10. Testing the practices of the 20th Century Mega Church – Bigger is Better
The 21st Century Church has a humanist view of BIGGER IS BETTER. A slightly tweaked Christian view may be stated as, “When something is big, it is more anointed by God.”
As a Christian we want the whole world to be saved. But on an individual or local church level, big is not better and in many ways, big meetings are not a common New Testament practice. I am not against conferences and big meetings since “BIG” is a subjective term.
Humans put more value upon “more.” But we know (Luke 15:6-7) all of heaven rejoices when one person is saved. At IHOPKC, I personally saw main leaders not excited about stories of one or two people being saved. Their focus was on the BIG things that they hoped would happen. How Sad to not be excited about the miracle of God saving the “one.” I have witnessed hundreds of people as they prayed the sinners prayer and it still amazes me how good God is. And it is always ONE person, confessing their need for God.
A similar focus was that “It is better to have more people in the prayer room, so those watching would SEE the room full.” This was based in valuing human perspectives more than valuing God’s perspectives. Special offerings were taken to keep certain Time Slots filled and the Staff was paid extra. No one challenged this concept of staffing “more” in the room for the people who were watching.
When your mind is renewed by the Holy Spirit, you should pray and encourage everyone to follow Jesus. You should not be in the prayer room, unless God is leading you to be there. In the Kingdom of God, all Jesus’ followers do what Jesus wants. Not what the norm is in their local groups. And they should be encouraged to do this by New Testament Servant leaders.
At IHOPKC people were exhorted to “be in the prayer room” when God did not want them to be there. There are many reasons to NOT be in the prayer room. I have seen people sleeping, watching videos, and doing almost everything but worshipping and praying in the prayer room. But their body was there, so the world could see… SAD.
Except for people in recovery that cannot lead normal balanced lives and need to isolate themselves from normal life temptations – everyone else should ask God and do what God says, when it comes to attending MEETINGS.
Many sincere believers at IHOPKC were motivated by the spirit of condemnation (demons.) “You are not doing enough.” You haven’t spent enough time in the Prayer Room,” were demonic thoughts of condemnation. No one NOT going to a meeting should EVER accept a spirit of condemnation.
Romans 8:1-2 is what all Christians should believe …. there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Mike taught, “It is better to be in the prayer room, so you won’t have the opportunity to sin.” Our overcoming sin is described in the New Testament with the Holy Spirit as the key and not our physical circumstances or the physical place you are in.
Obviously, when dealing with addictive behaviors there are places that a person should avoid. But this doctrine is humanistic or worse a religious spirit and does not help anyone overcome sin. In fact, an off balance lifestyle, that does not follow the Bible’s instructions for all areas of life - opens the door to MORE temptations - not less.
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