The Pentecostal Problem

I will never forget my most uncomfortable moment in a church service.

In the middle of an evening prayer service I felt as if my body was on fire as a since of dread and fear over came me. What had begun as a normal service praying for our community and families took a turn when 2 key leaders in the church gave what is known in Pentecostal services as a "message and interpretation" from the Holy Spirit. A message came forth regarding business dealings that had been pushed through even though the church could not afford the proposed plan. Something struck me wrong about the exchange. I felt like I needed to get away quickly out of fear for the sure retribution that would come over false prophecy. I looked at my then-boyfriend and said, "it's time to go."

I had for some time felt uncomfortable in that church (this was not the denomination in which I now hold my license). These "messages" had become common and predictable. They always came from the same 2 leaders. They always spoke words that benefited those leaders. They were always followed up with the instruction that "this is perfectly in order". No one else seemed to be bothered in the large congregation, as each message was met with claps and shouts of "HALLELUJAH!"

After my last service there, the business the church had conducted after many prophecies that it would lead to an explosion in attendance turned out to be a risk that did not pay off. Soon discrepancies were revealed in the handling of monies and guess who seemed to be at the helm-the 2 who claimed to speak for the Spirit. Anger grew within the congregation over secrecy and misappropriations and now the attendance that was guaranteed to grow into the thousands is dwindling.

I don't say any of this with a happy heart. This is not an "I told you so" moment. A threat to the integrity of ministers anywhere is a threat to ministers everywhere.

I share this because we seem to have a major discernment issue in the Pentecostal church. What if everyone in that congregation recognized the manipulation of the Spirit in the beginning? What misdeeds could have been avoided?

How can it be that churches occupied by members claiming to be Spirit-filled don't notice an impostor of the God inside of them?

I submit to you that we have 2 major issues that allow this to happen:

1.) We desire God's Presence, but not His Word.

Imagine that when you opened this blog you found ideas and words that don't sound like my normal writings. Those who have read faithfully know my tone and my convictions. You would know that someone had hacked my account. So it is when God speaks to us. If we have studied His Words, we will know His thoughts. How can we expect to recognize His Voice if we don't know the way He speaks?

Growing up around Spirit-filled churches there have been countless times when I have heard members excitedly say "church was so good Sunday, the preacher didn't even get to preach!" That phrase pretty well sums up this point. We view an outpouring of the Spirit as a replacement for the Bible, which He is not. Many Spirit-filled congregations have all but abandoned Sunday School and Bible Studies as our pastors build their entire sermons around "good advice for living" instead of Bible truths.

My greatest fear for the Pentecostal church is that we have traded Scripture for shivers and our pastors have gone from anointed ministers to advice columnists. In these days in which false prophets run rampant, we must know God's Word for ourselves.

2.) We constantly pray for God to "meet with us" but not to "dwell in us".

Pentecostals tend to live as spiritual mountaineers. Meeting times are our mountaintops where we meet with God. We sing about it. We pray about it. The problem is that the Holy Spirit wasn't meant to "show up and show out". He was meant to fill us and empower us day to day. When we treat the Spirit as a once a week meal, our perceived "hunger" is actually "starvation".

The problem with Spiritual starvation is that we settle for anything and call it a message from above. We are so desperate to hear from God that we don't bother to discern the spirits that are speaking. We would rather blindly accept every word than to ask the Holy Spirit to help us know His voice.

Until He truly dwells in us, we will continue to be deceived.

Lord, help us to know that the Spirit is not something to be used and abused to get what we want. Keep our leaders faithful to you. Let them not use their influence for selfish gain. Fill our congregations with men, women, AND children who hunger for You and Your Word. Keep us accountable to You and to one another as we strive to be the bride You intend for us to be.