“The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy” (Jn 10:10a)
The Coronavirus pandemic currently has my full, sixty-six-year-old attention. Like never before, I am proactive and vigilant about protecting my health. I’m not walking in constant fear; just trying to make wise choices as I hope for an effective vaccine in the future.
After living in a spiritual pandemic for forty-nine years, Satan also has my full attention these days.
I have never been more proactive and vigilant than I am today in regards to Jesus’ arch enemy. Be assured, I am more than confident that Satan is no match for Jesus and destined for complete destruction. At the same time, I know firsthand that he is still prowling like a lion (1 Pt 5:8) with his voracious appetite for Kingdom destruction.
My conviction today: Satan places a very high priority on neutering and eliminating five-fold ministry teams.
Here are the reoccurring strategies I keep seeing the Evil One use to wreak havoc within five-fold teams:
Temptation to be Immoral: This may be the easiest of Satan’s strategies. Tempt, deceive and convince one or more of the team’s leaders to exchange Kingdom godliness for the flesh’s comfort foods. I love Richard Foster’s classic book Money, Sex and Power, and its mastery of this subject: It is filled with revelatory insights.
Temptation to be Bitter: This popular tactic of the enemy is the subject of another great book, namely John Bevere’s Bait of Satan. In it, he masterfully describes how Jesus’ arch enemy loves to tempt us to be offended by the actions and words of others. If and when we respond to these offences with passivity, the resulting outcome is always the same: Our resentment fractures the relationship and undermines the our team’s effectiveness.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Heb 12:14-16
Temptation to be Arrogant: This ungodly attitude is particularly toxic to five-fold teams. While self-sufficiency and -reliance are highly esteemed qualities in our world, they are not valued by God (Is 66:2). Accordingly, when one or more APEST leaders arrogantly abandons humility and mutual respect, the team’s foundation begins to crack. And if left unchecked, it consistently results in the team’s disintegration. Jesus fully understood this worldly behavior and candidly called it out when the Apostles started arrogantly pecking for power like chickens (Lk 22:24ff).
Five-fold Vigilance: Standing Against Satan’s Pandemic
“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power!” (Eph 6:10).
Apostle Paul was anything but naïve. He knew that Jesus’ leaders are always Satan’s prime target and detailed this reality for the Ephesian leaders as he said goodbye (Acts 21:25-31). In Paul’s subsequent letter to them, he warned these leaders again: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against……the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12). So how can five-fold teams “be strong in the Lord” together?
As a starting point, I suggest they….
Stand together against Immorality by defining the team’s core understanding of Christ-likeness and related lifestyle boundaries. These kinds of impactful covenants necessarily lead to regular, authentic dialogue, prayer for one another and a defined accountability process. Billy Graham and his leadership team set a high bar for all of us with their “Modesto Manifesto”; check it out.
Stand together against Bitterness by prioritizing and teaching a clear process that sustains honor and authenticity as defining values of the team. Paul implores all of us: “Make every effort to maintain unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3). Want to really irritate Satan? Resist the temptation of holding grudges with Paul’s remedy: “Speak the truth in love” (Eph 4:15, See also Jesus’ comments in Mt 18).
Stand together against Arrogance by codifying additional relational values such as humility, honor and respect. These and the other fruit of the Spirit were the lifeblood of Jesus’ first five-fold team—Peter, James and John. Reread the early chapters of Acts and note how they loved one another well and played to each other’s supernatural giftings. What a great example of being “built up in love as each part does its work” (Eph 4:16).
A Question to Chew On
Given your context, how does the world’s cultural habits and norms work against taking these three stands? In other words, how do you see Satan’s culture seeking to undermine Jesus’ culture of godly living and loving relationships?
Choosing Jesus’ ways again today,
