Wrath of the Heathen

I don’t how it is where you are, but over at my part of the world I run into the wrath of the heathen quite often this season.

Psalm 2:1-3 (KJV) - Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”

This tells me that God and the people of the world, those who do not know him or who reject him, are on a collision course. They are going to clash and there will be conflict. If you are expecting that Christians who are salt and light of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14) are always going to be welcomed with open arms by the unbelievers, be prepared for reality to hit.

It is going to hurt!

Of course, if we are going to be hated, mocked or persecuted by the world, I’d rather it be for the right reasons.  Preaching the name of Jesus, healing the sick and adding lost souls to the kingdom of God are good reasons.

When Psalm 2 was quoted in a prayer in Acts 4, the apostles had just healed a man lame from birth (Acts 3:8). As they preached the resurrection of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins, they were arrested by the priests (Acts 4:3) and threatened with all kinds of punishment. And this was a fulfilment of Psalm 2 (Acts 4:25-26).

What would be bad reasons?

1 Peter 4:15 (ESV) - But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

“Thief” would also include embezzlement and cheating, criminal breach of trust and that kind of stuff.  And let’s not forget immorality. The secular world may tolerate immorality from among their own people, but they should find us blameless of it.

1 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV) - It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.

Keep Your Perspective

When you face the wrath of the heathen, and you know it is for good reasons, we need to keep our perspective. Firstly, we need to remember how transient their opposition is.

Isaiah 51:7-8 (ESV) - Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations."

Often, what happens is that people get so intimidated by the threats and mocking that they forget the power and faithfulness of God. Now, if I were God, I’d find that rather insulting…

Isaiah 51:12-14 (ESV) - "I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking.

In this passage, we see very clearly the contrast between remembering our Maker and being intimidated, oppressed and continually fearful of men. When I look at this passage, I also suspect it tells us that if we can just guard our hearts and set them on the power of God, we will see deliverance from persecution and oppression. And it will not be long in coming, as God says that the oppressed shall speedily be released.

Then in the meantime?

1 Peter 2:12 (ESV) -  Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

We still have to behave ourselves. We still ought to trust in the LORD and do good, that we may dwell in the land (Psalm 37:3). This means we will be able to stand firm and not be uprooted.

And if we have any difficulties with our emotions, and we find ourselves fearing the wrath of the heathen more than we should, we would do well to meditate on Psalm 2 and the two above passages from Isaiah 51 daily. Read them aloud to yourself a few times a day for about a week or so (as I did) and you will find your heart and mind settled by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.

That’s what has been up in my mind recently, so I decided to share it with you. Hope that this will inspire you and keep you grounded in the greatness of our God!

Another Source of Worship Ministry Conflicts

Some time back I talked about one of the causes of worship ministry conflicts, people placing different levels of priority on performance and participation. There is actually another cause of conflicts and misunderstanding in worship ministry, and it is how we see worship ministry through the eyes of our own personal giftings.

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) - Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

What usually happens is that people will tend to fellowship with others with the same gifting. Teachers will enjoy hanging out with other teachers, prophets with other prophets and so on. This is how they develop themselves to be even stronger and effective in that particular area. The problems arise when they assume that they are the only ones who are right and the others are wrong. And THAT can lead to massive conflicts, strife and even people leaving the ministry.

Let's see how it works out in the following scenarios

1) Choosing songs for a worship set –

If you are a teacher, you'll probably prefer songs that are Scripture set to music and those that have solid lyrical content (like hymns). If you are an evangelist, you might prefer invitation-type songs such as So You Would Come (Hillsongs). If you are more prophetically inclined, you may prefer songs that are more figurative, poetic or symbolic, such as Dance with Me by Jesus Culture.

You can already see from here how conflicts can arise. Not many people are at the level of maturity when they can see the differences how other people approach worship ministry and celebrate them.

2) And how about worship music?

An evangelist will prefer what appeals to the pre-believers, exciting, performance-style music. Why? Because it is more likely to bring in the crowds for him or her to preach to. A prophet will prefer more a repetitive, droning style of music. A teacher will prefer more laid-back, unobtrusive musical accompaniment that does not distract the people from the lyrical content.

3) What if the church is spiritually dead in the area of praise and worship?

A prophet will be more inclined to think finding an anointed worship leader or on-fire worship team to minister to the congregation will work. This is more like the style of Old Testament prophets; they would seek God, speak to God's people to bring them the message on God's heart, and things happen. A teacher will try to get a worship trainer or pastor to teach the congregation. A pastor will be the one who worries about whether there are groups of people within the congregation who are alienated by any changes in the worship ministry or style, because it's unacceptable to him (or her) to rejoice over the 99 sheep who remain and write off the 1 who leaves (Luke 15:3).

Conclusion:

Of course, we know everything isn't that cut and dried in real life. Many church leaders have a mix of giftings. For example, many pastors have the teaching gifting to some degree, in fact, Paul puts it as a requirement (1 Tim 3:2). Timothy was supposed to both teach (1 Tim 4:11) and do the work of an evangelist (2 Tim 4:5). And Peter, in Acts 2:17-18, says:

Acts 2:17-18 (NIV) – "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy."

This suggests to me that every believer has the potential to move in the prophetic gifting in some way. By the way, Jack Deere has written a chapter on how the key people in the history of the Presbyterian denomination (such as John Knox) actually moved in the gift of prophecy. It makes an astounding read. It's in his book Surprised by the Voice of God. Do check it out, it's a very good example of how a teacher (Jack Deere) sees the gift of prophecy from a teacher's perspective.

Anyway, many people I have met slant their thinking along one particular gifting, and have the priorities that come with that gifting. So I hope that this post will help you see your own slant and understand the perspectives of those around you, so that we can understand each other better, have less conflict and work together for the glory of God!

Be blessed!

P.S. Jack Deere's book, Surprised by The Voice of God, is a well-thought-out, Scriptural look at how God speaks to his people today. It has my highest recommendation for every believer, especially those who are seriously want to hear the voice of God in their lives and want to avoid the common mistakes. You can get it here!