There is a growing segment of the US population who love God with all their heart, soul mind and strength but have walked away from established “church” as we know it. They have tired of programs, building projects and activities that have brought together a crowd, but in their mind has not created an atmosphere where their giftings and callings could be released.
Somewhere along the lines we have allowed ourselves to become a one man, at the most two man (or woman) show; where all the preaching, praying, prophesying, worshiping, laying on of hands are done by one or two people, paid by the church. And at the end of the day we’ve gone home totally exhausted by our activity yet with a gnawing feeling in our hearts that maybe we are not exactly seeing happen everything God intended for His children to see!
I have always believed in the five-fold ministry! My Baptist heritage has taught me to “rightly divide the Word of truth…”, and that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever! It wasn’t until I became a member of a Pentecostal fellowship, that all of a sudden there was this upheaval about whether some of these office gifts are really for today or not!
I am afraid we have wanted to be accepted so much by our cessationist brothers, that subliminally, we have accepted the argument maybe some of what’s in the Bible is NOT for today!
I still believe there are apostles and prophets today! But I also want to stress, not everyone who has apostle and prophet on their business cards are one! Most of them I know don’t make a big deal about the title; they simply function in the office and let God show the fruit of it!
Back to my point: I too (like some of you) have complained about these missing in action, scratched my head and said what did I do wrong or what have we done wrong…but I am sensing today, satan is using some of this to cut off the flow of the Holy Spirit He is wanting to flow through the earth today!
I will be the first to admit, there are some people who are simply rebellious and they frankly are never going to accept anyone but themselves as being the one true voice of God on the earth! But also know some preachers and some churches though that think the anointing and the move of God on the earth begins and ends with them! If you are outside their little clique you are simply ignorant or better yet going to hell on the Vaseline slide!
But many are not rebellious, contentious and divisive, they simply are looking for a place where Christ is exalted and they can allow their giftings and callings to be celebrated and not simply tolerated!
I also believe the New Testament makes room for those of us who feel called by God to be (I hate to use this term) professional clergy or (a better term) full time ministers. But somewhere along the lines we have got to stop cursing the darkness and bashing our MIA’s and ask the hard questions…are people with different giftings and callings and anointings really welcome in our church? Are they really welcome in our denominations?
Are we willing to make room for them?
Are we willing to allow the Holy Spirit to move in such a way that someone else besides the paid pastor may have a word from the Lord today?
Before any of my preacher friends write me and say I’m spreading rebellion, please understand, I am totally convinced this must under the leadership and direction of the set pastoral gift in the House. God has set the pastoral gift to shepherd the local flock of God. But we as the shepherds must mature to the place where we don’t become threatened by those God may be raising up to do a mighty work for Him in our midst!
We do cry out for revival, and I believe I am living to see it!
We do need to be relevant to the culture in which we are living in today!
More than anything, we need a revolution that will bring us further into the Divine Order of God!
Technorati Tags: apostles and prophets, Traditional church vs. Contemporary Church, church revolution, revival, why people leave church
It doesn’t sound like you’re spreading rebellion to me, but I’m not sure I understand exactly what it is you are proposing. I think I see a passion for something more akin to early Pentecost, where everyone was welcome and anyone could be active. Something more nearly approaching the model of 1 Corinthians 14. Help me understand.
Somewhere our services have become so tightly structured (in most places) if the gifts of th Spirit wanted to flow, there wouldn’t be time or space allotted for Him to move…one of the things I believe we have lost as a Pentecostal movement is waiting on the Lord…tarrying when we know His presence is there…and allowing the free flow of the gifts. I realize this IS happening in some places…but in most they are not. I sense this is part of the reason we have so many MIA’s
Again, some are simply rebellious and will never allow anyone to pastor them: they wouldn’t let Jesus do it if He was on the earth! But I am meeting a growing segment everywhere I go that fit into this category.
David,
I have seen the “one man show” have many different appearances. It isn’t only at the altar praying for people, it is also seen with decisions that are made on how ministries are run.
I agree about the need to be under the authority of the “set man,” but if the set man (or woman) strangles the life out of the people under them, by micromanaging and making all their decisions for them, it becomes debilitating, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit become quenched.
People need to have the liberty to make mistakes so they can develop. They need their parent to release them to walk on their own.
Let me take a chance here and be unshielded. I am an A/G pastor, and I generally don’t like what I see as the paradigm for being so. We are now told we are vision-casters, entrepreneurs, dream makers, CEO’s, etc. I can’t embrace all that, it isn’t scriptural! I am shepherd, I take care of sheep! I’m an overseer, but I’m not a dictator, guru, sage, or seer. I’ve told the folk at our church, where we go, we’re going together or not at all. My joy and desire is to see folk connect to God, each other, and the Spirit in and upon them. I want them to be inspired, not by my eloquance, but by the Spirit of God. When they are moved upon, I try to move beside them (or even behind them!). I want them to take “faith-chances,” to move with what might be the Spirit, so they grow in discernment and sensitivity. I feel alone in this. Am I missing something that the scripture teaches?
David,
Excellent post. But it poses some greater, even more difficult questions. I believe in the local church. It is a sad testimony that someone has to even state that these days. But I do believe in the large corporate meeting. However, I also believe in the home church model. The greatest problem with the home church movement in America is that it’s most vocal proponents are bitter about the very things you point out in this post.
As much as we hate to admit it, the early church was run by a committee. But the committee was not a bunch of lay people with an axe to grind. It was a bunch of people who were supported by the church and wanted nothing more than to hear God and see the Gospel spread. These are the true elders. And there are few pastors in the country who would not gladly welcome a board filled with these type of men. But men of that character are making their millions today, they are not leading the church and they are not imparting wisdom into tomorrows radical visionaries. In turn, those radical visionaries leave.
So now, we have people who have faith in Jesus, want to see the Church in action, want to be involved in ministry, but have not found a man whose vision they could get “under” and in turn they are scattered. I know plenty of them. And they are jaded. Some are rebellious no doubt.
But the most are people who, because of gifting and calling, don’t fit in the model of church that calls people to come, sit, tithe, listen, and go home. The feel called to leadership within the church but don’t connect with what they see.
The church has to make a place for this part of the Body to be joined and function.
The home church movement is stirring the pot with their questioning of church structure, government and even mission. These are valid questions that should more than the label of rebellious. Besides, most of these types that you describe are in fact rebellion against the traditions of man that make the Word of God of no effect.
Excellent posts from everyone!
I to have been associated with the AG for the last 20 years now. I am disturbed by the trends that I see and the pressure I see so many other pastor laboring under…the pressure to be the next mega church! Please know I am not against Biblical structure, nor am I rebellious against God given Authority…we have all been burned by those “legions in their own minds” who think they are the only voice of God for people who are a part of their church. I also believe in the corporate church environment as well as the home church model as Carl does…what can we do to address these issues and let God weed out the rebellious, but bring those who are truly crying out to God to be used by Him, how can we get them into a life-giving corporate body?
“what can we do to address these issues and let God weed out the rebellious, but bring those who are truly crying out to God to be used by Him, how can we get them into a life-giving corporate body? ”
That is a very good question!
What a great conversation! Thanks all of you and especially David for starting it.
I really do see a place for the traditional church structure and that is where I participate. It still works in those churches where the pastor is concerned like SLW in providing for the spiritual growth of those in his care. Unfortunately there are some ‘pastors’ who are dictators and end up with a one man show, and the congregation seems to be designed to meet their needs rather than the sheep.
I also believe that the Home Church movement is a valid move of God in many but not all cases. I just wish those involved didn’t feel it necessary to be critical of more traditional structures. Also, I wish that those of us in regular churches didn’t consider all those who found a place in Home churches to be necessarily ‘rebellious’. May God bless us all whether he places us in a regular congregation or in a Home church.
Here is the great equalizer that I would like to see come into our churches: When the Shekinah glory of God falls on a place, the Pastors and everyone else are flat on their faces, Everyone is in the same condition and equally undone and changed. Now that would really shake things up and maybe even end up changing some of the old ‘wine skins’ that we are stuck in.
You know with all the blind searching going on these days, groveling to find the solution that will fix the church that so many see on the virge of implosion, it really gets back to that Shekinah glory. I knew it so well in my younger days, but the sense and clarity of it has dissipated through the years of keeping things going. Ichibod was written over things, and I haven’t had the eyes to see it, or maybe I’ve learned to speak Churchese so well I couldn’t read it. Maybe the writing on the wall was slow in taking form, but that it, that’s what’s missing: the sensible, awe-inspiring, shut my mouth, even visible, smoky Shekinah glory of God! We’re just hollow spaces filled with arguing men without it. Thanks Michael, you have sparked something in me, something I haven’t sensed in a long time. God visit us again!
David,
Great Post! I dont think I could have said it better. I believe in the church world, so many are threatened by the gifts of others that man limits Ephesians 4:11 - 12 from being in operation. Me being a pastor, my heart is to see others discover their gifts and operate in their giftings… however, as most of us have been, I have been in places and associated with places that you only dared to operate in the gifts of The Spirit. Even in our fellowship, AG, it is time we recognize that God is much bigger than any man or individual church. It is time we step aside and let God, It is time we understand that it is going to take the ENTIRE body of CHRIST operating in UNITY to please God in these last days…
Love you man, Looking forward to speaking to you and seeing you again…
Eric
BRO.DAVID,
I’AM ONE WHO IS MISSING IN ACTION..PRAY MY STRENGTH IN THE LORD.. I FEEL LIKE THERE IS NO PLACE FOR ME HERE ON THIS WHOLE EARTH.. ALL I EVER WANTED TO DO WAS SERVE HIM, AND PLEASE HIM IN DOING HIS WILL FOR MY LIFE..
BUT INSTEAD, I HAVE BEEN MET WITH HATEFUL, SMART MOUTHED CHRISTIANS WHO CAN NOT EVEN WORK OUT THEIR OWN SOUL SALVATION, BUT WILL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT YOURS..
I FEEL I HAVE NO PASTOR TO LOVE ME, AND HELP ME BECOME ALL THAT GOD DESIRES FOR ME TO BE..NOBODY TO TURN TO, NOBODY TO CARE..NOBODY TO TRUST ANYMORE..
IT IS OK TO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND ANOTHERS GIFTS & TALENTS, BUT TO SHUN THEM BECAUSE OF OUR OWN IGNORANCE IS BAD.. I HAVE GONE FROM BEING ONE WHO WAS ON-FIRE FOR GOD, AND ZEALOUS TO DO HIS WILL.. TO ONE WHO HAS ASKED GOD TO PREPARE ME , SO HE CAN TAKE ME HOME..I DON’T EVEN WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE..
I GOT TO WHERE I DREADED TO GO TO CHURCH, BECAUSE I KNEW WHAT I WAS GOING TO BE MET WITH ONCE I GOT THERE..AND I HAD TO STAY PRAYED UP JUST TO MAKE IT THRU “JUST ONE MORE SERVICE”..IN WHICH I USUALLY LEFT CRYING OR UPSET..
I KNOW FULL WELL WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE REJECTED, AND TO NOT BE APART OF THE CLIQUE OR GROUP OF FRIENDS OR WHATEVER.. AND I REALLY DO NOT WANT TO BE APART OF ANYTHING THAT GOD IS NOT IN..
BUT WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS BROKEN HEART THAT I HAVE?.. WHEN WILL GOD MAKE A WAY FOR ME?..WHEN WILL THE HURTING STOP?..I MISS GOD’S ANOINTING FLOWING IN MY LIFE, AND HIM USING ME..BUT I DON’T WANT TO GO TO CHURCH JUST TO SIT THERE AND DIE.. AND THAT IS WHAT I WAS DOING..DYING..
I WANT TO LIVE, I WANT GOD TO FLOW THRU ME, AND ME IN HIM.. I WANT TO FEEL MY PASSION AND ZEAL RETURN TO MY SPIRITUAL LIFE, AND EVERYDAY LIFE..
WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?..
I CAN’T MAKE ANYONE LOVE ME OR ACCEPT ME.. AND I CAN’T NOT TOUCH THE HEART OF A PASTOR TO COVER ME, AND PASTOR ME AND LOVE ME IF HE/SHE DOES NOT HAVE IT IN THEIR HEART TO DO SO..
SINCERELY, MISSING IN ACTION