The Biggest Lie...

I know that the title of this blog is a bit of a tease, and yet I'm down right serious as I contemplate the question of "What is the biggest lie that the Enemy tell us?"

My mind goes back and forth about the Great Deceiver's preferred choice of weapon. If he's the roaring lion we are told he is, it seems important to listen to that warning. Therefore acknowledging his intent is to devour, we should then see him for the bloodthirsty carnivore of hope that he is.

Many of us who are servants of the Almighty, know the fangs of the Enemy are dripping with the blood of our dreams and hopes as he tears at them, bent on destruction. He does all that he can to consume the righteous and their work because all of it points back to the one we serve, his eternal enemy and the ultimate victor - the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

So, while I have no evidence that can be quantified or officially corroborated, I have my own experience and the collective tales told by unnumbered missional colleagues that the great lie...the one he whispers... the one that leads to a deafening roar of other lies... is a simple one.

He tells us that we are alone.

When we are alone, it makes us feel separate. Separate from the ones we love, from our teammates, and most of all from the Lord who calls us beloved. "Divide and conquer" is the Enemy's tactic, and the first pebble in an avalanche of pain he intends to inflict.

That insidious whisper of "You are alone" slides quickly down the slope to "I'm unloved, lost, hopeless..." and yet, dear brother or sister in Christ, you must call out those lies for what they are.

When the Enemy says you are alone . . . the Lord says he will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8).
When the Enemy says you are unloved . . . the Lord calls you Beloved (Romans 9:25).
When the Enemy says you are lost . . . the Lord declares you found after He Himself searches to find you (Luke 15:1-7).
When the Enemy says you are hopeless . . . the Lord reminds you of where to place your hope (Psalm 33:20-22).

Why you may ask am I asking myself any of these questions and sharing thoughts that we rarely voice to each other, let alone in a public forum? The reason is simple.

Because calling out a lie for what it is steals its power over us.

And because I know too many missional colleagues who are dealing with the trials and tribulations that come with working as co-laborers with Christ and they are quietly suffering because an avalanche like this has started in their heart. I want them to know they matter, to me, to their brothers and sisters in Christ and above all to the Lord Almighty who is calling to them, seeking them out, and drawing them under His wings to succor them back to a healthy place of hearing His voice over the din of the Enemy's lies.

This blog is to call on the great need for member care in our ranks. To look out for each other, and to be our brothers' keeper in the James 5:19-20 kind of way:

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, ²⁰you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

Maybe you are in need of one of our member care books . . . or maybe your wife, or husband, or team mate, or friend needs one . . .