“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”—Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Knowing the world his kingdom would inhabit, Jesus instructed his disciples to be as innocent as doves and as wise as serpents (Matt 10:16). With that in mind, I sometimes think about what strategies our enemy might use to undermine the church’s effectiveness.
Here’s four things I’d do if I was him:
1. Diminish the Spirit’s Influence
This is kind of a no-brainer. Jesus’ game plan relies on the Spirit’s supernatural impact to be manifested through the church. Enfeebling the church would be as simple as encouraging them to rely on their own ability.
Maybe I’d make ministry a game for professionals. If I could encourage ministry to be done vocationally by highly educated experts, they’d probably forget pretty quickly that the church was birthed by a largely uneducated group of Spirit-empowered ne’er-do-wells. Everyone else would be content to show up at church once a week as spectators.
Initially people were chosen for ministry based on their spirit empowerment (Acts 6:3). But with a modicum of success, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to get the church to rely on gimmicks, curriculum, and growth strategies instead of spiritual authority. Imagine how hamstrung the church would be if she focused on competence over spiritual passion.
2. Turn the Church against the Culture
It wouldn’t do me any good to turn the culture against the church. History shows that when the populace turns against the church, the church flourishes. Persecution would never work. Instead, I’d probably encourage the church to imagine she’s being persecuted.
It probably would be as simple as ramping up their moral outrage at the depravity around them. This would help them forget that their battle isn’t against people but against spiritual forces (Eph. 6:12). I’d encourage them to reduce people to stereotypes and generalities. Once they reduce people to abstractions, they’d quickly forget that it’s these people that Jesus passionately loves.
3. Encourage the Wrong Power Model
Jesus set an example of service and sacrifice as a model for ministry (Mark 10:42–45). In Christ’s model, influence is created as hearts are captured by those who love and serve everyone—even their enemies. When the church has embraced this model, her influence has spread like a brush fire.