Christian Freedom Spies

Christian freedom spies are everywhere and annoying.  But they must be dealt with.

These people are looking for ways to disrupt the faith of true Christians and bring them under the control of their self-made and so-called “Christian” religious system.  

It Happens Over There

Recently I was with a team training pastors and leaders in southeast Asia, and spies showed up.  I didn’t know who they were at first, but apparently my national partner knew them and had had dealings with them before.  

At first they seemed very interested, knowledgable and glad to be joining us.  Although it wasn’t long after sitting down in the front rows of seats that their hands went up.  They kept asking question after question that weren’t on topic and didn’t seem to be going anywhere.  

Their questions became longer and longer, and it was then that their agenda showed itself with their unusual and unorthodox views of church, authority and rules.  So we authoritatively cut off their opportunity to ask any more questions.  

When that session finished it turned out they had to leave the training event early.  Good riddance.  At the end of the day my partner explained who they were, where they came from and what their intentions were.  We discussed plans on how to deal with them upfront if there is ever a next time.  And there probably will be a next time.  

In Happens Here at Home

When I was pastoring a local church it seemed like at least once a year similar folks would infiltrate our worship service on a Sunday morning.  The first sign of their ulterior motives was frequently their awkward interactions with the people of the regular congregation.  Again, this often involved odd questions about the Bible, interpreting it and following certain practices.

So I would keep a close eye on them while I was preaching.  If I sensed something strange, immediately after the worship service I would seek them out and ask a lot of my own questions.  As soon as they implicated themselves with their own words that they adhered to a false Gospel their time was short. 

I would explain the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it contrasts with their false one.  At this point they are typically scared and want to leave, or they want to stay and argue, which I would not allow.  So I would warn them that their stuff is not happening here and show them the door.  Even while doing this, I am praying that they will come to their senses and want to submit to the Scriptures and be learners.

Protecting the church is a priority.  And entertaining fools is not our calling.

Galatians 2:4–5 ESV “Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.”

A Church With Two Clocks

Guest preachers would almost always do a double take, and some even wondered out loud, “why are there two clocks in the back of the sanctuary?”

The congregation would laugh.  “It is because we have an eccentric pastor,” I heard shouted a few times.  Although, after the worship service people would inform him of our vision for mission work in Asia.

Why Have Two Clocks?

Each clock was labeled by its time zone, but one of them was set for an Asia time zone. This clock corresponded to the country where our global mission focus was located.

The two clocks kept us on time with our vision.  It was a constant visual reminder of our unique calling to strive to advance the Gospel and plant churches among an unreached and unengaged people group far across the world.

As church members and even as a church, it is easy to forget our vision commitment, and sometimes even to forget the larger mission of the church in the world.  We get absorbed in our own lives and organizational concerns, among other things.

Why Not Have Two Clocks?

We would hold our World Christian Prayer Meetings in the same room.  The clocks helped us to pray better.  Not only was it motivational to see them, but we could picture what was going on at that specific time and date with our national ministry partners and friends.

It is true that many comments and jokes made it into many sermons over the years, but we liked it that way.  The pulpit comments from our guests helped us stay committed to our global mission focus and ready to articulate it.  In addition, a number of my preacher friends would re-tell the story of the church with two clocks and help spread the vision.

Every vision needs a little eccentricity to help move it forward.  It strengthens a group’s identity, commitment and fun together in fulfilling their calling.  I believe this congregation loved the strangeness of its pastor and his vision.

Words For Weary Souls

We all know the suspense and worry associated with having a loved one living far away, wondering how they are doing and not able to receive much communication.  This Proverb uses this common human experience.

Proverbs 25:25–26 ESV “Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.  Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.”

That was in a time when communication took a while and was infrequent.  Yet, we today, still share this human concern and burden for loved ones.  A good report is a remedy for the soul, whether it arrives as an email, photo, call, letter, or report from a friend who visited.

Encouragement Keeps Us Going


This Proverb is about much more.  It is intended as a metaphor for the spiritual value of encouragement, and how we all greatly need it because we all face uncertain futures. 

Good words, promising words, hopeful words place encouragement and freedom into a person’s soul.  These words help one another persevere in faithfully living life and serving God.  Encouraging words are “like cold water to a thirsty soul.”

Such words are especially valuable when people are facing new challenges at new stages of life, or in the onset of new faith adventures with God.  We need to keep on refreshing one another with the ministry of encouraging words.

Encouragement Prevents Disasters

We all need encouragement so that we don’t waver and “give way to the wicked.”  This can happen to any of us.  We can begin to waver, that is give in to weariness of the soul, and consider compromising with wicked.  

We might surrender our moral position and make a false peace with the those who do not know God and His ways.  When such disasters happen it is disheartening for all those who rely upon those “righteous ones” to do what is right.  

A concession might be relatively minor, or it might be significant.  It might have only short-term effects, or have implications for a long time.   It doesn’t make much difference because now it is like a fresh spring becoming muddied, or a fountain becoming polluted.  

Such a person used to be a reliable place of refreshment and life, but now this person does not and cannot provide this any longer.  Sadly, Solomon himself would serve as his own example here at the end of his life, if you know the story.

Maybe you yourself have served as the fouled water illustration and you sense your need to return to the Lord and be strong in His truth and righteousness.  Let the mud settle, and find your restoration in the refreshing “cold water” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Surely we all have our own life examples of encouragement and discouragement, even of disillusionment and restoration.  Let us keep ourselves and one another encouraged in the Lord, so we don’t give way before the wicked.  Let us meet one another’s weariness with encouragement, and provide real help for real life.

Hebrews 10:35–36 ESV “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

What Was So Funny? Human Souls

They started laughing at us before we even got to the most difficult part of the Gospel.  

What triggered it was an explanation of God’s creation, specially how He made human beings in His own image, different from all other living beings.

Made in God’s Image

As we did often in this part of southeast Asia, we entered a village found a group of friendly people, and directed the conversation to spiritual matters.  According to plan, we started with the first verse in the Bible and explained who God is as the Creator.

You know how the story goes, but they didn’t.  There is one all-powerful God who made the heavens and the earth.  He made inanimate things, living beings, but He uniquely made humanity in His own image with a soul and in relationship with Himself.

There were some animals nearby.  So, we used them as a contrasting example.  People have souls that will live eternally.  As soon as we mentioned this, the uproar of laughter began.  I was waiting for the ridicule to come a little later in the conversation, honestly.

They went on and on about how our God, the Creation story and our view of people was ludicrous.  We learned that this village had been strongly influenced by atheism replacing their heritage of animism, and seeing all religious views as nothing more than superstitious.

Obviously to them we all die alike and that was that.  They paused in silence to see what we would say next, staring at each of us on the team, waiting expectantly for more laughable material.

We talked about the advantages we have over cattle and chickens, of course.  We went on to talk about our moral and relational capacities, and especially the matter of our spiritual relationship to God and our responsibilities as stewards of His Creation.

They listened politely, probably surprised that we weren’t shaken by their attempt to humiliate us.  After explaining much more about the character of God and His actions in the world, we landed upon the most important historical matters of the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, reign and return of Jesus Christ.

Yes, we talked about all of that, and with new courage they helped inspire by their opposition.  However, that was the end of the twenty minute exchange with these twenty people.  They took the Gospel materials, even though they were not that interested.  

Kids Swinging from a Tree

We were headed down the street debriefing our experience when we happened upon a large tree with young children swinging from ropes tied to its branches.  We stopped to talk with them, and within minutes many of the children from the previous encounter showed up wanting to know more about God.

We had some video CDs with us that dramatized the Creation and Redemption stories.  So we gave out a few of them to the older children who appeared to be the leaders.  But in front of everyone we made them agree to the condition that they had to show them to all the families of the village.  

They thought about it and talked about it among themselves for a minute and agreed.  Then, immediately one of them led us to a house right away.  Children often make for great evangelists.  We thought we were done in this village, but apparently not yet.  

Once inside and having met everyone we watched one of the videos together.  At least we weren’t laughed at this time.  After the movie, we ended up sharing a small meal together, talking a little about the movie (they weren’t that interested) and simply enjoying one another as people created in God’s image.

My experience in that village that day increased my love for humanity, all people made in God’s image—yet, fallen and in need of healing and redemption in Jesus Christ.  I still find myself praying for those people by face, that the Lord would use those Gospel materials (and maybe other messengers of His) to cause them to see and understand the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ.

Friends Committed To Mutual Improvement

Friendship is more than just hanging out and having fun experiences together.  These are the easy expressions of friendship.  The greater vision of friendship is spiritual, leading to mutual growth in wisdom and righteousness before God.

Proverbs 27:5–6 ESV “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”

These verse from Proverbs teach us about faithfulness and commitment in our friendships.

Faithfulness among Friends

Friends who are open and honest with you when you need to hear the truth are valuable friends.  Friends who say they love and care for you but don’t express it by truth-telling when it really needs to be done are morally useless as friends.

A true friend cares enough to confront and will risk confrontation for the sake of his friend’s well being.  He is faithful to friendship.  He is faithful to his friend.  He is faithful before God.  Bottom line, he can be relied upon to seek the best, truly God’s best, for his friends.

Some who say they are friends, are not, but rather enemies.  Such a person might disguise himself with flattery or gracious words.  Such so-called friends are all show and no substance, profuse in their words, kind acts, and frivolities. 

These so-called friends will oppose your true friends when they “wound” you.  This Proverb is instructing us to be wise and resist pride, and listen to the faithful friend, not the false one.

Commitment among Friends

Have you ever been through this whole experience, from either side of the truth-telling friendship, and experienced the dynamics, the tensions, the conversations, the inner struggles; and hopefully the joy, peace, and righteousness of it all?

True friends can count on one another to tell the truth, and do so with wisdom and maturity.  They trust one another in their dealings to truly assist one another in life and character.  

You might be surprised at what people do after learning, but not truly understanding, certain biblical principles.  The goal is not to go out and wound a friend every day.  Nor is it to go ask people what they think of you and try to make them tell you bad things only to get mad at them for telling you and assert your own view of yourself.  

God provides true friendships for our happiness, our support, and our growth.  Pray for such friendships and that He would turn you into such a great friend.

The First Application Is To Know The Text

There is a lot of pressure to be highly creative in preaching.  Creativity is wonderful, but sometimes sermon-crafting obscures the very text we are attempting to open up and apply.

Misplaced Confidences 

We all want to listen to preaching that engages our mind and hearts, and preachers want to bring the transforming power of the Word into the lives of those in their congregations.  

There are so many distractions, however.  Putting together colorful powerpoint presentations.  Searching the internet for illustrations or media clips.  Writing the message with a view to its future use and publication.  Working with artistic teams on crafting stage props.  

Then there are the demands we place upon ourselves to provide effective tools for people to navigate their lives according to God’s wisdom.   We obsess over making the main points memorable.  We have to write insightful questions for community group discussions that address the complexities of our lives.

This is only a partial list.  Some of these burdens are real and some are phantoms.  Nevertheless they make it hard to preach good sermons because they direct our focus to helping people live more successful and happier lives.  

We end up putting our confidence in these preaching accessories rather than in the substance of the Word of God itself.

Confidence in the Scripture Itself

Recently, I spent time training preachers in southeast Asia.  They faced temptations from the other end of the spectrum.  Lacking skills in studying the Bible and applying the Bible, they would find numerous shortcuts.  

There are many ways to stray.  Preaching other people’s sermons.  Finding commands to obey and forcefully repeat.  Finding doctrines to talk about for an hour.  Memorizing a handful of sermons and repeating them regardless of the passage in front of them.  

Wherever in the world we preach the Word, the first and foremost value must be knowing the text of Scripture to be preached.  The preacher needs to spend a lot of time in the text to truly know the text.  This includes reading and re-reading, meditating and praying, and at times even memorizing.  This process cannot be hurried.

In conjunction with this, serious and careful study will be required to really know what God is saying.  Focused attention needs to be given to observation of context, structure and analysis.  The most accurate, engaging and life transforming applications will come from thoroughness in preparation.  Here is the place to gain confidence for preaching.

Applications will Abound by the Holy Spirit

The first application for any congregation is the same.  It is to know the Biblical text.  Our main objective is to know God by means of His self-revelation in Scripture.

This will lead to the most profound applications by the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps a better question is this:  Will people in the congregation be able to open their Bibles at home and re-preach the passage to themselves?  Will the message statement and how we took them through the passage be obvious, accessible and reproducible for them?

Hebrews 4:12 ESV “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” 

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

While keeping such truths about Scripture itself in mind, then we can and should be creative.  Because no one wants to listen to a boring preacher.