David Bahn – Reflections

Light from the Word and through the lens

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In 1968 Jerry Snell opened a door in the hallway outside our first hour chemistry class. He invited me into what I discovered was a darkroom. Soon I was on the school newspaper and annual staff as a photographer. Later I learned that Jerry was a Lutheran who was planning to become a pastor. A few years later I was not only a Lutheran, but I was heading off to seminary to become a Lutheran pastor, too. Jerry followed a year later and served as a pastor in Missouri until his untimely heart attack and death. I thank God for Jerry and enjoy photography still today – not to mention rejoicing in having served as a Lutheran pastor in congregations in Utah, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas. I’ve retired now and serve part time as a Congregational Support Specialist for the Texas District of the LCMS. I also provide coaching and leadership training through various PLI cohorts and with individual congregations and organizations. David Bahn is a follower of Jesus Christ, husband to Diane, father and grandfather. He is an avid amateur photographer. His photo website is “Flowers by God Photos by David” He also publishes a devotional blog DavidBahn-Reflections.com. He and Diane live in Cypress Texas and enjoy visiting their grandchildren who live in the United States and Germany. He graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in 1979, and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1991. Diane, his wife, is now retired from PLI (PLIleadership.org). They have offered presentations on Marriage and Ministry Partnership, Leadership, Changing Your Congregation’s Culture, and Missional Living. They look are working with PLI International training pastors and wives of the ELVD Diocese of the Lutheran Church of Tanzania. David’s personal mission statement is “Leading people to realize Jesus’ calling and plans for their lives.”

Mark 3:20-34

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And [Jesus] called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.Then indeed he may plunder his house.

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What do you hope happens when your two biggest competitors launch a smear campaign against one another? Who do you root for when the two teams ahead of your team square off? What if radical Islamists declare war on North Korea, or Iran declares war against Hezbollah? You might wish that somehow both sides lose. Jesus says that kingdoms divided against themselves cannot stand.

Evil itself is such a self-divided kingdom. It will not stand. By its very nature evil cannot support its own weight. The lack of moral, ethical, and social standards and decent behavior insures evil’s demise. But this seldom happens quickly. In the face of its own inevitable self-destruction, evil pursues it’s terrible goals. The fallout of evil’s ploys reaches into the lives of the godly, for there is a champion of evil still in this world. Make no mistake, though evil and ultimately doomed, Satan is no weakling. He is the strong man who comes into people’s lives to steel, kill, and destroy.

Jesus’ will bind Satan, however, and plunder his house. He will do this by means of faithfulness, love, and sacrifice. The purity of Jesus’ life, actions and motives, coupled with his love for God and neighbor, and his atoning sacrifice on the cross all combine to bind Satan. Evil has no foothold with Jesus. There is nothing to co-opt in his life or being. The ruse of evil is undone by the purity of Jesus’ life and being. This is our true hope and it is found in Jesus alone.

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