Athanasius - The Cost of Knowing God

Jesus warned us, there is great cost involved for those who would know God. He said they hated him and they will hate us. When we seek to follow and obey him with uncompromised fidelity there is a price to be paid. Athanasius is a leading figure in church history. He paid a high price for defending theological orthodoxy.

Athanasius lived from 295 – 373 AD. He led the doctrinal struggle to define God as a Trinitarian being, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Athanasius spent his life defending and articulating the Doctrine of the Trinity. Once he assumed leadership of his church, Athanasius was exiled five times for his stance on the Trinity. While in prison for the third time he was viciously tortured. The members of his congregation were executed because they refused to deny the Trinity.

We benefit from the loyalty of Athanasius to the TRUTH by drawing these lessons from his life and ministry:

1. Defending and explaining doctrine is for the sake of the gospel and our everlasting joy.

2. Joyful courage is the calling of a faithful shepherd and faithful people.

3. Loving Christ includes loving true propositions about Christ.

4. A widespread and long-held doctrinal difference among Christians does not mean that the difference is insignificant or that we should not seek to persuade toward the truth and seek agreement.

5. Pastors should not aim to preach only in categories of thought that can be readily understood by this generation. Rather, we should also aim at creating biblical categories of thought that are not present.

The struggle that Athanasius engaged is known in church history as the Arian Controversy. Arius taught that Jesus Christ was a created being rather than being co-equal with the Father, having no beginning and no end as the writer of the book of Hebrews declares (Heb. 7:17). Jesus Christ is a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, had no beginning and has no end. 

Here is a warning for all pastors. Do not adapt doctrine “to the seekers,”. Do not dumb down biblical language for the sake of contextualization. Be committed to “the pilgrim principle of confrontation”. In many obvious ways, the lessons of the 4th century have not been learned by pastors today. Stand and declare Sound Doctrine!

What price are you willing to pay for the glorious privilege of Knowing God?

Conflict Resolution

Christians are redeemed by the finished work of Christ. However, they are still sinners. That sin, when not mortified, produces selfish conduct. That selfish conduct leads to conflict. A study completed by the Hartford Seminary revealed that 85% of church conflict is driven by control issues. The issue may be finances, types of music, or any number of other factors. But, mark it down, the issue is seldom the real issue. The issue is almost never one of doctrinal significance. The real issue is inordinate CONTROL which always produces conflict.

An article titled 7 reasons People Leave Their Church reveals that relational conflict plays a major role.

Marginal church members tend to drop out at the first hint of even minor interpersonal conflict. Very active members are more resilient, recognizing that church members are not perfect. But, if the conflict becomes severe, some of the very active church members will leave as well.

People seldom if ever disclose the true reason for their departure. There should always be an Exit Interview conducted when people leave. Much valuable insight is gained through this process.

So how should a church deal with conflict? Apply the ‘Barney Fife Principle – nip it in the bud!’ Here are the steps for addressing church conflict.

1. Pray for wisdom and much grace in dealing with all parties.

2. Get the facts, the real story and validate their accuracy before addressing the issue.

3. Address the participants individually before bringing them together. Their accounts of the issue will differ.

4. Bring the parties together face to face and present the issue objectively.

5. Apply the appropriate biblical texts to the situation and get genuine consensus from all parties that they will abide by what the Scripture declares.

6. Follow up and monitor the conduct and relationship of the parties involved.

7. Conflict will always get worse not better if permitted to go unresolved – deal with it in a timely, biblical, and comprehensive manner.

Churches split, the gospel is maligned and the Name of Christ suffers because of unresolved conflict.

There are approximately 19,000 church splits each year in the American church. That is 50/day! This figure is supplied by Peacemakers.net. This is an organization focused on equipping churches to avoid church splits. 

So, are the relationships healthy in the church where you serve?