Our response-ability: examining the interplay of the Human, Divine and Demonic in today's Church

Pastor Hans Voortman

I have a concern relating to the "human" aspect of our faith. I firmly believe in the Holy Spirit's empowering in my life. As the apostle Paul said, "To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily" and, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Col. 1:29; Phil. 4:13). Yet despite these promises, I see within the Church an opting out, on our part, of the human responsibility in making God's Church happen. Now I know He said, "I will build my Church" and "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Matt. 16:18; Ps. 127:1), yet there is also that which I must do - the human factor in the outworking of "the divine".

The letter to the Hebrews stresses, "We do not want you to become lazy ." (Heb. 6:12). Paul again challenges, "Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord ." (Col. 3:23) and "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord" (Rom. 12:11). The kingdom of God is not about letting God do it all, yet neither is it about us doing it all. I heard this once described as, "planning life as if there was no Holy Spirit, yet acting as if there was only the Holy Spirit." Now I'm not sure if this equation has it exactly right, but I understand its sentiment.

"The Human", "The Demonic" and "The Divine"

For the Christian, life is a synergy of the human and the divine coming together in, at times, a dynamic tension. On the one hand, this gives life its creative wonder, yet on the other, it can cause us to fruitlessly procrastinate, unsure of which way to go. Let me relate two snapshots of Christian experience I've had of late that emphasised this for me. They may help illustrate where I'm coming from.

A woman approached me at the end of a service some time ago with two Christian bumper stickers in her hands. She'd bought them from the bookstall and had come to ask me which one was God's will for her to have on her car. I couldn't help being bemused , as I'm sure God probably had little regard for either! Still, I looked at the more colourful one and said, "That one looks nice." Her response really floored me. She replied, "Oh thank you! I knew you'd have God's answer for me!" She was so anxious about not stepping out of the will of God that even the purchase of a bumper sticker needed to be run through the "divine scanner"! This incident has remained with me as an example of the anxiety we can experience in trying to discern between divine and human responsibility.

The other snapshot was at a recent inter-church prayer meeting. We were gathered together in fervent prayer, which I enjoy, believe in, and support wholeheartedly. After a while, in the group in which I was praying, there came a subtle shift in the mood of prayer. It started to become more devil-conscious than God-conscious. The volume level went up, the spiritual cliches began to fly with greater intensity and the whole atmosphere became almost spiritually "Rambo" in feel! They first bound this strongman, then identified a prince demon over some other area, and finally began "binding and loosing" powers of darkness from almost every political, civic and educational authority in the district.

Now, I'm into spiritual warfare - I've no hesitation in casting out a demon if it manifests itself or if I discern its influence. But what bothered me was the "afterglow" atmosphere that these Christians had at the end of their time of "spiritual warfare". They felt they'd really "pushed through" and "broken something loose in the heavenly realms", almost giving the impression they'd gone eleven rounds with the devil and K.O.'d him in the last round! The effectiveness of the night was measured by the fervour of their prayers and the intensity of their application. They'd raised up quite a sweat and were feeling spiritually euphoric in their minds. In their minds, the battle had been won in that little room of the church and now revival was sure to come.

Now understand me, I was there at that prayer meeting because I'm committed to prayer. I like positive, demonstrative prayer. I enjoy praying with intensity and believe in that we can create an "open heaven", "push through in God" and "break things loose in the heavenly realms". But I sense this is done more by lifting up the name of Jesus and by us going forth in the power of His name, than in focusing all our attention on Satan. Let me comment on this a bit further before returning to my original concern.

Giving the Devil more than his due

I'm not sure that all the spiritual flexing of muscles isn't a ploy of Satan to get us preoccupied with him. I think he's quite happy if we're busy binding, yelling, and hollering at every demon in hell, provided our talk remains just that, and isn't accompanied by appropriate action. Some charismatic Christians today would seem to imply by the zeal of their spiritual warfare that Satan's dominion can be yelled into submission, and that by their own righteous effort and spiritual prowess they can intimidate him. So after much hype, the demon-crushing spiritual warrior sits back and feels he's served Satan a blow, whilst meantime the devil rubs his hands with glee, for he's kept the Church within its walls. They've been busy "punching the air", as it were, not focusing on Jesus, and in a perverse way, even reinforcing Satan's need for attention. I'm not sure that our language of "strongmen, prince powers and territorial rulers" doesn't feed his twisted ego and need for self-grandisement. I think he might even be quite pumped up by our Pentecostal prayer meetings and all the attention he's getting!

When you look at the early Church, you don't get this picture of spiritual warfare. For example, coming into one the darkest and evil cities of Paul's day, Ephesus, we read in Acts that the "word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power" (19:20), not because the demonic strongholds were first loosed, but rather by the bold proclamation of God's word (Acts 19:1-22). It was the expounding of Scripture and the faithful witness over the years (Acts 19:8-10) that broke loose things in the heavenly realms. There was no evidence of the Apostles coming against territorial spirits first, but rather, as the truth was proclaimed, demonic reaction occurred (19:11-20). Jesus was lifted up, the word of God was proclaimed and so a truth encounter led to a power encounter. The hard slog of evangelism, faithful and daily debate and exposition in the synagogue (19:8-10) was the key, not some "instant fix", hyped up, jingoistic prayer meeting that lasted but a few hours.

In the New Testament, the norm was that truth preceded power, whereas much of our current Pentecostal practice sees the demand for a power encounter to precede a truth encounter. I don't have space to expound this theme further, but a study of the patterns of revival in the Book of Acts and the style of the apostle's "warfare" prayers in such passages as Ephesians 6:18-20 and Colossians 4:2-4 will show that the whole emphasis was to ask God to help them preach Christ effectively, with boldness and faith. Little or no attention is given to demonic opposition. The sense was one of God opening the doors (Col. 4:3) rather than closing the door on Satan (see also Acts 4:24-31). Stuart Murray effectively states, "The final answer to the question of who rules the city is that Jesus actually rules. He has disarmed the powers, exposed their weakness, and triumphed over them on the cross .

Our World View

So let me return to my original concern. There is a profound responsibility on us, the believers, to enforce the victory of Christ in this world. And this is done, not so much by hollering and stomping at the Devil, but rather by getting out and proclaiming the truth in a community shrouded in darkness. Neither is it done by being caught in a paranoid state resulting in impotence for fear of stepping outside (of) God's will. The essence of revival therefore is not in God moving sovereignly or in Satan's influence being first neutralised, but rather it is by us being revived to the incredible power of Christ within us. As the apostle Paul understood it, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, angels nor demons . nor any powers . will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:37-39). The tenor of Scripture is that we take the authority that is ours, and God takes weak and insignificant people who are prepared to trust Him, and then significant things begin to happen (1 Cor. 1:27).

When it comes to matters spiritual, a wrong world view underlies much of our reluctance to take responsibility. Many of us, perhaps unwittingly, have tended toward a dualistic view of the world, seeing the forces of God and Satan in continuous rivalry to gain control. So everything is perceived as either of God or of the devil. Hence my dilemma concerning the bumper stickers and the frenetic pursuit of binding Satan so that God might gain the upper hand. If God is not in control, then it's concluded that Satan must be. And so we slip very easily into a continual anxiety about whether we're in God's will or not. However, as Andrew Walker puts it, "A Christian world-view that is divided into the tripartite arenas of the divine, the natural, and the demonic is unlikely to fall prey to a paranoia which dissects the world into 'us' and 'them'".

The Role of the "Natural"

It is so crucial to include "the natural" in our view of spirituality. It's the human aspect of our faith. So we need not fuss over whether God wants me to have a yellow or blue toothbrush! The issue is not which colour is God's will, but that He's given us responsibility to make our own creative choices. And so, I perceive, it is true for the whole arena of our Christian experience. Allowing room for the natural makes me responsible alongside God's enabling. To requote my first text, "To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily". Christian fruitfulness, then is seen as a synergistic interaction of my efforts with the divine. So we do not have the luxury of waiting around and letting God do it all, yet neither do we have the option of sitting back, blaming the devil, and thinking that nothing can be achieved whilst he is still on the prowl. The early Church paid scant regard to the devil, rather grabbing hold of the hand of God, taking responsibility and going for it! This is the heart of faith and it is what God honours, for "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6).

Taking Response-Ability

In our keenness to see God's kingdom come, let's remember that responsibility really equals "response-ability". If revival is to come it is not enough to holler in the prayer meeting. Nor can we hide behind the demotivator, "I'm not sure if it's God's will or not". Rather, it is choosing to respond: to accept our ability to instigate change, to act in faith and step out to achieve in God. I sense the time for just praying for revival is over. It's time to stir ourselves for action; to realise that Christ who has chosen us, will also enable us. Let's accept that in the zone of the natural we need to take response-ability. Let's not just expect God to act. Let's not just blame the devil for what's not happening. Rather, I sense God would prefer us to be doing something, even if it is at the risk of it being "in the flesh" than for us to remain in the impotent zone of our paranoia, scared to do anything, in case He's not in it.

I sense He is calling us to step out in faith! To trust, believe and do as never before. The time for procrastination is over. "Now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). The stationary car doesn't need steering, but when it's moving, it needs direction. So determine to get moving so God can steer you! Peter encourages us to ". add to our faith" (2 Pet. 1:5-9). Then he lists some qualities that are our "response-ability" to develop. He concludes that if we "possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 1:8).

Conclusion

So let's examine the motivation of our lives. Let's keep the role of Satan, God and ourselves in perspective. C.S. Lewis wrote in his Screwtape Letters , "There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them."

But perhaps an even greater error is to downplay the natural. To not allow room for the human response to God in our lives. Revival starts with personal reviving. Let's awaken our sense of "response-ability", stop blaming the devil, and quit wandering around in a quandary regarding God's will. Rather, let's remember that spiritual warfare begins with putting on the full armour of God, standing our ground, and after we have done everything, to stand (Eph. 6:13). That's our responsibility. That's what the devil fears but what God delights in.

"With this in mind, be alert." "Prepare your minds for action."

(Eph. 6:18; 1 Pet. 1:13)

 

References

• Stuart Murray, City Vision, , Daybreak, London, 1990, p39.

• Andrew Walker, Charismatic Renewal, The Search for A Theology, SPCK, London, , 1993.

• C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters, Collins,London, 1956, p9.