The theme this year is the army of God “mobilizing.” There is an anointing for mobilizing that we need to understand—the anointing to draw people together for a cause. This can be from the Lord or from the devil. For example, Hitler had an extraordinary anointing from the devil to mobilize people. The people who followed him included some of the most brilliant, who repeatedly commented to others how they did not understand his command over them, but when they were in his presence all doubts faded and they just submitted to him. When he spoke to multitudes, his content was not impressive, but the people were mesmerized and would just do what he commanded them to do.
On the Allied side in World War II, General Eisenhower seemed to have a similar, remarkable ability to mobilize and encourage others to follow him. His plan for D-Day was so complex that when Winston Churchill saw it, he did not think that it had a single possibility of success. However, he went to see Eisenhower, and without any intellectual convincing, felt that they could easily do it. When he left that meeting he remarked about how amazed he was that he had been so convinced by so little evidence, but there was just something about this general that made everyone believe. The fact is that the plan was far too complex to work and collapsed within twenty minutes of the beginning of D-Day, but the encouraged troops had so much confidence that they were going to win that they improvised and just kept going. Later, Eisenhower admitted that he did not think his plan could work either, but he had no doubt that they would win.
In post D-Day interviews, it seems that most of the troops who were not dropped at the right location, or were off in their timing, or had other problems, and were thrown off the plan, felt they were probably the only ones experiencing this and that the rest of the plan was probably going well. So, they just tried to make up their part and do what they could to get back on track, or in some cases just find the enemy and fight him. The fact is that just about every unit was in this situation, but prevailed because of their courage, resolve, and freedom to improvise.
My point is that almost no objective is accomplished exactly like it was planned, and most that are accomplished are the result of constant improvising and adjusting to changing conditions. However, a plan is needed to start moving in the right direction.
We must also understand that the anointing to mobilize is for numbers, too. Some may have an anointing for mobilizing small groups, some for mobilizing hundreds, and some for thousands, or even more. If we would recognize this about ourselves and others, it would save many from a lot of frustration. For example, if God has called you to be a pastor of three hundred, all kinds of promotions could be used to increase your congregation, but things will happen and you will eventually fall right back to the three hundred level. The reverse is also true. If you have been called to lead five thousand, regardless of church splits or other problems that may temporarily shrink your congregation, it will revert back to five thousand.
Therefore, if we have been called to such leadership, we need to understand what the Lord has called us to do and be content there, determining to do the best we can where we have been placed. If we are faithful with little He will, at the proper time, give us more authority. We want to be sure He is promoting us and we are not just promoting ourselves. Gaining influence that God has not called us to have will always bring problems that any wise person should want to avoid at all cost. The issue is obedience. To be a brilliant and effective lieutenant is much better than to be an incompetent general.
One of our missions is to host conferences. Most of our conferences are devoted to equipping people in specific ministries or gifts of the Spirit. We know how to promote conferences and have been able to gather many thousands before, but we found that in the equipping conferences, smaller is better. Our goal is not just to get a lot of people together, but to see everyone who comes changed, impacted, and sent out much more powerful workers and messengers of Christ than when they came. However, for some of our conferences, especially those that are devoted to promoting interchange in the body of Christ and with a general heart for missions and evangelism, bigger is better.
My main point in addressing these issues here is so that we can consider what has been a tragic mistake in the body of Christ, which is the mobilizing of God’s people over and over for purposes that were not ordained by God or that were not done by His calling or by His Spirit. This will ultimately lead to disillusionment and overall discouragement—the loss of courage, which is a most basic fuel for any successful army.
Gathering large groups of people is not hard with good promotional techniques. For this reason, I have ceased to be impressed by the size of churches, missions, or ministries, but by their fruit. Who is effectively preparing, equipping, and leading those they have gathered? Some large groups and churches are doing this, but they are rare. In Acts 19, we see that the people were in confusion because they did not know the reason why they had gathered. Gathering without a clear purpose does usually result in the confusion of the people, and that is discouraging.
It has been estimated that the majority of Christians in the U.S. are no longer in a local church fellowship. This is a tragedy, but before we just start seeking to get them back into a vital church relationship, maybe we need to take a look at the church. If more than half of the Christians no longer find a home in church, could it be that more than half of the churches have somehow departed from the basic mandate of the church that Christ gave to it?
Gathering God’s people is important, but it is also a great responsibility. Gathering is but the first step. The church was never intended to just be a big sheep pen where the people are gathered and just have food thrown to them a couple of times a week. Feeding God’s people is a great purpose, but leading them involves much more than this. This is why the future church will begin to look more and more like the army it is called to be. A great clarity of purpose is coming, and with it great encouragement.
