Satan hates God and he hates God’s children. He also loathes the church, that network of believers that holds to God’s words and promises. In every generation in every century, he attacks both the content and authority of the Word of God, and he attacks church leaders who manage the outward gatherings with particular ferocity.

In the sixth and seventh centuries b.c., Satan had particularly significant success destroying the spiritual integrity of Judah’s religious leadership: “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” (Jeremiah 5:30,31). The priests and prophets failed miserably in their most important task: to safeguard the content and authority of God’s saving Word. Judah needed a reformation.

That same crisis became the platform for the great Protestant Reformation that erupted after 1517. The same two issues were at the heart: what has God said, and how do I know it’s true? Frankly, the church will always need reforming because Satan won’t leave us alone. He will attack Christ and Scripture in every generation, ours included, ours especially.

You are part of the solution. The church doesn’t belong to the clergy. It belongs to you, the people. Hold your “prophets and priests” accountable for their messages. Make sure that Christ is at the center and that the Scripture is held in the highest esteem as the inerrant and infallible Word of God himself.