Christ’s followers don’t let devilish barriers stop them.
A man named Hobie changed the way I think about broken people. We were in our church’s Sunday morning Bible class, studying Jesus’ encounter with a troubled and intimidating homeless man (Mark 5 and Luke 8).
The Bible’s description is graphic: “For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.” He was amazingly strong—”for he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day … he would cry out and cut himself with stones.”
We tried to imagine walking up to a naked man so tormented that he would cut himself, so powerful that he snapped chains, so distressed that he would bellow his anger and anguish, whether anyone was there to listen or not.
“Not exactly a ministry opportunity you want to involve the kids in,” quipped one young mom.
We discussed the confrontation between Jesus and the demons, “Legion,” that possessed the man. And we speculated about the demons’ fate after they were sent into the nearby herd of pigs that rushed madly into the lake and drowned.
Jesus’ victory and the man’s deliverance were spectacular, but I was left wondering about the demons’ efforts prior to Jesus’ arrival.
“What was Satan thinking?” I asked. “If this man was a product of Satan’s influence, how does he help Satan’s cause at all? Everyone is repulsed by him. If Satan wants to take people away from God, how does a naked, shrieking, self-mutilating man advance Satan’s agenda? Isn’t Satan hurting his own cause?”
I figured I’d asked an unanswerable question. I figured wrong.
Hobie, an occasional attender at our church who once studied to become a Jesuit, replied, “Oh, that’s simple.” He had my attention.
“Jesus’ purpose in the world is to demonstrate God’s love,” said Hobie. “Satan’s purpose is to thwart that. So Satan erects obstacles to love—and he put up a lot of barriers here: a scary location, nakedness, intimidation, irrationality. But Jesus didn’t let any of that stop him. He overcame the obstacles and extended God’s love. Eventually he even overcame the barrier of crucifixion and death to demonstrate his love.”
Suddenly, thanks to Hobie, the issue stood in stark clarity. Satan puts up barriers; Jesus overcomes them. The brokenness we encounter today may be devilish barriers to prevent us from extending and receiving God’s love. Christ’s followers don’t let that stop them. In this issue you’ll see churches finding creative and courageous ways to overcome.
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With this issue we say farewell to associate editor Ed Gilbreath, who isn’t going far away—just down the hall to devote all of his considerable talents to our sister publication Christianity Today. Ed was the one responsible for our lead piece in this issue, the symposium on how churches are treating broken people (see page 24). We’re grateful for his outstanding work.
At the same time, we welcome assistant editor Drew Zahn, who comes to Leadership after serving four years as pastor of two Evangelical Free churches (simultaneously) near Wesley, Iowa. Drew was born in Germany and brings—in addition to strong editing and writing skills, gifts in painting, construction, and cooking—his wife Debi and their six children. I know you’ll appreciate his work.
Marshall Shelley is editor of Leadership.
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