Mega Churches
Faithful and good pastors or not, in the beginning, most every person called of God to the ministry are sincere, (every believer is called to the ministry, only these folks think they are special, and “full-time,” “separated out,” “unconteminatable,” “clean/holy hands,” “won’t work for their keeps,” “only the Lord is their boss.”) unless their calls are clouded by the desire to emigrate to the US or any other “better” country. (So what!!? Shouldn’t everybody aim higher to develop their careers?) Otherwise they would start humbly ministering (serving as a servant) with their God given gifts, if any. (God will equip those whom He calls, full time or not, this doesn’t mean anyone who is a failure in real life should feel the holy call of God to full-time ministry, Paul made tents, Jesus worked as a carpenter till He was 30 Yrs old)
Soon after they started their “career,” God uses them truly to win souls. (Of course He would, if you place yourself in the stream of God’s grace, you will see how God saves souls. That doesn’t mean you have done it all by yourself.) They begin to grow a bigger gathering. (church) With their God given/trained skills/gifts, they will soon think that the gift is theirs to own. Soon they will use “management”, “marketing” techniques to grow their church, (gathering) and soon the “gathering” (church) becomes a Super-Shopping Mall church with all the bells and whistles. (Shows, DVD’s, TV ministry, great musicals, concerts, crusades and etc.) They even start to think that they are superstars for God. God made them superstars who call all the shots.
The unsuspecting church (followers) will then start to rely on these “servants” for their “spiritual” feeding. Won’t leave the church for any reason. And soon these followers begin to feel that they belong/own the church too, just like their pastors. They begin to feel that they are part of the church organization. (“It is a great church! And we are proud of it.”) They begin to want to control the pastor for democracy’s sake. They soon found out that they can’t stand up for the truth to correct/discipline the pastors. They can’t dialogue with the pastor either. No more check and balance exists because the pastors claim to be “called” by God and responsible to nobody but God. Soon they will, though reluctantly, become the spiritually conquered (fans) and can’t live their “spiritual” lives without the church and their pastors (“slave-masters.”) This is called pathetic spiritual symbiosis. (The author’s own new term.)
The pastors (humble ministers/servants) then become convicted that God is making them great for a divine purpose, and “no one can take the ministry away” from them. (Actual first hand quotation from the “senior” pastor of a medium size church of 1,600 members in N. California.) As a matter of fact, they feel so free that they forgot the fact that they are merely servants and perhaps channels of God’s grace. God is doing the work. They reap the harvest. They even harbor ungodly control practices …… Why not? Many are saved!! (Spiritually enslaved/dependent) The end always justifies the means. This is what they called “collective salvation.” – Obama’s theology) They must protect God’s kingdom. The end is that they would become Jim Joneses and the followers would drink the “Kool-Aids.” .. . ..
Is that what usually happens?
I Corinthians 9:27 “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
I Corinthians 9:16-18 “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a …dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.”
I Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” Romans 2:2 “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things”