no “second blessing” or anything else that comes after that except to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Billy and I will talk to these men and we will get to the bottom of this. You have my word on it.”
I had no idea what I was going to do. I am not even sure how I did what I did or why I said the things I said that morning. What I do know, I was one furious friar! Billy and I talked for a few minutes about what to do next and we decided the only right thing was get the two other men in the office and talk about what took place.
When we met with Howard and Jack, they owned up to everything. They did not see any problem with what they did, other than perhaps the Sunday School class was not an appropriate venue for that little episode to take place.
Of course, that presented a whole new set of wrinkles for this, just over twenty year old, pastor. The theological issues of “second blessing” and speaking in tongues, and how you wrapped all that up around the conservative nature of the Southern Baptist Convention and its doctrines, had me in a pickle. “We” just did not think in those terms.
The long and short of it was simply this. It became a spiritual war between good and evil and I mean that in every sense of the word. Satan saw an opportunity to divide our growing church and he was determined to do it. Not only that, he was determined to squash me in the process. The lines were drawn and sides were selected. It was not a battle fought in secret. We did it openly and in front of the entire church body and the community. No secrets. I was determined to make sure everyone knew as much as possible about everything. They would know exactly where we stood as a church regarding our doctrine and were the other side stood. It was not pretty, but it was for all intents and purposes a “fair fight” as best I could make it. Then one day the tables turned.
I pulled into the church parking lot and Jack was sitting there in his truck. I got out of my car and greeted him with a smile. “Hi Jack, what are you up to?”
“I just wanted to stop by and see if we could talk about a few things,” he said.
“Sure, come on in my office.” We sat down and Jack began to tell me why he stopped.
“I was driving by the church just a few minutes ago and I saw blood covering the roof and demons ripping off shingles,” he said rather calmly. “I knew when I saw that, the church was under attack.”
“No kidding Sherlock!” I thought to myself, but I dare not say that out loud. He was serious.
“Jack,” (I had no idea what I was going to say at this point), “I think I understand what you are saying. I even think I understand why you might have these visions. I do not discount for a moment what Satan might be trying to do through this whole experience. Nevertheless, I am here to tell you, as far as I am concerned, if there is an enemy in our midst, it is you and Howard and the others who are attempting to divide us.”
“That’s not,” –
“Let me finish Jack!” I interrupted.
“I do not care what you believe. I happen to believe what you and the others are peddling is not scriptural. Nevertheless, you have a right to believe it. What you do not have is a right to believe it here, as long as I am the pastor. You may not like that, but that is the way it is going to be. So I suggest you come to terms with that. If not, we will move to withdraw your membership and that of the others. Do you understand?”
“You can’t do that!” he protested.
“Watch me!” I countered. “Now, if you will kindly leave, I have work to do.”
I was hoping he could not see that my entire body was shaking. I knew I was in the presence of the enemy. I knew I had no idea what I was doing. I also knew it was just him and I in that building. If it came to blows I was a dead duck!
I do not recall how many weeks or months passed. I lost count of the deacons’ meetings, business meetings, sermons preached, and sleepless nights that went by before everything came to head. What I do recall is that one particular couple began to do some serious damage.
Somehow, under the radar, a family that I had not paid much attention to, had taken this whole issue on as their personal crusade. From the daughter to the grandmother, each one was determined to see me gone and their power structure in place. Once I got wind of it, I was stunned. Then it began to translate into shear terror. These people were powerful people. Silent running, like a submarine slipping through hostile waters undetected, they began contacting people one by one to gather strength and support. I was virtually helpless. How could I know who they had contacted or how to counter their move?.
I did the only thing I knew to do at the time. I went to them directly and asked them why they were doing this. What purpose could it serve but to destroy the church and create division and strife in the community? They were oblivious to my plea and almost indignant that I would have the nerve to challenge them.
Frustrated and sensing that I was loosing the battle, I sat down with my wife that night and we talked and prayed about what our next step should be. It was not so much that we were right and they were wrong. It was the principle of the matter. It was biblical doctrine that was at issue here. Whether our interpretation was correct or not, was irrelevant. The church leadership decided this is what we would believe as a church. If others chose to interpret the scriptures differently, that was fine, just do it somewhere else.
That morning, when I arrived at the church, I just sat in my car, in the parking lot and looked at the building and thought of all God had been doing in the lives of the people there. After a few minutes, I walked inside and just stood in the auditorium and looked at the empty pews. I could see people in each one. I could see their faces, call them by name. I knew their struggles, some of their greatest fears. Some of them I had laughed with, some I had cried with, all I had worshiped the Lord with – we were a family. I was not going to let that die.
I went to my study and I began to pray. “Lord, I have no idea how this is going to end. I believe you will gain the victory and will be glorified. But right now, there are some people that are causing some very severe problems and I do not know how to deal with them. I am asking that you would remove them as obstacles that we might be able to move forward. In Jesus name, amen.”
It is hard to say exactly what transpired after that. I would simply say - I had no fear. Maybe it was because I was inexperienced and did not know any better. Maybe it was because God was going to do what God was going to do. I am not certain. Nevertheless, I had no fear.
Now you know why when Grace said,“They are dead”, that my knees buckled and my own life-breathe seemed to disappear for a brief second. For I knew exactly the people she was talking about and why they were dead. Part of me felt guilty about it all, part of me felt relieved. Another part of me wondered how in heaven’s name God could do something like this. And still another part of me said, “Thank you Lord.” However, there was no smile in heaven or on earth.
Everything moved rather quickly after that. It was as though Satan had said “enough” and the war was over. Oh, there was still a battle or two. We ended up “withdrawing fellowship” from several members. That is what Southern Baptists used to call it. Other churches call it excommunication or “get the hell out of here”.
All the folks moved on to other congregations, as is the case with most people who stir up strife. There was no need for me to contact their new pastor and tell them why they had new members – everyone in town knew what had been going on at the Church on the Avenue.
Our little congregation was never the same after that. We were never again “little” and never again weak. I grew up a lot during those times. It forever changed me. More importantly, it forever changed the kingdom of God. Not because of what I did, rather because of what God did through His people when there were demons in our midst.
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