What does a dead church look like?

Twenty five years ago, my family and I were part of a church that could only be described as our dream church. The worship was amazing. The preaching was good. The people were super friendly and we became friends with many of the families. We loved our pastor. What could possibly be wrong, you would ask yourself? 

But then one day the Lord gave me a message for the pastor that shook my world. I asked for confirmation and got it from the elders of the church. I called the pastor and told him I had a word for him, but that I wanted to give it to him in front of the elders. What came out of his mouth during that conversation, shocked me. He got angry at what I was suggesting and then  called me all sorts of names, including a false prophet. I had never seen this side of him in our years at this church. 

To make a long story short, I eventually gave him that message in front of the elders, and then watched in horror as the prophecy came to pass. Within 3 years the church was no more. It split and fell apart and the building we had rented was sold. The land lay fallow for about 7 years, becoming a barren wasteland and eventually, it was sold again and turned into a nursing home. The irony of it did not escape me. Needless to say, that pastor did not listen to what the Lord had told him to do.

So what was the message, you ask? It was very simple, actually. The Lord told me to tell the pastor to “let His Spirit be in control”. He told me to tell my pastor that the Lord was giving him a choice that day. Just as Moses gave Israel a choice in Deuteronomy 11:26-28, so He was giving my pastor a choice. Here was the choice: “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.” 

It took me years to come to grips with what happened. My kids were traumatized by the impact of the situation. I remember my son saying to me “hypocrisy is the hottest fire to go through, Mom”! Indeed.

Sadly, there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing in the church. The damage that they do to people is indescribable. We are left with so many questions. How? Why? What really happened? 

Even after 25 years I do not begin to fully understand how someone can get in a pulpit and act this way, but the Lord has given me some insight, which I would like to share here. 

Let me start with a scripture that only recently made sense to me. In Revelation 3:1 Jesus is talking to the church of Sardis. Here’s what He tells them: “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” Notice how Jesus describes himself in that passage. He has the seven spirits of God. Although not taught much, the Holy Spirit has seven attributes. Isaiah 11:2 describes the coming Messiah as having the following “resting” on Him: “The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. 

Second, notice that this church has a great reputation: it has a name for being alive! It no doubt has many wonderful ministries, perhaps several campuses, maybe numerous pastors and leaders taking care of the sheep. But Jesus calls this church dead! Ouch. How does that happen?

Let me ask you a question. What happens when someone dies? Does their spirit leave their body? Their heart stop beating? Have you ever heard of a dead person who still had their spirit? Seems like a dumb question, doesn’t it? When the spirit is gone, the person is dead. Are you beginning to see where this is going? When the Holy Spirit is gone from a church, that church is dead! But, (you might say), my church acknowledges the Holy Spirit! Yup, I’m sure they do. They acknowledge Him. 

Here’s another question for you. I’m making you think today. Why was the Holy Spirit given to the church? Never mind what you’ve been taught. Let’s look at what the Bible says. I will share only a small portion of the verses, scattered throughout the Bible that helps us to know the answer to this.

 Peter tells the crowd in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, that God said He would give us His spirit. I guess God thought it was a good idea? In Acts 2:17 Peter quotes the book of Joel: “’And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh.”

Ok, so God wanted to do it. But why? Was it only for the early church because they needed help getting the church off the ground, but we are so smart now, that we no longer need His help? Sounds silly when you put it like that, doesn’t it. But that kind of thinking would also explain a lot. Like why we think a church is alive and thriving, but Jesus thinks it’s dead.

So why did God send the Holy Spirit? Let’s look at some verses. Jesus tells the disciples in John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” Actually, the flesh does bring in profits, but not the kind Jesus is looking for. But I digress.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:9 the following: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

So what Paul is saying here is that if you don’t have the spirit of God dwelling in you, you don’t belong to Jesus. Why? Because you must be “born again”. (John 3:3)

Paul goes on in Romans 8 to tell us more things the Spirit does for us. In Verses 18-25 Paul tells us that the Spirit helps us to eagerly wait for the redemption of our bodies. The Spirit, in other words, gives us the desire to be with Jesus, as we eagerly await his coming. 

Romans 8:26 says this: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” In other words, the Spirit of God teaches us how to pray.

Here’s a good one: Romans 8:27 “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” The Holy Spirit, when He lives in us, searches our hearts so that He can make intercession for us, according to the will of God. That’s like built in flood insurance. He protects us because He knows us and prays for us. How wonderful is that”!

In 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul is telling the church that we can only begin to imagine the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. But, then he shares with them, that the Holy Spirit will reveal some of those things to us: “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” The Holy Spirit searches the mind of God and then teaches/shares those things with us, those who love Him. Does that blow your mind? It does mine!

In Ephesians 3:16, Paul encourages the church that the Holy Spirit will strengthen them with might or power, in the inner man! The word might is the Greek word dynamis, which means miracle working power. 

Hebrews 2 tells us that we should not neglect our own salvation, lest we “drift away” and that  “God also (bore) witness (of who Jesus really is) both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? The Holy Spirit gives us gifts, so that we can minister to others. 

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 to not be ignorant of the gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:4 says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit”. He then goes on to mention different gifts and that they were given to the church to edify us. Now again, let me ask you a question. What “gifts” do most churches desire in their congregation? I would suggest “gifts” such as greeting people, working in the nursery, serving coffee or communion, maybe singing on the worship team and no doubt others. All good “gifts”, necessary to run a good business. 

But if we look at the gifts that Paul describes, none of these “gifts” are mentioned. Here are the gifts that Paul mentions:  “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” Might I suggest that most of these gifts of the Spirit, or as Paul calls them, manifestation of the Spirit, are not welcome in your local church. Do you still believe that the church believes in the Holy Spirit? If they believed the Holy Spirit is God Almighty, do you not think they would allow Him to manifest Himself? 

What are we then left with, if we attend a church that does not allow the Holy Spirit to be in control? We are left with a dead church. When the church I attended all those years ago, split and died, it was really just revealing in the physical what had already happened in the spiritual. 

We cannot change other people, even those in leadership in our church. But, this we can do: we can make certain that we are born again, and that we are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. How? Ask. You have not because you ask not. Ask the Lord to fill you with His power. Ask Him to manifest His Spirit through you and to show you the gifts He has given to you, so that you can edify His body. It might just be the most important thing you ever do.