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Is My Church in Need of Spiritual Cleansing? |
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Points of Interest
By Joseph Winger
How would I know if my church had a spiritual bondage? All churches, like people, exhibit imperfections, but when negative patterns emerge, root issues are usually at work. If at least one of these five profiles clearly describes your church, you may need to do a little spiritual house cleaning.
Profile One: Cyclical Issues
- Repeated sexual abuse or immorality among the staff or leadership
- Excessive pastoral turnover or ongoing financial struggles
- Abnormal physical manifestations seemingly impossible to
eliminate (e.g., foul odors, recurring infestations of insects or
rodents)
Profile Two: Thwarted Kingdom Advances
- Failure of your church’s ministry to advance the gospel
- Squelching of your church’s progress toward spiritual, numerical, or relational growth
- Repeated serious setbacks following progress
Profile Three: Chronic Illness
* An inordinate number of illnesses
* Prevalence of certain types of illness too odd to be just coincidental
* Frequent attacks of illness against the leadership and their families
Profile Four: Tissue Rejection in the Body of Christ
- No visitor retention
- Reluctance to embrace newcomers
- A cold feeling over the church’s fellowship
- A can’t “fit in” or find a place to connect attitude
Profile Five: Addiction to Fighting
- Deep-seated disunity and strife beyond normal disagreements and debates
- Heated exchanges in board meetings
- Widespread backbiting, murmuring, independence, and complaining
Profile Six: Environmental Concerns
- Local territorial bondages (a high degree of suicide, immorality, substance abuse, or poverty, etc.)
- Extreme resistance to the gospel
- Lack of favor for the churches in the community
Profile Seven: Spiritual Malaise
- Discouragement and lack of joy
- Lethargy, apathy, weariness, and exhaustion
- Perfunctory, life-less worship
- Little interest in spiritual matters
Obviously not every problem has spiritual roots. People do get sick,
and church families experience disagreements just like any other
family. But Satan knows how to capitalize on our human weaknesses and
magnify them. He easily traps churches with infighting. He is well
aware that any repeated sin can solidify into a stronghold.
Some of the most insidious spiritual bondages are those controlling
your community. They may have a strong affect on the health of your
church. One city had suffered numerous pastors leaving their churches
because of moral failure. Several pastors united to repent, hold each
other accountable, and pray against this recurring sin. For years now
they have seen a change and, to their knowledge, no pastors have
committed this sin.
The enemy doesn’t care which profile describes your church. His only
interest is to keep your church from moving forward. Be alert to his
schemes and take the necessary steps to eliminate the problem.
Joseph Winger is the pastor of prayer at New Life Church in Colorado
Springs, CO. He has had extensive background in helping to cleanse
churches, both in the United States and in Latin America.
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May 2006