Territory (5) Two obstacles

Some prophetic leaders are calling for a new vision and new strategy for the church to receive the Kingdom, but it seems to be stuck on two obstacles that it will not give up. Two aspects of church structure seem to be untouchable, but they limit the ability of the Holy Spirit to move.

• Leadership by a single professional leader
  This person is usually called the Senior Pastor, but they sometimes take the title Apostle. They are often supported by various professional assistants, including worship leader, youth leader, assistant pastor, etc. If the church has elders, they are subservient to this Senior Pastor.

• Sunday Meeting in a Church Building
  Everyone in the church is focused on getting as many people together as possible. The focus of the meeting is worship, often led by worship leader and worship team while everyone else responds passively. A sermon by the Pastor Leader is the second important element of the meeting. He tells the people what the Holy Spirit is saying Much of the ministry of the church happens at the front of the meeting. Most of the members of the church are trained to sit passively and watch the pastor and his team perform. There might be various small groups, but they are temporary, and subservient to the Sunday meeting. The meeting is called “church” because people consider it to be the church.

These two obstacles hang together. A pastor-leader cannot relate to a thousand or more people, so the only way that he can connect with all his flock is to bring them together in a large meeting. Maintaining a professional leader and his team is expensive, so gathering a big group of people is the only way to fund this structure.

If we do not willingly give up these obstacles, we will not get the new wineskin the Holy Spirit is calling for. Without that new wineskin, we will not be able to take spiritual control of territory and receive the Kingdom of God that wants to bring to us.