Megachurches
- Thread starter Godspell
- Start date
I used to go to a 15,000-member church and I didn't like it at all. The Holy Spirit was never invited to participate. In fact, the last straw was Easter service when they played videos of those members that had "fallen sleep" and never ONCE speak of the resurrection. It was a disaster. The entire reason for the season was lost... very sad...
Megachurches are an abomination.
They are the merging of the fellowship with Mammon.
They exude heresy.
I attended a Southern Baptist megachurch for quite some time. In fact, it was the first church that I really got involved in and it led to my after-infant-Catholic baptism; basically my true salvation. The nice thing about a megachurch (or at least this one) is that they always have something going on. Like from 5 A.M. until 11 PM. the place was open and had some sort of service, class, or group, or meeting, or... In fact, I've just recently decided to stop going to one of my churches on a regular basis (I've been attending two for a bit now) partly due to the fact that they don't offer any sort of groups or anything outside of Sunday service. Sorry, but I want more LORD and fellowship in my life.
For one to say ALL megachurches are bad without knowing about EACH one is a hasty generalization, at best. Some may be bad, some may be good, but there is no absolute box in which to put them ALL. That would be like saying all [insert race/religion/whatever here] are bad. Again, Jesus saved my life through a megachurch.
For one to say ALL megachurches are bad without knowing about EACH one is a hasty generalization, at best. Some may be bad, some may be good, but there is no absolute box in which to put them ALL. That would be like saying all [insert race/religion/whatever here] are bad. Again, Jesus saved my life through a megachurch.
At the heart of every megachurch is a career cleric.
This was NOT the way the Order was supposed to be.
Every disciple and the apostle Paul never made their calling a job.
Having the calling be a career is Levitical. That is passed and cannot deliver the Good News.
Personally, I enjoy megachurches. There's more opportunities for me to grow than at the church I grew up in (which was small). Nothing is wrong with small churches, however. I personally enjoy both, but I work at a megachurch currently and there are opportunities there to help me with my growth as a Christian as well as practicing my gifts.
I couldn't grow much at my parent's church. But my pastor and the people who attend there are great and I still consider that my family church. There's just not opportunities there for me to practice my gifts.
One thing with megachurches most people have said about is that it's hard for them because you can get "lost" in a way. Which is entirely true. It's hard to be connected with people where there's 1,000 of them or more attending. For small churches, it's easier to be connected because the church is small in itself. For me, it was a bit easier for me to connect with people at the megachurch I now work at simply because most of my friends from college went there. So anywhere you turned, you saw people you knew.
So, you say you've heard concerning things. Let me just remind you: Not all megachurches are the same. Not all small churches are the same. There's some positives and there's some negatives. But just because one megachurch may have a negative doesn't mean that another megachurch will have the same negative. Same goes for a small church: Just because one might have had a bad experience at a small church doesn't mean that the next small church is going to have the same bad experience. Just like one person isn't the same as another.
Don't let a bad experience become a fact for everyone else. It's an opinion, it's not based off truth but based on what you feel. A person's personal truth may not be truth for everyone else. (This isn't directed towards ANYONE, because I haven't read any of the comments before mine. I read only the original post in here! So if I step on any toes, it's unintentional! I promise
)If you're looking for a church, get connected with a Pastor or a mentor and ask their opinion. I have a few mentors in my life that I go to with any big decision I make and they offer me great advice and their concerns. So get some feedback. Also, pray to God and ask Him to help lead you to a church! And READ the statement of faith before you attend ANY church. They are usually posted on their websites. If you don't know what a statement of faith is, it's what they believe in. This helps you to decide because there might be something within that statement of faith that you DONT agree with and honestly, if you can't agree with their statement of faith, then I suggest you find another church.
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My church is big, but still pretty intimate. It has roughly 2,000 people who attend. But I think it's great!
This made me lol
Why do you want a career priest? What is the advantage?
I have never been part of a megachurch.. I have attended churches where the congregation size was 300 to 500. That itself was like a huge church for me
Because we have only 30 to 50 members in our Church.. We are very close to each other.. I would certainly prefer small church.. But ultimately what matters is the preaching.. A small church could still preach false doctrine and not allowing Holy Spirit to move.. A megachurch could have solid preaching with move of Holy Spirit.. Move of Holy Spirit is always through Word convicting a person.. We should not look based on how many people speak in tongues, how many miracles happen, etc.. Those are by products.. Preaching of Word and conviction of Holy Spirit is what determines the spiritual state of Church.. It could happen in a small or large church.. My personal choice is a small church though.. Because it allows the pastor to individually cater to the spiritual needs of each and every person.. Pastor can get engaged directly rather then a group of committee (which we all know how they work 
)I suppose what has concerned me is that they give a watered down message. That's what I've heard anyway. That they often have gift shops just outside the auditorium, pastors are often professional entertainers and tend to have very large salaries. All of that is concerning though I agree that's not necessarily all of them. Let's limit the discussion to churches that specifically engage in those practices.
Small churches can do a watered down message as well. It really honestly all depends on what church you go to. My megachurch is not like that. We don't have a gift shop, my Pastor does challenging messages. But I have gone to megachurches that are like that, but I have also went to small churches that do the same thing.
I have attended a megachurch that was pretty much like a rock concert. The worship and the preaching wasn't well done. It was all showy and I didn't feel touched or challenged in it. However, that doesn't mean their heart wasn't int he right place. It just didn't suit ME. But I know that not all megachurches ARE like that. I didn't let that one experience change my opinion of all megachurches because I know not every church is the same
It honestly all depends on what church you go to
Personally I like the pastor who eats, sleeps, and breathes the Word. I've dealt with part-time pastors before and, while they're great and I don't want to take anything away from them, they have other responsibilities that they must put first if they wish to feed their family. Such is life, I guess. Rather than a jack of all trades and master of none, I want the wise old sage, so to speak.
With regard to salaries, if a well educated, established, and proven businessman can make $250K/yr then I believe a well educated, established, and proven pastor should be able to make $250K/yr... So long as it is proportionate to what the church brings in and puts out. If a church that makes $100K per year pays the pastor $65K but the church that makes $8 MILLION per year pays the pastor $250K, which is better? Again, proportionally speaking.
I would not feel comfortable with a pastor making that much. I mean I can't judge them, but it is not becoming for a religious leader to be making as much as a captialist. I think they should have a comfortable living on par with the members of their congregation. Church shouldn't be about making large salaries, you can't serve two masters.
In the RCC the Pontiff right now is trying to get his archbishops to give up their million dollar mansions because of all the evils it has invited in.
If the fellowship does not feed and sustain the people, it is meaningless.
No matter where their heart is.
The career priest means we PAY for The Word.
The word then is back in the holy of holies and under their control.
This is what The King came to stop. The Levites from being the holders of The Word.
Paul says that ALL are priests of the order when called. Not just want a seminary or bible college says. ALL.
We should ALL be priests in the order and spread the Good News. Workers and Clerics.
Not just clerics. Because that becomes rife with entitlement. It is why The Catholic Church owns so much and Televangelists exist.
It is NOT the way.
Making that money means they risk becoming servants to two masters.
The King warned that we cannot Love God and Mammon.