HINDERANCES IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
This page is dedicated to the Body of Christ. The purpose of this page is not for criticism of ministries or individual believers. It's to open the eyes of believers and show them possible reasons their church, ministry, or individual growth may be hindered, stagnant, or have declined. Then, they can repent and make the changes needed to move on.
On this page, I give some real life example of problems and things that have hindered churches and individuals. Of course, names aren't mentioned, that's confidential. The purpose of the examples isn't to identify or give a hint of the identity of parties involved. Examples are given, because sometimes real examples are needed for people to understand how things can be hindered. There may be people that are going thru a similiar situation that are blind to why they are having problems. This page is to help open peoples' eyes and give them answers to help them resolve or prevent hinderances.
On this page the following hinderances are dealt with:
1. Pride/Ego
2. Religious Tradition/Resisting Change
3. Unblanced Teaching/Teaching Taken To Extremes (i.e. prosperity, faith confessions, & excellence in ministry/helps)
4. Prejudice/Partiality
1. Pride/Ego
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18
Pride is the biggest reason a lot of churches, ministries, and individuals have stopped growing, declined or fell. Here are some of the attitudes or fruits of spiritual pride:
A. "Know It All"(Unteachable Spirit)
B. "Our Group Is 'It' In The Body of Christ"(or Prideful About One's Denomination/Affiliation)
3. Building Up A Ministry to Make A Name For Self (Losing the Focus of Ministry, minstering to others)
A. Know It All/Unteachable
"Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." 1 Corinthians 8:1
One thing we as believers need to watch out for is this "know it all" attitude, which leads to an unteachable spirit. We as believers can get so much knowledge and revelation of the Word and of the things of God, that if we don't watch it, we think we've got all of the answers and have God all figured out. This is putting God in a box. It's especially true for us Word of Faith believers. (I've even had to repent for this attitude.)
When one gets to a point they think they "know it all", they become unteachable. In other words, they are less open to fresh "rhema" revelation that is new to them. It's especially true if the revelation brings correction, or balance to something they've been taught or believe.
For example, there's been a lot of teaching in Word of Faith(WoF) circles about the goodness of God and the authority of the believer; when bad things happen, us WoF believers reject the teaching that says it's the judgement of God.
I used to feel the same way until I heard Perry Stone teach in a church in April 2005, a balanced sermon on judgement and about why the Tsunami happened. It was the best teaching I'd ever heard on the subject.
He teaches that God doesn't cause bad stuff to happen or allow it to happen. He taught that sin can open the door for Judgement to come. He said that shedding of innocent blood causes the land to be cursed (Cain & Abel) and same sex relationships causes cities to be cursed (Sodom & Gommorah). He has an excellent book about the Tsunami (he also has a CD on his website about Hurricane Katrina). He taught that the tsunami happened because that region of the world is where missionaries have been persecuted and matyred the most. A lot of innocent children perished in the tsunami. In those nations, most children are molested and abused by relatives and are raised in false religions. Those children were rescued out of abuse and went to heaven since they were below the age of accountability. There were a lot of testimonies that came out how almost all of the Christians were spared and many people converted to Jesus after the storm. Now the door has been opened to the gospel in those countries. I don't have the time to go into detail about what all he taught. My fiancee and I almost didn't go to that one service, but we were glad we did. We were surprised at how balanced it was and we know that most Word of Faith people wouldn't have a problem with it if they heard it. I suggest you get Perry's book. I'm going to get the Hurricane CD soon.
Everyone knows that New Orleans is a modern day Soddom and Gomorrah. The first thing people think about is Madi Grais. That's when all of the homosexuals and other immoral people parade down the streets of the French Quarter. Also, there is a lot of voodoo and occult people that live in New Orleans. My fiancee was listening to a talk radio program within a week of the storm. A caller called in and shared that the voodoo people were having a big conference when the Katrina was in the Gulf. They were chanting and meditating. They got into a demonic level they had never tapped into before and it scared them. They were asking for the devil to come and take them. It was right after that, Katrina took an unexpected turn that baffled everyone, even the weathermen.
I heard on the secular news that Katrina means "cleansing". I believe God didn't cause or allow Katrina to happen, but I do believe that the sin of the ungodly opened the door to judgement. Brother Hagin even prophesied that 2005 was the year of judgement. I believe what the devil meant for evil, God is turning it around for good. Many of the evacuees will see the goodness of God in the Christians reaching out to help them and take them in. I believe a great revival is going to come out of this. When the city is rebuilt, I believe a lot of the ungodliness that New Orleans is known for will be gone and it will be a godly city.
Of course, sin isn't the only reason bad things happen. Bad things happen because we live in a fallen world. Because of the fall of Adam, satan is the "god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4). One reason bad things happen is we as believers don't stand in the gap for others in prayer. Romans 8:26-28 tells us that the Holy Spirit helps us to pray in the Spirit when we don't know what to pray. As a result of interceding in prayer, IT'S THEN "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose"(v.28).
Romans 8:28 is one of the most misunderstood and taken out of context scriptures in the Bible. A lot of people use it to justify everything that happens in life, especially when bad things happen. When it's read in context with the rest of the chapter, one can see that it's talking about things that are prayed for in the Spirit work for good. A lot of times bad things happen because God looked for someone to stand in the gap in prayer and there was nobody there to pray in faith.
B. "Our Group Is 'It' In The Body of Christ"(or Prideful About One's Denomination/Affiliation)
Believers can get so prideful about what church, or denomination, or what group they're affliated with that they put up walls to the rest of the Body of Christ. It gets to a point they won't reach out nor listen to people in other circles in the Church. We're different parts, but one Body. We need the whole Body.
For example, us Word of Faith, or Pentecostal, or Charismatic believers can get to a point that because God's been moving in our circle that we think "we're 'it' in the Body of Christ" and that God isn't moving anywhere else in the Church. As a WoF believer, I've had to repent of this attitude. With this attitude, we put up walls in the Body and not receive ministry from other believers. It gets to a point that believers in a move of God start "camping" around their circle. As a result, God passes them by and has to raise up a new move of God. I know some WoF Pastors that won't have ministers outside WoF, or outside their WoF ministers organization, preach behind their pulpit. This ended up being one of the reasons their churches declined or disbanned.
Speaking of not listening to the rest of the Body, I got to a point in the late 90's that I wouldn't listen to a minister if they wasn't WoF, even if they were well known. I was continually listening to the same classic WoF subjects being taught over and over. In September 1999, I went to a weeklong Perry Stone campmeeting in my local area. I was amazed at how much knowledge he had of the Word and how much stuff he taught in the Word sounded like teaching that I thought only WoF people teach.
In the last few years, God is raising up a new generation of ministers. They're on the Word just as much (or more so) than the traditional WoF ministers. They can not only teach the Word but they can also PREACH the Word with firey preaching and they flow in the Spirit. It seems like the most anointed and powerful ministers right now in the Body are not WoF, but this new generaton of ministers like Perry Stone, Paula White, T.D. Jakes, and Juanita Bynum. And the Word they preach has a greater depth to it and makes our basic faith teaching seem elementary. Preaching is more powerful and anointed than teaching, especially if it's full of a lot of Word.
With this new generation of ministers, there are some in Word of Faith circles that can not only teach the Word but they can preach it and flow in the Spirit. Some examples are Zachary Tims (New Destiny Christian Center, Orlando FL), Ron Carpenter(Redemption World Outreach Center, Greenville SC), and Darlene Bishop (Solid Rock Church, Monroe OH).
3. Building Up A Ministry to Make A Name For Self (Losing the Focus of Ministry, minstering to others)
A lot of churches in various circles have declined because they got so full of pride or self that they became focused on building bigger ministries or making a name for themselves instead of being focused on ministering to the lost and needy. A lot of ministries get caught up in "keeping up with the Jones'" or keeping up with what other ministries, rather than doing what God called them to do. When Jesus came to this earth and ministered to people, he took on the nature of a servant. He came to serve and not to be served.
A lot of ministries and individual believers get ahead of God on stuff. Instead of going from point A to B to C etc...Z, they try to jump from point A to Z. They end up doing things their way instead of God's way. If you try to do things in the flesh, in the natural, instead of in the Spirit, you will eventually fall.
For example, there was a growing church of about 300-350 people that was needing a new building to grow. The church was renting another facility for the youth and children's church facilities. They were so powerful on the Word and had the best praise and worship around. It had the potential to become the first megachurch, or the first church of 1,000 or more, in its area. The church had went through two pieces of land that didn't work out. The church ended up buying a big 50,000 sq. ft. building with a parking lot on several acres of land that had been vacant for several years. The church originally found out that it would be cheaper to renovate the big building rather than build from the ground up. Plus, it was in one of the best locations in town.
Eventually, the building program became such a burden to the church. The church started focusing so much on the building and less on the ministry of the Word. The church was trying to act like a church that was several times bigger than itself or a church of thousands. One time, the Pastor "commended" (thanking or bragging to) the congregation for giving a bigger offering to a guest minister (from a church 3 times larger) than what his home church gives in offerings. Also, the Pastor on many occasions (before they had the big building)commended the congregation that they've been in unity in the building program and never been through a church spilt (which was true before the store building). He said that every other Pastor he's ever talk to that's been in a program has gone thru a split. At one time, there were about 11-12 people on paid staff in the church that were office staff or ministers. (That's a church that was WAY OVERSTAFFED! Most churches that have 3-4 times the members don't have that much staff. Again, an example of jumping from point A to Z and "keeping up with the Jones'es.)
As time went on, the church found out that the renovations where going to cost more than they could handle. There was a lot of pressure on the congregation to give to the building, even as far as putting members names on aloan. Gradually, many people started leaving the church. The loan payments were more than the church could handle. They even had a new large company in town lease part of the building out while they were building their own permanent building. Then, they church leased the same portion out to a new mainline denominational church that started and grew quickly.
The church that owned the big building found out that they could add on to their old building some youth/children's church facilities and still have enough parking if they could get the property rezoned. They eventually sold the store property. The Pastor eventually left to start another church in another state. The Associate Pastor took over. The church went from two Sunday morning services to one. For some reason, they ended up buying another piece of land, they are back to "square 1" after being in building program for at least 15 years. A couple of years after the new Pastor took over, the church has around 75 people in the main service (not counting children). They probably have around 100 people now.
There was a couple of laypeople, a woman and her husband, in the same congregation that had their own clothing and food bank ministry. They would collect donations from people in the church and the community. They would periodically drive to the poorest area of their state (at least 2 hrs. away) and give it to the poor. When the church had the big building property, the woman asked the first Pastor if they could have a food/clothing bank in the new building. He told her that they didn't have any room in the building for a food/clothing bank. They had plenty of room. They were only using 1/3 of the building for Kids Church and youth. The woman and her husband left the church after that.
Eventually, she ran into the 2nd Pastor, shortly after he took over. They were working with the mainline denominational church on a food bank for the community. The Pastor asked her if she would want to come back and help them with it. It would be the biggest food bank in the state. She said no. She told me that she didn't want to be a part of it because they were wanting to do it now just to make a name for themselves.
As one can see, Pride is a big hinderance in the Body of Christ. Spiritual growth is hindered by the "know it all", by the ones prideful about their affiliation, and by those that want to make a name for themselves.
1. Tradition/Resisting Change
Another hinderance in the Body of Christ is tradition or people that resist change. Even Jesus said that the traditions of men make the Word of God of none effect (Mark 7:13). The biggest traditions in the Church are wrong/traditional teaching and churches that don't want to change their services to relate to the current generation.
Traditional teaching is one of the biggest hinderances in the Body of Christ. People grow up or have heard a lot of traditional teaching that was based on religious cliches that people think are in the Word that are not or teaching based on scriptures that have been taken out of context, or from ignorance about a certain subject in the Word. For example, for many centuries, people in the church didn't believe in tongues, divine healing, or the goodness of God. Now it's widely accepted teaching. For more examples of tradtional teachings and sayings, check out the "Tearing Down Sacred Cows" page on this site.
People that are full of tradition strongly resist change in the church. For example, there was a church in an area that was the largest (around 450-500) that got a new pastor. This church is part of a denomination that is nortorious for being full of tradition and legalism. The church and the denomination has done away with a lot of legalism but some of the people still hold onto it. They got a new Pastor that was very firey and really on the Word. The church was in a revival period. God sent him there to make a lot of changes and bring it into what God's doing now. They got a new screen, projector, stage lights, and new sound equipment. They even started to take the hymn racks off the pews of one section.
Eventually, some traditional members in the church complained about the changes. The Pastor started compromising with the traditional crowd and it came to a counsel vote to put the hymn racks back on. Later, after the church started having contemporary christian concerts and a youth drama team that was very anointed. The church stopped having the concerts and the drama.
I HAVE A LOT MORE TO SHARE BUT I HAVE TO GO FOR NOW. THIS PAGE IS TO BE CONTINUED.....
This page was created on 3/30/06. Last updated 4/10/06.
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