After my most recent sermon, “The Big Bad Wolf” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek1inrIxMh8), I had a few people ask me if I could elaborate a little more on the topic of the “The Drama Triangle.” The “Drama Triangle” is the natural order of the spiritual warfare that is going on around us every day. During my message I said a couple things about it:

(1) God Almighty has sent his Son, the Lion of Judah, to protect the people he loves, the little lambs, from the wolf. Jesus is the hero, and he died on the cross to save us.

Then you have the victim, the prey of the wolf. The victim is usually a weak, fragile creature. I am not going to use the word innocent, because no one alive is innocent, but I will say “vulnerable.” Because when it comes to taking on the wolf, no one has a chance.

And then there is a villain. This is Satan. The devil uses his beauty, wiles, and charm to terrorize the world – this is the real war, and it has been going on since the Garden of Eden. He wants to destroy the lamb to hurt the Lion. And he has his minions who daily do his dirty work – these are those who hate the Son.

(2) Now, Satan is a master liar, and his main weapon is using “The Lie” against God. What is the “The Lie” you ask? It is found in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” It is the lie that has warped everything in this drama triangle: (a) By using “The Lie”, the “villain” wants to be seen as the real “victim.” He wants us little lambs to have “sympathy for the devil.” He tries to convince us that we should be “free to live and behave as we want” without consequence. (b) This is achieved by convincing the “victim” to see God as the “villain” – he is not letting us do what we want to do! And then he makes the “victim” believe that he can become the real “hero” who must protect the rest of the world from the vicious Lion and his mean “tyrannical ways.” Meanwhile the real “villain” is sharpening his knife.

This is happening everyday in our strange world. If you take time to think about, you will see this is really what is wrong with the world.

Fathers Matter

Let me give you one example.

Satan wants the world to believe “fathers” are unnecessary. So he has convinced the vulnerable victims, “women and children”, to hate men and fathers. So instead of seeing the “father” as a gift given to fight off the wolf, he has been cast aside as the problem with the world (Often the father, and all men for that matter, are depicted as toxically masculine and power-hungry patriarchs). Thus making the lambs “easy pickens” for the wolf.

But wait? What if you really did have a bad father? Well, this is very possible for many of you reading, but your father’s failings does not make the role of father null and void for the rest of the world. Your father is the problem, not the design. In fact, if you look around at those who are good fathers – and there are boatloads to choose from – you will see how much of a blessing they really are. It is the wolf who is convincing you that they are completely unneccessary.

This same lie is being used against all kinds of authority figures God has put in place. From parents, police officers, professors and even pastors. God designed the different roles and gave authority to bless people, direct organizations, and protect the innocent. But the devil has planted a giant “seed of doubt” in our culture to question every position of power as controlling, tyrannical, and cruel. Meanwhile, he has painted the carefree, independent wanderer, and even the vile anarchist as the truly pure and innocent person. When in fact, dividing and conquering the sheep is always the devil’s game-plan.

Pastors Matter

Let me show you how “The Lie” is directly aimed at pastors. I love pastoring, and I love the church. In fact, the vast majority of people in the church are wonderful lovers of Jesus. But there are times as a pastor when I have seen people view me as a mad man only wanting power. They like to portray me as the cold-hearted dictator behind a “Bully Pulpit.” To many, the pastor is the “villian.” But here is what is not really considered about the role of pastor:

(1) Before a person applies for a job of leading a church, most pastors are required to have studied 6-8 years in upper level education. Mastors degrees or doctorates are the norm for most. That is alot of reading and writing.

(2) Before a man is offered the role of pastor, they have weeks and weeks of interviews with the church members and leaders that involve doctrine, classic theology, moral practices, personal character, financial responsibility, and even how good of a speaker they are (Most won’t tell you but they want you to be funny and good looking too). They are scrutinized by all the members. Then, at the end of the questioning period, they are voted on. Most people who are considering the role of pastor will not take a church with less than 80% vote. That means 8 out of 10 people have to like you. An extremely high bar.

(3) Then when the person is hired they have both a board of deacons and a board of elders they are accountable to for as long as they are employed by the church. And for that matter, as in the case of our church, it can feel like you also have and additional 700 or more bosses to please on a weekly basis. It may not seem like it, but if you make one person mad during the week – it could be in your sermon or through your counseling – you will definately hear about it. (And so will others!)

(4) Then, if a person in the church is really offended by the pastor, the other people in the congregation will wan’t the pastor to apologize or be sensitive to their hurt. If this apparent hurt goes on for awhile, and if the hurt isn’t dealt with satisfactorilly, it usually is the pastor who is seen as “guilty” before proven “innocent”; whereas the offended person is seemingly always “innocent” – that is until the information comes out. And after many meetings, if the person is actually “guilty” they will usually leave the church with no consequence and they often freely slander the pastor on the way out. If they have any friends who will listen to their tales of woe, they also will leave so as not to offend their friend. And often both will find another church a few miles or so away.

(5) If a “pastor” is actually found guilty of the offense, they will usually be publically disciplined (rightly so), often demonized, quickly fired, and are out of luck if they ever want to get a job as a pastor in another church.

Seriously, from a secular point of view, why would anyone in their right mind want to take on a role of leadership when our culture loves to take aim at them? Who wants to be the target for angy anarchists and moral libertarians? Isn’t the cost too high?

It is very simple:

God has put the pastor in a very strategic place to “care for the flock,” and to “fight off the wolves.” In other words, they are truly a gift to a community. I have seen it done wonderfully by countless men, and it is a marvelous thing to behold. So is good parenting, so is proper policing, so is committed professoring, so is coaching, so is governing, and so is running a company. Authority is one of the greatest blessings when it is wielded by a humble person. And those who serve God in leadership will be rewarded in the afterlife.

When Jesus calls you, he is faithful, and he will do it (1 Thess. 5:24).

The Real Villian

To rightly see what is wrong with the world, you must answer one basic question: Who is the real villain?

Sadly, when a society sees those who are the actual villains as poor innocent victims, and victims as valiant heroes (other words for this are advocates, allies, and activists), and the real hero as the villain, chaos is sure to ensue. There can be a compassion that is blindly foolish. And blindness causes all sorts of moral stumbling and public bumbling.

Your job is simple: test all spirits, don’t buy lies, and know that everyone has a heart that is “deceitful above all things.” So, yes you should question those in authority. But remember, also question those who are not in authority, because it is very easy to shoot from the shadows.

People who don’t want to jump through the hoops of accountability should not be the first people you believe!