Rebellion is nothing new in ministry. Every church has seen it's share and just about every Pastor/Leader has had to deal with it firsthand. Rebellion becomes all to obvious when someone decides, by their own council, to go off and do their own thing, or leaders who speak against their spiritual covering, or just plain lazy leaders who don't do what they are supposed to. These are all examples of rebellion.
How does rebellion show up? Another way to ask that question is, where does it come from? Now that it's manifested, what do you do about it? Can it be prevented from showing up again?
Rebellion usually surfaces when someone rejects authority. Remember, all authority comes from God. So, if rebellion shows up while under authority, the bottom line is it's a rebellion against God. Satan led the rebellion in heaven, attempting to overthrow God from His position. (Isaiah 14:12-14)
One third of the angels in Heaven joined his effort. Needless to say, it wasn't successful and Satan lost his place. (Luke 10:18)
Rebellion has been around a long time. It is difficult to destroy especially after it takes root in the heart. Satan shot the arrow of rebellion into the heart of Adam and Eve till infectiously spread through their mind that they felt they were justified to disobey God's command. (Not to partake of one tree in the garden.)
Satan was successful and man came under the curse of disobedience from that point forward. We continue to deal with a rebellious spirit today...even in the church.
We grow up rebellious because we have seen it modeled everywhere. Children are rebellious because their parents are rebellious. Parents are rebellious because their leaders are rebellious. Leaders are rebellious because their pastors are rebellious. It passes from one generation to the next till it's assumed to be "normal." We even expect our teens to rebel. Why? Because we have become accustomed to it.
The Scripture tells us in Proverbs 22:6 to "train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - nowhere in this verse does the Scripture speak of rebellion. It says "he will not depart from it."
I know that many of you have had to deal with rebellion in your homes. But it not only takes place in the home, it can even take place in the church. Some churches aren't birthed by a "mother church" they are birthed out of rebellion.
It's not the new convert or even the halfway in or out Christian that causes church splits. It's ALWAYS the leader who becomes disgruntled with the pastor or the leadership and rebellion begins to run it's course.
Where did we begin believing that rebellion and strife now take the place of submission and forgiveness? When a person becomes rebellious, they will ALWAYS try to get other people to join with them in agreeing. They do so to rationalize their behavior and convince others of their cause.
Thus, we have church splits because of one single seed of rebellion that was allowed to grow and mature in the heart of a leader. The result...a harvest of rebellion.
As a pastor, I make no excuse for being aware of what the leaders in our church are doing and saying. If their heart begins to manifest in hints of rebellion, it must be dealt with immediately before it takes full bloom. Rebellion is easy to stop when it is in it's early stages, but the longer you wait to stop it, the harder a work it is to change that person's heart.
What do you do?
First, begin by examining your heart. Where did this root of rebellion come from? Repent of the rebellion. There must be a restoration of relationship for true healing to take place.
Second, break the curse of rebellion over your life. Declare that no more rebellion will be allowed in your life nor in your family's life.
Breaking this curse is essential if you are to move forward in healthy leadership or ministry. If you're reading this today and are questioning whether or not you have rebellion in your heart, do yourself a favor and destroy the rebellion now!
