"Christ was not interested in himself, but in his Father and his Father's children. He did not care to hear himself called good. It was not of consequence to him. He was there to let men see the goodness of the Father in whom he glorified."
~ George MacDonald, "The Way", Unspoken Sermons, Volume 2
You shall devote all your service to God’s work of uniting people in love and care for each other here on earth; and in this you will have strength.
Be patient in afflictions, for you shall have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with you, even unto the end of your days.
“The word ‘church’ (Hebrew qahal or edah; Greek ekklesia) had a slightly broader meaning anciently than it does now. It referred to an assembly, congregation, or association of people who bonded together and shared the same loyalties. Thus, the term was not necessarily restricted to religious associations; in fact, in Athens the Greeks used the term to denote the legislative assembly of government.
“Originally, the term ekklesia, formed from two words meaning call and out, referred to those citizens whom heralds called out or summoned to public meetings. Thus, it was an ideal word to represent the body of individuals whom God “calls out” of the world through the Holy Ghost. The civil dimension of the word appears in Acts 19:32, where assembly in the KJV is a translation of the Greek ekklesia.”
“The term abominable is used in the Old Testament to describe what God hates, what cannot fail to arouse his wrath.”
“ When we put all this together, we find that the term ‘great and abominable church’ means an immense assembly or association of people bound together by their loyalty to that which God hates.”
~ Stephen Robinson, “Warring Against the Saints”, Ensign, January 1988
“Our...enemy is wickedness—those who love darkness more than light and who serve the evil one. Those who attack other [religious denominations] violate the Lord’s command, as stated in this verse [Doctrine and Covenants 18:20]...In fact thy run a great risk that by adopting Satan’s methodology—in this case, argument and contention—they may themselves become members of the ‘church of the devil’”
~ Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett, A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, p. 107, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 2000
“For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.” ~ 3rd Nephi 11:29-30
There is, in scripture, permission given to contend with “the 'church' of the devil” ( Doctrine and Covenants 18:20). Tellingly, that verse is bracketed clearly with the declaration that without faith, hope and charity you can do nothing (verse 19) and the admonition to speak the truth with soberness (verse 21)).
The bracketing verses clearly indicate that this contending against evil that is allowed is one that eschews any involvement in the sin of contention, but manifests itself instead by its truth speaking that is aimed at those who, like the devil, love to and rejoice in harming, denigrating and hating others of God’s children (Moses 7:29-34). And those verses clearly indicate that God requires that such truth speaking on our part be fully grounded in faith, hope and love, and delivered in self-restrained and profound seriousness.
It seems that no matter what your cause, nor what evil organization or group you are contending against, when you embrace or indulge in anger and contention you lose your alignment with God.
