You may have seen this over at Carlos’s place last week, but if not it’s worth a watch:

I saw this and reflected for about a minute. It’s good. It’s true. It’s something we need to work on as the body of Christ.

But later it hit home, and I had to go back to the video.

Because it’s easy to say this about big buildings and big congregations. Nice house, five cars … but what about things that seem more “spiritual”? Jethani talks about equating “large” with “legitimate” in terms of us as individual ministers, but I wonder if we do the same regarding our ministries in general.

God is doing something amazing in Kansas City, Missouri right now. (http://ihop.org/watch) People are being set free and healed in every way. Crowds have gathered, meetings have been extended, web-streaming is free for several hours each night, and people are being set free and healed from across the world just by participating through said web-stream.

Holy Spirit is moving and everyone can see it.

Should it be happening at other churches? Seeing this “revival” or “move of God” (or whatever you want to call it), should we be abandoning other plans and pushing into prayer until something similar happens in our congregations? Are we doing something wrong because we’re not having a similar supernatural experience? Is God less present? Are we worse Christians?

It sounds strange to put words to it, but I think it’s the mindset among a lot of those Christians who believe in the Holy Spirit and the supernatural. If God isn’t breaking into our day-to-day lives we must be missing something.

Maybe. Maybe not. I love IHOP-KC, from their ministry to their worship, and I’m excited for what they’re experiencing. I’m in Chicago, though, living as a disciple disconnected from that reality and I have to wonder: Is a church that’s quietly and slowly growing and transforming lives less legitimate than one experiencing more powerful and sensational spiritual realities? Is the former doing something wrong? Missing God’s plan somewhere?

I don’t think so. But I could be wrong. What do you think?