I once heard a story of a Pastor who would greet his parishioners as they left the church after the service and pray for each one. That sounds good until you hear what he prays for. He asks God to get rid of those who are “tares” or difficult or unwilling to become part of an anointed church. They call it the prayer of Gideon.

You know the story in the Old Testament, of course, where Gideon is chosen as the “judge” or leader who has to protect the people from their enemies. God didn’t want the people to take credit for the success of the campaign, so he reduced the army to a mere 600 people by a process of elimination based on how they drank from a stream. Strange to say the least.

I’m not sure that the prayer of Gideon is the best way to change a church full of the religious spirit into an anointed church. I would rather focus on the Board and the team members. There the prayer of Gideon would be more useful. I don’t expect the entire church to have the spiritual maturity that is necessary for anointed ministry. You have to leave room for discipleship and spiritual growth.

But it is true that the anointed church is an unattractive church to many people even if they claim to be Christians. They know it is true that they are called to spiritual maturity, to sacrifice, to witness through their suffering, to seek first the Kingdom of God, and to use their time, money, and resources for the great rescue operation that God is focused on. They need to see their job as part of their Life Ministry but with a priority on the redemptive focus. We say that the creational is the context of the redemptive and in that sense, I tend to see my job more as a tentmaking ministry more than anything else.

But this mentality is rare and difficult to find because most people are focused on the American Dream and not on seeking first the Kingdom of God. That’s all right for the church because they are in a process of spiritual growth, and everyone is at a different place in their process.

However, the leadership of the church has to be clear about what it means to be an anointed fellowship in spiritual unity focused on the ministry of reconciliation. Otherwise, how can they teach anyone else how to arrive at that sweet spot of effective ministry?

The anointed church is an unattractive church to many people. You may lose people. You will lose people and that’s all right. Better to work with the ones who are committed to spiritual growth and seeking Jerusalem in spiritual unity than to be dragged down into the web of lies that make up the religious spirit.

But the anointed church is very attractive to God and that is what matters, isn’t it? If that isn’t your highest priority to please God, then you haven’t been listening to anything that I have been saying in all of my posts and books.

John Piper is a marvelous pastor, and he often says that the Mega Church is in trouble because they constantly have to do what is interesting and acceptable to the world in order to get them to come to church. It is difficult for them to talk about commitment and spiritual growth and sacrifice or suffering for the gospel. They need to be “seeker friendly” and make their worship services rather bland and without much taste. Being salt and light isn’t in their vocabulary.

Paul has a few things to say about how to minister to unbelievers who come to your worship services in an anointed church. Remember that if you are an anointed church, signs and wonders, spiritual gifts, and the like can be quite common. One of the main reasons that we don’t see much genuine miracles in our day and age is not because they have ceased but because we have ceased being anointed churches. So, Paul’s discussion is valid for the anointed church but makes no sense for the religious church. Listen to what he says.

“Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophesy, however, is for believers not for unbelievers” (1 Corinthians 14:22 NIV).

There is a distinction worthy of being remembered. And it isn’t the typical counterfeit type of tongues that we see on every side nowadays. Paul is talking about the tongues of men, not of angels, that is used in the process of evangelism just like on the day of Pentecost. Yes, tongues are a sign and wonder for those who do not yet believe. But prophesy is for believers. Prophesy here is again, not the modern interpretation of simply preaching the Word of God (although it includes that) but is more like a word of knowledge about a person that convicts them of sin and, because it is obviously from the Spirit of God and the prophet should know nothing about it, the conviction of sin usually follows and the spiritual unity and anointing of the church are maintained.

“So, if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” (1 Corinthians 14:23 NIV). You can imagine the chaos in the church. Different languages are being spoken, both of men and of angels (I Corinthians 13:1 NIV), not for the purpose of evangelism which is a specific language for a specific person or group of people so that they can hear the gospel in their own tongue, but rather a general speaking in tongues for some other non-evangelistic purpose. Perhaps it was a badge of honor for some people or proof of their spirituality. Whatever it was, it was not helpful and was not fulfilling its purpose.

“But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So, he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you” (1 Corinthians 14:24,25 NIV). This is a strange thing to say in the context of what Paul was saying earlier. Prophesy is for believers, not unbelievers. And yet, if a believer wanders in and hears everybody prophesying at once, it may, in fact, cause him to fall down and worship God!

What’s going on here?

Prophesy is a very powerful thing. Paul goes on to talk about orderly worship and makes a distinction between things like revelation and prophesy and a word of instruction. All of these things, including tongues and the interpretation of tongues “must be done for the strengthening of the church” (vs. 26b). He isn’t talking about an evangelistic method that brings unbelievers into this kind of anointed environment of spiritual unity, but he still maintains that even if the church does it badly, and everyone is prophesying and giving a word of revelation, unbelievers will still be affected positively for the kingdom of God and fall down and worship God.

The anointed church is a powerful place. Even when it isn’t perfect. That’s the lesson we must learn from Paul and the Corinthians. The prophesy is spoken in the language of the unbelievers, and they hear and understand and are convicted of their sins. This is in contrast to speaking in tongues where the confusion of tongues does not allow them to understand anything at all and therefore, they think we are all crazy. A little organization is necessary.

It is true that in the first church did not think much in terms of bringing unbelievers to church. Paul went out to the marketplaces, to the philosopher's podium in Athens, to the prisons, the outcasts, the marginal people of society. He even ended up preaching to princes and kings, and supposedly, the Emperor, or at least members of his household (Philippians 4:22 NIV). But it was outward-focused. The church was for believers, but evangelism didn’t happen inside its walls other than on rare occasions.

But today we seem to think that our Sunday morning worship services are meant as an introduction to the church for unbelievers. This comes from the fact that a previous generation of believers, especially in the USA, went to church with their children but when they grew up they stopped going to church. Mega churches sprung up with new and more modern music and focused on life teaching based on the Bible but without much commitment expected or engagement in the life of the church. Not a bad strategy so far as it goes but it begs the question of when the true church gets together.

Some have a Wednesday night worship service which is more serious but, in general, the Mega Churches are caught in the web of the religious service even though they are growing and successful in bringing these children of believers back to church.

So, the question is still relevant today. Do we want to create an attractive church for the world in the name of evangelism or do we want to create an unattractive church for the instruction of believers and keep them in spiritual unity and focused on the kingdom of God? Can we do both at the same time? Perhaps but very carefully.

We can invite unbelievers to certain events like a Gospel Choir in our church, an Egg Hunt, or other children’s activities. We can invite them to a Christmas or Easter event or fair as we do in our church. The idea is that the person who invited them should be there with them building a relationship talking about normal things and not just pushing the gospel on them. The time will come for that later when God indicates. From there they can be invited to a small group or an Alpha Program and the person who invited them should still be with them walking with them through their process. After all, this is relational evangelism. We call this an “invite culture” in our church and others, such as in the Alpha Program, can present the gospel. You just have to be there for support and perhaps to answer a few questions.

Finally, they may be invited to a church service meant for believers but open to unbelievers or inquirers so long as they are prepared for what might happen there. In most cases, the real anointing happens at the leadership level but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the church is left out of the process. There is certainly teaching and preaching about the anointing and how it is gained in spiritual unity. There is certainly a ministry of reconciliation going on before, during, and after the service where people get right with God and each other. There is certainly demonstrations of engagement and true commitment by all the members and wonderful experiences of worship and singing. None of those things should scare away an unbeliever who is truly looking for signs of transformation in the lives of the people they are getting to know.

That is why public testimonies and witness are so important in the worship service as well as individually during the entire process. Rather than talking about some void that was filled by a new relationship with God, it is better to talk about healed relationships and the power to overcome addictions, bad habits, unhealthy lifestyles, and the like through the exercise of faith therapy in the context of confession and repentance as a lifestyle of change. These are the kinds of transformations that the unbeliever is interested in. Everyone has bad relationships that they would like to heal. Everyone has personal difficulties that they would like to overcome. That’s why they are there. Later, once they understand the source of the power of the Christian life, they will realize that they need to get right with God first and draw their power from the cross. If they are unwilling to do that when the time comes, they will leave disappointed, but most will come to a saving knowledge of the Lord.

And of course, we can’t forget the ministry of prayer that should accompany every step of the process. Anointed prayer is what is needed and when we live in the anointing, we can even do Prayer Evangelism, asking them what they need from God but always respecting God’s right to do his own will and that we agree His will is always the best for us. Perhaps a preliminary study on Romans 12:1,2 is in order as a pre-requisite so that you don’t fall into the trap of only trying to get benefits from God. Still, prayer evangelism done right and within the context of the anointing is a very powerful ministry.

So, it can work but not by becoming a Mega Church with a “seeker service” mentality but by becoming an anointed church with a “witness” testimony of true transformation based on the cross. Not a cheap grace with no commitment but rather a sacrificial, suffering for the gospel-based grace with a full commitment that can transform the human heart.

And don’t worry about the money and paying the bills. The Lord is faithful always, but you also need to realize that getting a token amount from a thousand people in your church isn’t nearly as good as getting a tithe and more from a hundred people. Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:15 NIV) where he claims that he “will gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well.” Do you get the point? Committed people are the ones who support the church both in terms of the overall budget as well as the individual ministries they are involved in.

I remember helping a new visitor to our church who was a gifted singer and songwriter. His name is Jay Delight, and he is from Nigeria. You can find him on YouTube and other social media. At one point he stayed with us in Argentina for a year or so and we decided to have a Worship Night with him and a few others (including my daughter) leading the worship. It was a beautiful time of worship but the point I want to make is that I was integrally involved, and I spent time and quite a bit of money bringing it all together. And I don’t regret a moment of it or a penny that was spent. That is the spirit of those committed to the work of the Lord.

Whatever you need will be provided and those who are committed to seeking first the Kingdom of God will go above and beyond to make the ministries they are involved in work well. You can count on it. Now if you are going from a Mega Church to a smaller anointed church, that transition can be a bit difficult because you have a big budget to maintain and a large church to take care of. Perhaps it is time to sell, take a small portion of your congregation with you who are committed to creating an anointed church, and start over somewhere else. I’m sure that the Lord will guide you so long as you keep him and his will central to your plans.

So, there you have it. The anointed church is an unattractive church to the world but very attractive to God.

That is where the power is, and it throws everything on its head. Now just a few people, committed to following God, can turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6-7 NIV). Now your relational evangelism is empowered to become effective ministry because you prioritize your spiritual unity above all. You can still use the “invite culture” methodology online and offline to bring people to events in your church and follow up with them as they get to know you and hear the stories of transformation that seem to be happening every day. You can still invite them to special church events without violating the focus on the anointing.

You can still have the speaking in tongues and prophesy at another time, perhaps Wednesday night if that is part of your anointed experience. Who says that “church” should only happen on Sunday morning anyway? When revival happens, people tend to go to church for one reason or another almost every night of the week so far as they are able.

And forget about the finances. Be responsible of course but stop worrying about it. If the church is seeking the Kingdom of God, all the rest will be added. Why? As a miracle from heaven? Maybe. Most likely as a miracle of transformation of perspective, commitments and engagement by the people who have been touched by the anointing.

In any event, the unattractive church, the anointed church, is spotless and clean and blameless before God and receives every promise and blessing in Christ for effective ministry. It is the opposite of the religious spirit and produces much fruit. Most of all it simply makes God happy to see his children on the right path and his presence is always our greatest reward. Pleasing God is what the church is here for and that means we have our priorities right.

That is worth its weight in gold.