Stop Saying Satan is Attacking Someone’s Ministry

I don’t remember where I first heard it. Whether it was a cancer diagnosis, or a child’s rebellion, or a horrible accident, or a family falling apart. But hear it I did. If something was going wrong in a ministry family, it was because Satan was attacking their ministry.

Um, no. Stop. Just stop.

It’s obnoxious and crazy-narcissistic, not to mention devaluing of everyone involved who is NOT running the ministry in question.

To be clear, I’m not saying that Satan isn’t behind these things. If you cast the net wide enough, you can trace it all back to him. But the way we talk about these issues reveals a serious flaw in our mindset.

What we are doing, when we claim Satan is attacking a ministry, is making the ministry the central focus, instead of the hurting human beings involved in the situation.

It is a way of distancing ourselves from the problem, of spiritualizing it to minimize possible complicity.

It’s a way of protecting the reputation of people we perceive to be spiritual super-stars.

It’s plain old blame-shifting or garden-variety grandiosity, depending on the situation.

Might I offer a few suggestions?

When a pastor’s wife files abuse charges against her husband, we should not say it is because Satan is attacking the husband’s ministry.

Instead, we should focus on getting her, and if possible the husband, the help they need to heal as individuals.

When a teenage daughter gets pregnant, or a son is arrested for possession, we should not say it is because Satan is attacking their parents’ ministry.

Instead, we should focus on loving them well. Not because we respect their parents, but because we genuinely care about the children.

When a missionary’s husband is diagnosed with MS, and they have to leave the ministry she founded and return to the States, we should not say that Satan is attacking her ministry.

Instead, we should focus on supporting the family as they transition and fight the disease.

Ministries exist to help hurting people connect with a God who loves them.

Making the ministry the focus, instead of focusing in on the hurting people in the ministry’s orbit, does just the opposite.

Yes, Satan may be attacking a ministry.

And if he’s convinced you that the ministry is more important than the human beings involved in the situation, that it’s the ministry that must be protected, well, he may have made a good start.