Why Does Church Get Tough?

Matthew 18:15 (NKJV) "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother."

It’s never fun to be engaged in any type of interpersonal difficulties. They can be exhausting, hard, and sometimes even defeating. When it happens in church family relationships it really hurts, doesn’t it? It’s true, tough times come, and tough times come in the church, among us as believers. The popular question is always ‘why’? I mean, if we’re believers and we all love Jesus and all love His Word and just want to grow in His grace…why?

Here are a couple of reasons to consider and pray through:

#1 – Tough times come because WE’RE HUMAN.
Humans aren’t perfect. Humans make mistakes. Sometimes, those imperfections can cause great pain.

#2 – Tough times come because WOLVES COME TO CHURCH.
It’s not always believers that are the cause of pain. Sometimes it’s a wolf that enters in looking like a sheep but inside is ravenous (Matthew 7:15-16). False believers love to lurk around believers, wanting to take advantage of them. It’s sad, but true.

#3 – Tough times come because SPIRITUAL WARFARE IS REAL.
What makes the church different from some everyday social club is that we’re engaged in true worship of God. People’s lives are being changed eternally. Families are being rescued. Sobriety is reigning! As Jesus builds His church, the devil is trying to tear it down.

There are more reasons but the truth is our church, any church, is filled with redeemed sinners. Whenever two or three imperfect people are gathered together you can expect problems to arise. That’s why God has given us the best problem solving advice ever in His Word, specifically through Matthew’s gospel - chapter eighteen.

Oh, that God would be our strength, in the good times, and in the tough! Remember, He prevails and we prevail in Him!

In Love,
Pastor Ed


Response
Thank you, Ed, for telling people the truth this past Sunday. If people do not understand that when Jesus said, "trouble," He meant trouble; then they are baffled at the circumstances of life. I know as a matter of absolute fact and personal experience that Satan DOES oppose every Christian and that if you do take a step with God, Satan is right there to oppress you in every way he can. (Although you're right that Satan is nothing if not predictable; he oppresses us in the same old ways he has always oppressed every one of God's people.) Churches that de-emphasize Satan to the point that their people don't understand that Satan actually exists and that he really, really hates us, are doing their people a huge disservice.