How much time do you give the enemy?

By Anne Bosarge
 
I love M&M’s these days. Not just because of the tiny bite of chocolate and the colorful hard candy shell, but because of what it has been revealing to me about how much time we give the enemy in our thoughts and conversations. I have the privilege to work with churches in our conference helping them revitalize and realign around our mission. Lately I have been doing a simple activity that has revealed a lot about the tenor and topic of our conversations within the church. Here is what I have noticed.  
 
In working with a group of church leaders (both clergy and laity), I pass around a bag of M&M candies and ask each person present to take two M&Ms of different colors. On a piece of chart paper, I write the following key: 
 
Blue = The World
Green = The Nation
Red = Your Community
Yellow = Your Church
Brown = Your Family
Orange = Yourself
 
Then I ask them to share where they see evidence of God at work in these various areas based on the color of M&M’s they have chosen. Seems like a simple question, right? I have learned it’s harder to answer than I first thought.  
 
In our conversations around these little M&M’s, we have discovered that it’s easier for us to point out where the enemy is working in these places than where God is working. It’s easier to talk about the problems than it is to state where God is already paving the way through the wilderness to create new paths for us to follow. The attacks of the enemy seem to be top of mind while the works of God take more effort for us to uncover.  
 
At a church I worked with this weekend, we talked about how we see what we seek and how we are formed by what we follow. We realized that society is bombarding us with pictures, stories, and sound bites of the enemy in action and all of this is shaping us to think more about what the enemy is doing than what God is doing. 
 
Think about your own thinking for a moment. Think about your church committee meetings or leadership conversations. How much time do you give the enemy on your agenda, talking about problems, roadblocks, challenges, and obstacles to accomplishing your mission of making disciples? How much time do you spend talking about how God is already working to bring about victory over the enemy and how you can join Him in His work? I think we might be giving the enemy too much space in our brains, meetings, and conversations.  
 
How do we stop elevating the work of the enemy and begin to notice and recognize the work of God? Let’s try the simple phrase, “But I see God...”  The next time someone mentions an area where it seems like the enemy is gaining ground, follow up with a sentence that starts with, “But I see God…”. State the work God is already doing to combat that evil. Some examples to get you started: 
 
“People are just lazy these days.  They don’t want to come to church anymore because they can watch worship online in their pajamas.”  
 
“But I see God using online worship to bring faith to new people, meeting them right where they are and inviting them into a relationship with Himself and ultimately the church. What if we used digital platforms to disciple all people and moved people from thinking that their faith is a once-a-week occurrence to a daily commitment to discipleship?” 
 
“These kids are too busy with sports activities. They aren’t even making time for church anymore.”  
 
“But I see God giving families the opportunity to interact with people who have no faith as they spent time together at the ballfield. What would it look like if we equipped families to see themselves as missionaries on their child’s sports teams?” 
 
“Social media has caused isolation among our young people, and they are filling their minds with garbage.” 
 
“But I see God making a powerful way for people to share their faith with others. What would it look like if we showed people how to harness social media tools to let others know of the hope they have in Christ?”
 
What would it look like in our churches if we gave less time to the enemy and more time was spent recognizing what God is already doing to defeat the work of the enemy in the world? I think we would begin to see things we haven’t seen before. I think we would begin to be formed by the good news of this gospel-centered life we are called to live. I think we would be able to better make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world because we could follow the path the Father is paving for us. You see what you seek and you are formed by who you follow.  
 
Anne Bosarge serves as the Director of Leadership Strategies and Local Church Resources. Email her at abosarge@sgaumc.com.