Mere Missions

T he C hurch : E quip • 143

God as Father must love the Church. They must love, defend, and speak well of the Community of the Kingdom. In our present Western society, there is a general feeling that “I can do without the Church,” by many “Christians,” let alone the secular culture. This could be from a variety of reasons – physical and verbal abuse by those in church authority; the hypocrisy of church leaders who preach one thing and do the other; greed for money and the things of this world; misunderstanding; cliques; pride. As someone once said, “The Church is like Noah’s ark. If it weren’t for the storm outside, we couldn’t stand the funk on the inside.” Yes, the Church has a sordid past and present, and will continue this way into the future until the Lord returns. Bad players have been and will continue to be within her midst. There will always be tares among the wheat (Matt. 13.24-30). This is the infiltrating work of Satan and his demonic forces (2 Cor. 11.14-15). He hates the Bride of Christ. He will use anyone and anything to malign and destroy the Church. His hatred and wrath know no bounds, for he is well aware of who the Church is: 1. The Church is an outpost of the Kingdom of God. In war, a military outpost is a detachment of troops positioned to stand guard against unauthorized intrusions and surprise attacks. They provide protection to an area. Apply this definition to a local church and you have a detachment of disciples under the rule and reign of God Almighty standing guard against the forces of darkness. Does a local church see herself this way? Ed Silvoso doesn’t think so. In his book, That None Should Perish he said, “The Church in the West today presents too easy a target for Satan. We do not believe we are at war. We do not know where the battleground is located, and in spite of our weapons, they are neither loaded nor aimed at the right target. We are unaware of how vulnerable we are. We are better fitted