Staying on Task and Target, Part 3 (February 18, 2022)

Very little moves a person or a church off task and target than disunity with difficult people. How are we to respond when someone begins to serve the church for self-centered reasons. They are not serving out of humble love for others or a desire to serve God. Rather, they serve so that people will notice them, for the power that comes with the position, or for financial gain? Paul faced a very similar circumstance in Philippians 1.

While many gained boldness and preached the Gospel out of love for God and Paul, some in Paul’s life were seeking to discredit Paul through taking over the leadership positions he held in the church. They preached the Gospel but to minimize Paul. Galatians informs us that a group of individuals from Jerusalem followed behind Paul, seeking to undermine all the work Paul had done in their midst. They preached the Gospel out of envy, rivalry, and selfish ambition.

Because Paul was imprisoned, he could not return to address the situation. Yet, Paul recognized that the kingdom was not about him. As a result, he was able to stay on task because difficult people were advancing the cause of the Gospel, which Paul was also working to advance. God sometimes uses people we don’t get along with or agree with to advance the work he has called us to do.

As we ponder the idea that God would use people who seem like our enemies to advance the work he has called us to do, we need to look no further in the world at secular examples than world war 2. As Hitler and the Axis powers threatened to enslave the world and eliminate ethnicities the Nazis viewed as inferior, three unlikely allies stood shoulder to shoulder in opposition to the axis power. Roosevelt (a liberal from the United States), Churchill (a staunch conservative from England), and Stalin (a heinous communist dictator in Russia) formed the allied alliance to free Europe from bondage. One could not find more unlikely allies. Roosevelt held very progressive political views, as seen in the New Deal. In contrast, Churchill fought tirelessly for conservative values. Both held firmly to capitalist economics and personal liberty, while Stalin worked tirelessly to advance communism. He did so by murdering millions of opponents. Yet they came together for the common cause of defeating the axis power. Even in their motivations for victory, they differed. Roosevelt did not want to enter the war and came only due to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Churchill warned for years of the Nazi threat in Germany. And while Stalin sought to protect Russia from the Axis powers, the end of the war revealed he viewed victory as a way to expand the Soviet Empire. Yet, all worked together because the need for victory in the war outweighed their differences. The perspective of victory kept them on task and target despite difficult people.

When we focus on ourselves, we cannot overcome our anger with difficult people. However, when we keep the goal in mind, we are willing to work with anyone to see the goal accomplished. When working towards an important goal, feelings must take a back seat to the outcome. When we see the Gospel and Kingdom as the focus of life, we are not sidetracked by difficult people making life hard for us but advancing the Gospel.

As the difficult seasons of relational conflict with your fellow church members arise, we must remember the task and target to which we are called. Sometimes you question the motives of others in the church. You see their pride, selfishness, and pettiness, and you question why they are even in the church. However, we must remember why God brought us all together. The church is not a club where everyone comes with the same characteristics. This gathering is a church into which God brings various people and personalities. This reality must cause us to choose which battles to fight. When the ones whose character you question advance ministries or make decisions, we find difficult, we should joyfully support the ministry as long as they line up with the Word and advance the Gospel. When we lose perspective, the church splits. We have seen and felt this. However, when the church leans into the Word of God and the Gospel of God, the proper perspective keeps the church on task and target when facing difficult people.  

We all have “that guy” in our church with whom we struggle to get along. They steal the glory and platform. They rub us the wrong way. Sometimes, it is simply a personality difference. A name just came to your head. We are tempted to become bitter or angry when they walk into the room. However, if they are working to advance the Gospel, we can walk past their mistreatment of us and work together. When we focus on the Gospel, the Gospel reminds us that we also are sinners saved by grace. This truth allows us to respond with grace and mercy. Maintain a proper perspective on the Gospel.

God sometimes uses people whose Christian commitment is self-serving and insincere to advance the cause of the Gospel. A proper response does not mean that we approve of their motives or methods, but it does mean we believe that God can protect his work and keep the insincere proclamation of the Gospel from hopelessly confusing unbelievers or tainting the faith of people who sincerely believe as the result of these hypocritical preachers. We rejoice that the Gospel advances. The proper perspective keeps the church on task and target when facing difficult people.