Why Churches Struggle

If you have read my book Body Aches, you will know I am a firm believer in an approach to the Old Testament that sees analogies in God’s dealing with Israel and God’s dealings with His local churches. Let me give you an example of how I see this working.

In my personal reading recently, I came across this interesting passage in the Book of Judges:

“Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them (that is, all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan, (only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it formerly).  These nations are: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for testing Israel, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses” (Judges 3:1-4).

The writer is explaining the overall principles of the Book of Judges, of why God does what He does with His people, allowing them to enter painful periods. Coming into the land of Canaan, God had promised Joshua that He would hand over the inhabitants to judgment because “their iniquity was complete” (Gen. 15:16), which is probably the basis of God’s judgment on any nation or empire. Hitler’s Germany rose and fell rapidly because they “completed their iniquity” very quickly. North America, sadly, is on that arc too. The promise though was that, if Joshua and the people followed God whole-heartedly, He would give them victories over these nations and ultimately rest and security.

But this is clearly not what happened. God left some of these sinful nations around in the “conquered” territory; Israel could not drive them all out. The question is: why do this when a total victory would remove temptations? Several possible answers present themselves.

First, I believe there is an analogy here to us as individuals in our salvation and what God often does when He saves us. As He told Cain when Cain “became very angry and his countenance fell” (Gen. 4:5): “Sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Gen. 4:7). Mastering sin is something we all must learn to do as believers (see Romans 6:12-23).

Many of us have wonderful “salvation stories” where God freed us from an addiction or some destructive path we were on, and did it instantaneously and miraculously. I heard two such stories today at a baptism we had at our church. God reveals His power and love in such deliverance. But God also leaves certain ongoing struggles in our lives and we wonder why when He clearly could have removed it. I think the answer is there in Judges 3 and Genesis 4—these things were left for us to master. We learn how to do battle with sin and gain victory; we learn why we should hate it; we learn how to trust God when facing it and how to persevere and overcome, etc. We grow stronger spiritually by this process.

Second, we need to raise the principle up a level to the corporate community. With Israel this was a tribal and national lesson God taught them, not an individual one. Likewise we see many of the churches we work with at Blessing Point go through their corporate healing process and they are cleansed and healed from many painful and destructive patterns. They rightly celebrate the massive victories God gives them as He shows His mercy and grace. Churches testify almost universally that things are not the same (as bad) thereafter. However, like Israel here in Judges, there are some residual challenges that are left where God “tests them to see what is in their hearts”.

We often see our “healed” churches face trials immediately that put them to the test, but we also see it in later “bigger” issues the church faces. When a church faces a crisis, or a major decision like a building program or the call of a pastor, it requires much trust in the appointed leadership to lead the church rightly. Congregation members now have to believe what they may have had trouble believing previously, that their leaders have their best interests in mind. However, if there are any residual issues of broken trust or unforgiveness, they get exposed. These things are just like the Canaanites Israel didn’t conquer, and God is using the situation to train leaders on how to handle such things with the spirit they had when first healed from their destructive patterns.

So learn how God works and what He may be calling your leaders (or you as a leader) to do. It will help you to master the issues which may have hindered your ministry before.

How have you seen God use tests in the life of your church?