People are excited about dramatic change in the church, until they aren't.

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Never has the expression of Christianity needed transformation more than now. I suppose one could argue the nailing of the 95 Theses by Martin Luther compares, but we are in the last of the last days. Shift must happen immediately.

People can get amped up about a shiny, new model of ministry that emphasizes what their spirits are crying out for. Reformation and an intense resolve to advance the Kingdom of God sound good. It feels good.

The current expression of the American church has become so ingrained in us that we presume it's orthodox. It's the default blueprint that can be improved upon, but not violated.

I propose it's time for violation. Tear it down and build it back up according to the paradigm God reveals.

The Struggle

Different ministries with visions unique to their location, the five-fold office(s) of leadership and the directives of God will determine the schematic of the church experience.

The City Church Paradigm

The revolution will result in different churches, within scriptural boundaries, functioning differently. Apostle-led churches will look very different than teacher-led churches. However, the various expressions of the church on the local level will be incomplete until they all come together on the city level. Kingdom-minded local churches will strategically unite, eliminate redundancies, share a common city-vision and encourage the people to connect in multiple locations.

This sounds smart, until pastors become threatened with losing “their people.” When tithes and laborers start heading down the street to another local church, support for this refreshed and strengthened church structure diminishes.

This is a much bigger topic than can be addressed here, but suffice it to say, there is a healthy method to facilitating the city church model. Flaky commitments and church hopping can't work. Sadly, even a healthy approach is too risky for many.

Intense Holy Spirit Activity

Yes, there are a handful of churches that do not temper the wildfire of the Holy Spirit. However, when the Spirit of God truly moves, the experience includes both discomfort and comfort, risk and reward, crushing and healing, surrender and freedom.

When this type of atmosphere is promoted amongst casual Christians who are not familiar with such supernatural activity, the resistance comes in full force. Visitors run away. Members complain. Half-committed people head for the door.

A Culture of Intercession

Possibly the most important and disruptive transition is a return to strategic prayer. Sunday mornings must be dominated by tongues of fire, groans of intercession and bold prophetic decrees. I'm not talking about hiding this in a lonely prayer room before the service begins. Prayer will be front and center in the sanctuary and will dominate the clock.

Pastors know the people will flee in terror should they implement such a thing, so, it doesn't happen. The revolution resistance is strongest when it comes to leading the people into the realm of the Holy Spirit via vein-popping, tear-inducing, fire-breathing intercession.

Sadly, many pastors know nothing of such a supernatural lifestyle and would be lost themselves in a culture of prayer.

No wonder Leonard Ravenhill said: Pastors who don’t pray two hours a day aren’t worth a dime a dozen!

Reduction of Pastor-Led Churches

I'd encourage you to read my article on this topic, The Coming Shift Away From Senior Pastoral Leadership.

Here's a portion:

The coming church will look so different than the church of today that we will find ourselves speechless. Everything man-made is going. Everything that God deems good but outdated is going. The coming church will be defined by fire and it will repel the lukewarm and religious—as it draws in the hungry and desperate.

Corporate leadership will shift from pastors to apostles and prophets primarily. Instead of merely relaying information, messages will be mostly challenging and directive with a clear expected response as the body is rallied to fulfill a corporate mission together. They will lead with the expectation that the entire unit will be moving in step with them as they fulfill the vision of the church in unity.

In the coming church, pastors will mostly be relieved of primary church leadership responsibilities and will be released to spend most of their time one-on-one with people and in small groups.

Of course, you can predict the resistance to this mega-shift in the church.

The burdens that will be lifted from their shoulders will cause them to wonder why they ever resisted at all.

There's More

Space doesn't allow me to address the many additional changes that are coming.

I cover a lot of it in my book The Coming Church. I'm making it available to you for FREE. No strings attached.

Download the book now at HERE.