AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why, though?”
“You probably know the answer. A biblical church of Jesus Christ is always at the frontline of spiritual warfare, so you’ll have to soldier on when things get tough,” Maggie explained. “Be all read-up in your daily Bible devotional. Wear the full armor of God. Walk with God. Then you’re ready to face the ups and downs of church life—and you have to do it by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“And only in.”
“Yes. You got it.” Maggie nodded. “If you fight a spiritual battle with your flesh, you lose. Only in the power of God can you survive.”
“Wow, Maggie.”
Maggie slowed down the van behind rush-hour traffic, which had already begun. It was nearly four o’clock in the afternoon. Metro Atlanta rush hour could go on for a while. Back in the old days, they used to taper off around six o’clock, but these days, it would not be surprising to see traffic jams at seven o’clock.
“Tell me more, Maggie.” Erika turned to look at Maggie.
Maggie kept her eyes on the road. “Don’t get me wrong. When you watch a pastor at the pulpit on TV, you don’t see all the church dynamics and spiritual battles that go on behind close doors.”
“I’ve started to notice that when I came here. It looks great on TV, but then behind the scene, they had to make sure the livestream works, the internet is not cut off, and so forth.”
“Right. And in the sanctuary itself, the microphones better be working so that the preacher is not interrupted. If the sound system is broken, Pastor Kim’s soft-spoken voice can’t carry all the way to the second floor balcony, let alone be broadcast on the internet.”
“Much prayer required,” Erika said.
“For sure. Also, did you notice all the security personnel all around the building on Sunday mornings? A few years ago, a deranged person entered the building in the middle of the church service and threatened to shoot everyone if the pastor could not guarantee his ticket to heaven.”
“Only God can guarantee your ticket to heaven and that ticket’s name is Jesus Christ.”
“We know that, but does the world know that?”
“I see now the warfare going on between good and evil, and the church is the battleground.”
“Truth be told, Christians just want to worship God in peace. It’s our right as a free country to have freedom of religion. Along with freedom comes a price.”
“The price tag of security.”
“Well, we also have many families in church, and therefore, many children in the nursery and preschool all the way to elementary and high school. We need the security teams to protect our children as well so that parents feel safe when they are in church—especially in downtown Atlanta, you know—even though this midtown area is just outside the center of the city, so we’re between downtown and Buckhead.”
“Crime is everywhere.”
“Exactly.” Maggie pulled onto the road that led to the church warehouse. Clouds had moved in and she wondered if it was going to rain later on.
“Sometimes Christians can have a rosy view of the pastor and his congregation. Many times I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh wow! You attend Midtown Chapel? What is it like to be right in front of Pastor Kim and hear him preach live?’ Funny thing is, Pastor Kim probably can’t see us in the sanctuary because the lights are on him all the time.”
Erika laughed. “Like he’s some celebrity.” Erika laughed. “My mom asked me that. She’s been telling everyone that I work for Pastor Kim. I mean I haven’t spoken with Pastor Kim since I started work. I’m just the admin assistant of the Midtown Village, which is now its own non-profit organization, independent from the church. Even though we still work together to organize events, you’re not involved in my admin work and I’m not involved in yours.”
“Right. But outsiders might not understand.” Maggie pulled into the warehouse parking lot. She went around the buildingtoward the loading dock at the back of the warehouse. “I can say two things about that. Firstly, never elevate a pastor to the level of a deity.”
“I hear you. Sometimes people worship a pastor of a church instead of God. They ask ‘What would pastor so-and-so do in this situation?’ rather than pray about what Jesus would do.”
“Not just ‘they’ who are out there somewhere, but I have to remind myself—as a staff member of the church—that I must never forget that Pastor Kim is only human, with his own sins and frailties and weaknesses and problems and so forth.”
“Therein is the spiritual battle that you spoke of earlier.”
“Yes. Every church, big or small, has its challenges and battles, but you knew that.”
“I know that now.”
“Secondly, about what you said earlier, you are not ‘just the admin assistant,’ Erika. As a believer of Christ, you are, first and foremost, a child of God, an ambassador of the King of Kings, a servant of the Lord of Lords.”
“Good reminder.”
