In my last post I mentioned some things I believe the enemy has corrupted or even brought about to use in our destruction.  I also intended to develop some practical ways to change our strategy and tactics that I believe would help us in this fight to the death.  Instead, I ended up with one of my longer articles that took me on a slightly different path. 

So this time I am going to try again to go where I intended to then.  I made the statement that our enemy slowly seduced us from the original attitudes that brought about the modern Pentecost.  He used some of the following tactics to do this. 

Acceptance by the rest of culture, entertainment, false manifestations and manipulations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, pharisaical legalism, a false gospel of the pursuit of happiness and wealth, academics and the pursuit of knowledge, and finally a misperception of relevance.

I see these as the main areas of corruption but not necessarily all.  As I said then, I do not believe all of this is bad, just corrupted.  After all, our enemy is so good at taking the good and the true and twisting it into the bad and the false, in a way so subtle, so diabolical, that it is hard to recognize the evil. 

Let’s look a little closer. 

Acceptance.  We all want to be accepted.  We want to be asked to the party.  We want to be included in the program.  We love it when our ideas are implemented.  It is great when our words are the ones others seek to hear or read.  Most bloggers do look at their hit counters.  And this is okay.  But it does not usually fuel the drive that got us to that place of acceptance. 

At first it does keep us on our toes.  We must strive to stay on top.  But once we get accepted, we usually tend to find the comfortable.  We coast.  We lose the distinction of being the outsider with something to say.  With a new, relevant message.  This is what has happened to us.  We, as Pentecostal soldiers, who originally had a new weapon that scared the enemy and dealt him a lot of defeat, have been marginalized because we are now just one of the guys.  Playing that religious game.

Entertainment.  I hate the words, “I’m bored.”  My kids used to say this.  Often.  I also hear a lot of adults say it too.  I have thought about this more than most would believe and I don’t think I have ever said this about myself.  I don’t ever remember being bored.  Even when there was absolutely nothing to do outside myself, I still had the capacity to think and imagine.  And I say this as one who has spent a lot of time alone, as one who sought to spend that time alone.  Maybe I am just blessed that way. 

But the enemy has also cultivated the need for the individual to be constantly entertained.  Movies, TV, music, sports, internet.  Hunting, fishing, hobbies, games.  Parties, dates, meetings, reunions.  All of these things that take us over or outside ourselves have grown into giant entities of wasted time.  The days of personal introspection and Godly reflection are gone.  We must, instead spend massive amounts of time, energy, and money to feed the monster called Boredom.  I wonder if he is a principality or a power.

False manifestations and manipulations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I really don’t want to go here.  But I believe I must.  I love the Holy Spirit and the Pentecostal church.  I have experienced things that at one time I was the most vocally against.  The Holy Spirit is real and alive and active in all Christians that allow Him to be.  The gifts of the Spirit are real and powerful and for today.  And I won’t even bother to argue about them because I understand the hesitancy of those who don’t believe to accept this. 

I understand their hesitancy for two reasons.  The first and simplest is that it is impossible to convince anyone of my personal experiences.  But the second reason is the more insidious of the two.  I believe the enemy has convinced some to portray the gifts in a way that is extra biblical. Some of these gifts are esteemed so highly they misplace others, which are possibly more effective as weapons against the enemy.  Some gifts become so sought after that good people are willing to go to any length possible to be seen as having them. 

Paul said he wished all would speak in tongues but he would rather them prophecy. (1 Cor 14:5)  But he also let us know we all had various gifts and different roles in the body in order to be effective.  (1 Cor 12:7)  The enemy has convinced us that we need the most popular gifts so much that some of us are willing to deceive others and, I believe, even ourselves, in false displays of these gifts.  This is the very reason an unbeliever often has a lot of ammunition against us.  False tongues, prophecy, healing, resurrections and many other manifestations that don’t even have scriptural backup, do not bring glory to our Lord and King.  They do nothing really but fuel the flame of unbelief.

Pharisaical legalism.  This had its strongest force in an earlier day.  I was not a part of this body when a person would have the state of their sanctification judged by the length of their hair or skirt, the amount of jewelry they wore, or many other outward rules and regulations that had no effect on the cleansing of anyone’s heart.  But we have grown past this.  Our new motto is come as you are.  Wear shorts and a t-shirt and even come barefoot in some churches, that’s okay. 

But is legalism gone or has the enemy just given it a facelift.  A whole lot of churches that say come as you are really do not mean this.  They really mean wear what you want.  But our Lord would certainly not mean to allow them in with a sinful lifestyle.  So we should certainly expect them to change first.  Doesn’t our attitude sometimes reflect the need for sanctification before salvation?

 A false gospel of the pursuit of happiness and wealth.  I believe this to be one of the most dangerous of all the weapons the enemy has unleashed against us to date.  God wants us above all else to be happy and prosperous.  Not full of joy and taken care of.  That would not be enough.  God is my friend and my father and there is just no way He would want me to suffer.  The enemy has a large contingent of people in his employ spreading this nefarious lie.  I believe some of them are deceived but there are a lot that have to know who they are serving.

What happens to that person who buys into this and continues to suffer?  What happens when the wealth never comes?  Some turn from the faith.  Some hang on as bitter, weaponless soldiers, battered even more intensely.  Some even hang tough and it doesn’t affect their relationship with Christ, but their lost loved ones see the deceit and will never come to faith.  I believe we have lost a lot of battles to increase the Kingdom where this doctrine is concerned.

 Academics and the pursuit of knowledge.  It is amazing that this could be corrupted.  Shouldn’t knowledge and the pursuit of it lead to a better understanding of God?  Not if the enemy can get his hands, paws, claws on it.  There is an abundance of scripture declaring God’s pleasure at our pursuit of knowledge. (Pro 8:10, Pro 24:5, Ecc 7:12, Dan 2:21, Mal 2:7)  But there are also some warnings.  (Luk 11:52, 1 Cor 8:1, 1 Cor 13:2)  If knowledge is not shared, if it brings about pride, or if it is presented with no love, it becomes a deadly weapon to be exploited by the enemy. 

Some of our most intelligent, intellectual theologians have reached a place where they are no longer teachable.  And in their arrogance they do a lot of harm to the body of Christ thru division and debate.  They have become prideful and unloving in their exposition of truth.  The more some learn about God the less they look like Him. 

A misperception of relevance.  The church must be relevant in whatever culture it is in.  It simply must matter and should be able to impact any area, age or culture.  Paul said he would be all things to all men so that some might be saved.  (1 Cor 9:22)  But unlike Paul, who meant it as a servant, (1 Cor 9:19) we seem to go to the extremes. 

We take the idea of relevance and seemingly throw it away by saying we will not reach out, we will not bend, we will not mix, or; we go to the opposite extreme and throw away all the rules, all the truths, all the peculiarities of servant hood to Christ and bring the culture into the church.  We must live in the world without being part of the world.  The enemy has successfully made this very hard to understand or apply. 

I hope you can see what I am saying here.  This has become a long read and for that I am sorry.  I hope you can take it and learn something and once again I apologize for not getting to where I intended to get.  Hang with me, please.  I will get there.

Love you all

Tags: Academics, Acceptance, Culture, Ending, Enemy, Entertainment, False manifestations, Happiness, Holy Spirit, Knowledge, Manipulation, Pentecost, Spiritual Warfare, Strategy and Tactics, Wealth