Tales From the Dark Side of the Church
Throughout my Christian life, I have been exposed to innumerable stories from the life of the church. All Christians have their stories to tell of God’s mercy and His grace upon His people. Most have other stories that make one marvel. Some even have jaw-dropping tales from the dark side.
Church is a war zone that presents itself as a safe place. There is no deception by the church in this contrast, however. Biblical imagery of conflict helps us to see that the world is hostile to the church. The world is at enmity with God; hence, those who belong to Christ experience various forms of oppression and persecution from the people of the world.
Worldlings are also present within the church. Unbelievers masquerade as Christians so as to operate among us. Some worldlings infiltrate the church and even occupy seats of authority. These are false prophets and false teachers. They represent a major theme in the Bible.
One may inquire why a charlatan would enter the church, rise to power, and deceive people? The answer is the all-too-familiar…”follow the money.” Most false pastors in churches, today, have some kind of access to the church’s material resources.
There are some who pilfer from the church, while others endeavor to sell off all of the church property, including land and buildings. Whether the pastor is robbing the church bank account or doing real estate deals, one can be sure the lampstand of that church is being removed.
Wolves who masquerade as shepherds are clever men. They are always one step ahead of the foolish congregants who opened the gate for the destroyer to come in. They soon find out how difficult it is to get ride of the menace of their own making.
As the money and property are now at risk, so is the spiritual life of the sheep. The very avenues for spiritual growth are hindered or blocked or done away with altogether. What remains is one voice…the voice of the hireling. Pretending to be Moses of old, the charlatan leader dictates everything that goes on in the local church. Invariably this was made possible by some form of legal change to the documents that guide and control the church body and its property.
Changes to church constitutions are red flags for exposing the powerplay. Were the originators of those documents so ignorant of “the better way,” or did they have the wise insight on how to protect the flock and the property? If there is a sudden change to the power and authority, especially a consolidation from a group to a person…church beware.
Money and power are idol gods to unregenerate men. They are the allure for the Ezekiel 34 pastor. The unspoken reality, in most cases scenarios, is the judgment of God against the wayward house of God. The removal of a lampstand is imagery from the churches of Asia in Revelation 2–3. The removal of light is indicative of being in a state of ichabod. The glory of the Lord has left the house.
As the wolf ravages, the flock scatters. They spread out to other local bodies of believers. They want to be in a genuine place of safety. In this act of desperation, there is no organization because they are sheep without an under-shepherd. No doubt the Spirit of God leads them to greener pastures. They are, however, scarred for life by living these tales from the dark side of church.
There is an obvious confusion in these matters because of God’s sovereignty as the Head of His church. The wayward assembly, like Old Testament Israel, received any number of prophets before God sent the wolf to do his dirty work. The prophets were dismissed and discarded one by one. In other words, the congregation is responsible for what happened to them and their financial investments. Although they may marvel at how swift and clever the wolf has maneuvered, they must never marvel that God has judged and scattered them.
The collective loss of money, power, and the lampstand itself testifies against the congregation. Where is the church of Jesus Christ in those seven cities of Asia, today? Let their testimony of disobedience serve as warning to all churches, everywhere. Congregations, in corporate prayer meetings, would be wise to pray for their being found faithful and against the removal of their lampstand. Is anyone attending the corporate prayer meeting at your local church? Does your local church even have a corporate prayer meeting?
The wolf is only doing his job, ordered by the sovereign will of God and executed by His providence. In chasing sheep away to other congregations, the warning to pastors of those other congregations must be heeded. The wolf scatters the sheep…and the goats. The unelect, unregenerate, unbeliever — the goat — may have found a home with the sheep. He or she was presumably a party to the flock’s demise, as goats tend to be more assertive than sheep, and the fact is, they do not belong to the Good Shepherd. Goats are removed by the faithful preaching of the Word of God.
The way of local church destruction is wide and varied. The dark tales are too many and diverse to recount without infinite volumes being written, but there is a common denominator in all of this, and it is where the judgment of God begins with the house of God. The local church that refuses to repent of its sins and its evil ways, will one day, experience the frown of God, firsthand.
God forbid that any Christian should ever revel or rejoice at the demise of a local church. On the contrary, we must together contemplate the kindness and the severity of God, who gives and who takes away.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
July 21, 2021
