Why are pastors giving into Satan's temptations?
“Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.’ … Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” (2 Samuel 24:1; 1 Chronicles 21:1)
One of Satan's temptations toward us, the pastors, is to count the number of members. As Satan makes us count the number of church members, he wants us to make the number seem large so that he can maximize vain pride and arrogance in us. Not only that, Satan stimulates our greed to make us focus on increasing the number of church members even more. Therefore, our church leaders are using all kinds of worldly methods to increase the power of the church. So these days we hear that the church is like a company. It seems that we are not thinking much about whether the method is appropriate in God's sight as the church ministry seems only caring about results. Now it seems that it's not about whether the method we use is biblical or not. It's more about whether the method can bring the desired result of increasing the number of church members or not. Isn’t the head pastor of the church even demanding an increase in the number of members from the cell or department in charge of the assistant pastors? After all, Satan is making us slaves to the number of church members. And we the pastors have succumbed to the temptations of this Satan and are now preaching while inflating the number of members to make us proud. Is this really what the Lord is adding to those who are being saved (Acts 2:47), or are we the pastors stealing sheep? Why are we now giving into Satan's temptations?
The Bible 2 Samuel 24:1 says that God "incited" David to go and take a census of Israel and Judah. But in 1 Chronicles 21:1, the Bible says that it wasn’t God but Satan who “incited” David to take the census. What does it mean? It means that God didn’t prevent Satan from inciting David to take the census of Israel, but leave him alone (Park). In other words, God allowed Satan to tempt David into sin (permissive will of God). Why? This is because God was angry with Israel (2 Sam. 24:1) and was against Israel (1 Chron. 21:1). In other words, God wasn’t angry with David and wasn’t against David, but rather was angry and was against the Israelites. And the reason God was angry with them and was against them was because they followed Absalom's rebellion for a while (2 Sam. 15:12) and also supported Sheba's rebellion (20:1-2) (Park). In other words, God allowed King David's mistake to be as it was in order to punish the people of Israel for their sins (Park). As a result, God sent a plague on Israel, and 70,000 people died (24:15).
It is said that there are 10 million Christians in Korea (a quarter of the Korean population). I don't know if that's a reliable statistic. I think the number of church members is somewhat inflated. I remember a Christian newspaper article I read sometime ago. The news is that about 24 of the 50 largest churches in the world (with the largest number of members) are in Korea. I'm not sure if the number of megachurches and the number of members of the Korean church is something to be proud of. On the surface, they are increasing the number of members by calling for salvation of souls, evangelism, and missions. But I don’t know whether the Lord is adding those who are being saved to the church or whether we are multiplying those who have already been saved. What will God say when He sees this phenomenon of the Korean church? Why is God allowing Satan to tempt the church leaders to make us proud of the church members’ number? Why doesn’t God stop this temptation of Satan and leave it alone? Maybe the reason is because God is angry not only with us the pastors, but also with all of our church members and is against all of us. Why is God angry and opposing all of us? Maybe the reason is because we are betraying and rebelling against the Lord. In other words, perhaps because we are betraying the Lord and also rebelling against Him like teenagers. What should we do?
First, like David, our hearts should be conscience-stricken and we must confess our sins to God.
Look at 2 Samuel 24:10 – “… ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.’” We must be humble and truthful before a holy God and His holy word. Now we are committing a great sin in the sight of God. It is not a sin to be taken lightly. Now we are doing a very foolish thing in the sight of God. Yet we still continue to deceive ourselves and consider ourselves wise.
Second, we, like David, should rely on God's great mercy when we are in trouble, wanting us to fall into God's hands and not the hands of men.
Look at 2 Samuel 24:14 – “David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” David chose to send a plague on the earth for three days rather than seven years famine or three months of fleeing from his enemies (v. 13). As a result, David loses 70,000 (v. 15) of the 1.3 million (v. 9) (note: 1.57 million in 1 Chron. 21:5). Like David, we too must choose the discipline God gives us. Even if we lose so many church members and they leave the church we serve, we must humbly receive God's discipline. Even so, we should not be obsessed with the number of church members.
Third, like David, we must love the flock of God that God has entrusted to us.
Look at 2 Samuel 24:17 – “Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, ‘Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father's house.’” What a beautiful shepherd's heart. Like David, shouldn't we also have this shepherd's heart? Shouldn’t we have a heart to love the flock whom God has entrusted to us and a heart to love them with God's love, knowing that one soul is more precious than the world? Are we not longing for and crying out for “many souls” rather than “one soul” to the extent that we do not even know when we had this heart? Many, big, wide and high… Isn't the realm of greed in our heart constantly changing like this?
Fourth and last, like David, we need to be determined and act on the promise that we will not worship the Lord without a price.
Look at 2 Samuel 24:24 – “However, the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing " So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” We should never, like David, offer unprepared worship to God without paying the price. Rather, we say, as David said, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing” (1 Chron. 21:24), and we must worship God with the full price. Then, the calamity God is bringing on us will cease (v. 25).
We pastors should no longer be slaves to the number of church members. We can no longer pastor according to our greed under the pretext of ‘This is God will’. Otherwise, God will bring disaster on all of us. Maybe He has already brought disaster on us now. Now, the flocks whom God has entrusted to us, the pastors, are spiritually starving and are wandering in the world. Now those flocks are the prey of wolves and Satan. What should we do? We can no longer offer God a show or entertainment service to entertain the congregation in His name. We should no longer preach the truth of God with an untruthful heart. The mature church members who long for the truth and seek the true character of the pastor already know it all. The believers should no longer listen to the unsound doctrine that pleases their itching ears (2 Tim. 4:3). They should no longer follow a great number of pastors who suit their own desires (Cf.: v. 3). They should have a pastor who proclaims the truth of God and wrestles with the truth he proclaimed (just like Jacob wrestles with an angel at the river Jabbok) as he seeks a truthful life. Like David, he sincerely confesses his foolish sin and wants to be disciplined by God's hand. They must worship God together with the determined pastor who truly loves the flock, and as a disciple of Jesus, pay the cost of worship with a willing heart. We must no longer yield to Satan's temptations!