A BIZARRE AND HORRID SCENE

When the Midianites and Amalekites assembled their 135,000 warriors against Israel, the fate of God's people seemed doomed. But God raised up Gideon and gave Israel the victory. The superior force was destroyed by Gideon's 300 troops when in the darkness of night they became confused and turned on each other. "Jehovah set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the host..." (Judg. 7:22). The survivors of their self-destruction fled and the great army of the aliens was totally demolished. The antithesis of this remarkable story is being played out among Churches of Christ today.

As the kingdom of Christ is beset by a small but determined band of liberal change agents, we see a remarkable parallel to that bloody scene in Jezreel some 3000 years ago.  Unfortunately the story is reversed since the self-destruction is occurring among the bible-believing troops of the army of Christ.

Some of the soldiers of Christ, who are conservative in their faith and practice and strongly opposed to the liberalism that will certainly destroy the church here in America, have not yet figured out just who the enemy is. 
Consequently they are engaged in destructive and bloody attacks against their fellow-soldiers who share their same basic convictions and are standing against the change agents and their message.  On one hand it is a school of preaching, torn and shredded.  On the other one sees congregations decimated by division and in-house fighting.  We see "gospel" preachers attacking and seeking to destroy the usefulness of other preachers.  All this in the name of Jesus and saving the church! 

As this terrible and horrible scene plays out, Satan chortles with delighted and Christians weep. The Lord looks down on this internecine conflict with great sadness while change agents celebrate each new slaughter.  Their work is made much easier by this civil strife.  Young, weak and impressionable brethren are told by them, "see they don't have the spirit of Christ, so follow us and we will show you a new and better kind of church; a ‘changed church.'"   If those great souls who preceded us can see us from their blissful state, surely they sigh with sadness as they watch a band of thoughtless and reckless preachers destroying what they labored so hard to
build up.  And wisdom is justified of all her children! "If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another" (Gal. 5:15).

If the generals of the change movement are smart, they will save their powder and energy and patiently wait while a sizable number of our soldiers, annihilate their brothers. They can then walk in and pick up the broken pieces without conflict.  Think about it brethren!