Cooperate vs Personal

I realize I focus a lot on the individual. What about the cooperate? Doesn't that exist too?

Yes. We are the Body of the church. The bride is, in its entirety, a conglomerate group of people who love God whole-heartedly and therefore, out of love, follow His commandments. It is a group of people who individually know who they are before God, and thus in that spirit, under the Holy Spirit to be very specific, love each other and work together in love.

It's a definition. But it isn't a working definition.

See, here's where the problem lies. People do not like to do things alone. People do not truly like to stand out.

Sandra dyes her hair pink and wears heavy make up to make a statement. To be an individual... By which she isn't standing alone, she's standing above with everyone's attention on her. Peter is sitting in the corner writing songs because he doesn't like the group, feels rejected, and knows he doesn't fit in. He never did. He always was, and therefor thinks he always will be, a loner. He's told himself it will always be that way and has resigned himself to that. When he gets a girlfriend, or a close friend, and learns to trust them, they will be his life. It will practically kill him if that person betrays or leave him, and will further cement the opinion that he deserves to be a loner.

It is out of this that a "mob mentality" arrives. One or two key people do something and, all of a sudden, everyone has to do that. Key figures want to burn witches? So now everyone's wielding pitchforks and torches and running around branding the loners as witches.

A lot of people are getting hit with the Holy Spirit and are falling over drunk? It's infectious. Suddenly everyone is.

LET ME BE EXTREMELY CLEAR HERE!!!!

I am NOT SAYING THAT everyone's simply faking it. I AM NOT SAYING that a majority is faking it. I AM NOT SAYING the joy of the spirit is a lie or anything.

What I am saying is that there are people who saw what was going on and decided they wanted it too, so they therefore produced it in their own lives themselves.

... I am NOT pointing fingers. I don't have names behind this.

Yes, I did totally just compare HS drunk to witch burning. Yes, that is a terrible comparison. But I'm trying to get a point across.

(You: OMG you're a doubting Thomas!1!! I bet you never got drunk in the spirit and NOW you're Jealous. Spirit of envyyyyyyy !!!!1!1!!)

You're right. During the awakenings, I didn't spend any time on the floor. I did, however, spend lots of time praying for people and knocking them over. And I did get drunk in the spirit separately.

What bothers me isn't that people were getting drunk. It isn't that people were laughing hysterically and falling over. What bothers me is the people who I could pray for without them knowing it was me, and nothing would happen, but as soon as they knew who was praying for them there was a reaction...

And what bothers me is the people who, after the awakneings were over left to go chase the next high.

I believe that the joy of the spirit should be unto something. There are many people who were seriously changed by their encounter with joy. Depression was broken off. And then there were the people who fell right back into depression once the awakenings ended and, ever since then, have been praying furiously for a new awakening. Who have been chasing the high.

It's been two whole years since the awakening. Should we stop praying for it? No. Does that mean it should be a main focus on our hearts? Absolutely not.

This is the problem with cooperate bodies. We went somewhere, as a group. And now, as a group, we refuse to leave that place, when there is more even for us.

We need to be tending to the next thing... We need to be living under the banner God has put us under now.

The times I have gotten drunk in the spirit, it was always unto a spirit of prophecy. It would go from uncontainable laughter straight to a proclamation of truth.

I believe this is what a move of the spirit is unto.

But under mob mentality, the "new wine" became simply another cooperate Thing.

And therein lies the problem with a group.

And therein lies my focus on the individual.

Once who you are is set right before God, and once God is no longer a means to any sort of an end Other Than God... (Yes, God is a means to God. God isn't just the means, He is the End too. It's in revelation... sort of.)

Anyways.

Once the individual stuff is set straight, all else will follow. Why do you think Mike Bickle is where he is? Is it because he has his heart set on the group? No. He has his heart set on doing what is right before God. Was David;s focus on Israel? No. It was on his own heart before God. Is Lou's thing just the Call? No. It is what is right before God.

(Not that I'm saying every leader is like that. I do believe some leaders in some positions are there because God designed them for that position. But it is not our place to judge who God has put into leadership... It is our place to set our own hearts before God.)

So yeah.

And that's why this tends to be a blog about personal walks with God...
Please don't kill me?
(But do comment if you disagree...)

~Silver