BY WALT ALBRITTON
OPINION —
The church is one of Satan’s favorite playgrounds. He delights in getting church members to criticize one another rather than work together to fulfill God’s mission for the church. Jealousy and envy are tools Satan uses often to disrupt the fellowship of believers.
Alfred Kalembo’s life was almost destroyed by the jealousy of a fellow church member. Born in an obscure village in Zambia, Alfred had overcome poverty, secured an education crowned by a Doctor of Ministry degree and become a popular leader in the Pilgrim Wesleyan Church in Zambia.
In recognition of his leadership skills, he was elected in 2010 to serve a two-year term as the Presiding Bishop of the Pilgrim Wesleyan churches. Most people celebrated God’s amazing work in bringing a poor village boy to this prominent position. But not everyone celebrated what God had done. Satan was at work. Within a year one man, who served as a teller in the recent election, began spreading the allegation that Alfred had won the election by bribing him.
The rumor spread like wildfire throughout the church. Letters were circulated that maligned Alfred’s character. Alfred’s conscience was clear, knowing he had never bribed anyone. But he was so deeply hurt by this vicious allegation that he began to wonder, “Is it worth it all?”
A very objective and supportive National Board of Administration investigated the charge against Alfred and concluded that the allegations were baseless. They cleared his name, allowing him to run for a four-year term during the 2012 National Conference.
As the conference date approached the intensity of allegations increased. Alfred said, “Though it was painful, deep down in my heart I was at peace because I knew the allegation was baseless. But on the first day of the conference, a prominent and respected member of the church, who had believed the allegations, called me and said bluntly, ‘We will not allow you to do again what you did at the 2010 national conference. Be assured that I will be in attendance and I will speak out.’ I assured the member that it was his democratic right to speak at the conference and I guaranteed his protection to speak.”
Anxious and discouraged, Alfred went to the conference “feeling I was going to be crucified.” Once again he was asking himself the question, “Is it worth all this?”
The conference convened. The nervous bishop read his report. As soon as he finished, someone raised his hand to speak. It was the person who had called him with the ominous warning.
“My heart was racing,” Alfred said, “but I asked the chair to give that member an opportunity to speak. The member stood and said, ‘Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak first. This is an excellent report and I move its adoption.’ I was breathless; you could have knocked me over with a feather!”
The entire conference applauded and stood in appreciation of Alfred’s report which was adopted without any further discussion, and he was re-elected for a four-year term.
Two weeks later Alfred was elected President of the Council of Churches in Zambia, a body composed of 19 denominations. This would give Alfred the privilege of speaking out on national issues and offering guidance to the government of the day. Two years later he would have the honor of delivering the eulogy at the funeral for the president of his nation.
Alfred served his church and his nation well. He is retired now from the prominent positions he once held. Now he serves as pastor of a growing church he says God built in a poverty-stricken area of Lusaka, Zambia’s capitol. He says, “We built this church for the next generation, and hundreds of college students are coming, asking to be trained to lead others into the fullness of life God desires for all people.”
Reflecting back on Satan’s use of another person’s jealousy to trash his reputation, Alfred says, “Yes, those were difficult days when I began asking, ‘Is it worth it all?’ But over and over again God surprised me with his grace. He kept teaching me that his grace really was sufficient for all my needs. So today, I can say, with joy and gratitude, it was indeed worth it all!”
Satan is relentless. He constantly works to destroy our relationships and our confidence in God. But ultimately Satan is no match for King Jesus who is forever surprising us with the grace to overcome the evil one!
