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THE TRUE POWER TEAM
By
Phil Scovell
I suppose in today's mechanized, televised, and electronically publicized
church that everybody has seen the power team with their super human feats of
strength. Recently they performed in Denver and I went with my children. As
I sat and witnessed the smashing of huge ice blocks set a fire, the bending
of one inch steal bars between teeth, the snapping of police hand cuffs, the
bursting of hot water bottles as though they were toy balloons, and the
pulverizing of concrete walls, my heart ached...something was wrong. I began
to examine my thoughts and the Scriptures to determine the cause for my
feeling of spiritual uneasiness.
POSITIVE THINGS
There were a number of things I appreciated about the Power Team: They
did not water down or in any way tamper with the Gospel itself. John Jacobs
clearly preached a message of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and that sin
condemned one to eternal Hell. He without apology made it clear that one had
to confess his sin before the Lord and then confess Jesus as Lord of His life
in order to be born again. He furthermore stated that Christians are required
to live clean and holy lives before the world. His message was clear and
concise and there was absolutely no guess work in interpreting what he was
trying to say concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the doctrine of
salvation.
Besides the preaching of the Gospel, there were a number of other things
which I appreciated about the Power Team and their ministry. The fact that
they normally rent city auditoriums rather than performing in local churches
is refreshing. Such performances should be conducted outside the Church if
such is to be performed at all. The Church should never be a place of
entertainment. They also have performed in over four thousand schools. Not
many pastors or evangelists have been allowed to witness in that many public
schools. The Power Team likewise reaches the youth and especially street kids
in major cities across the country. One must admit they certainly have an
attraction to the youth of America. Their personal testimonies seem solid and
clear before the youth to whom they minister. They emphasize a personal
relationship with Christ to be more important than anything including physical
strength and they likewise emphasize one's self worth and personal integrity.
They preach against drugs, immorality, violence, and sin of all kinds. They
have altar calls; people are born again, sometimes some are healed, and
Christians are challenged to go all out for God. They attempt to follow up
with literature and correspondence with those who have come forward during the
altar call. In short, and on the surface, there are a number of good things
which can be said of the Power Team and their ministry. Then why did I sit in
my seat and wish I had STAYED HOME?
NEGATIVE THINGS
Perhaps the things I'm about to mention should be called the
"UNSCRIPTURAL THINGS" rather than the "negative." If one chooses not to
consider these things negative or Scripturally wrong, at the very least I
would think we might label them inappropriate. For example, the music was
ungodly. As soon as the team ran out on the stage blowing up hot water
bottles till they burst, the music was turned up so loud, it would have been
impossible to communicate with the person seated next to you without cupping
your hands about their ear and yelling. It frankly wasn't the volume that
disturbed me but the type of music. I honestly could not tell the difference
between the music played by the Power Team and that I used to sit and listen
to in the late 1960's when performed by Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hindrix, Steppen
Wolf, The Who, or any number of modern day rock bands such as Kiss, Mega
Death, or Metalica. Occasionally I heard the words Jesus or Christ and
prayed the music being played was Christian and not secular rock bands
throwing in our Lord's name for effect. Later John Jacobs confirmed this was
special music they had put together for their performances and it could be
purchased at their tables following the show. In fact, he said, they got so
many requests for good Christian music for the kids who were converted to
Christ in their performances and by Christian parents that want to wean their
teenagers away from secular rock music, that this was the music they were
recommending and selling. I know something sounds wrong with that philosophy
but I leave it up to the reader to figure it out. I simply refuse to accept
any rock music as Godly no matter who sings it...you may think otherwise.
This philosophy, however, sounds like the methadone program the government
began in the late 1960's in order to wean heroin addicts.
Let's consider, for a moment, and for argument's sake, that the music
isn't any big deal. Let's suggest that the music has no effect on those
seated in the audience and that the Power Team really doesn't believe that
music is important to their performance. Let me ask the question... "What is
the Power Team?" It isn't the Church. In fact, John Jacobs began the program
by saying he wasn't interested in what church anyone went to; he was just glad
everyone came to the performance that night and he hoped they enjoyed
themselves and had a good time. Then what is the Power Team? John Jacobs
said they were evangelists. Biblical evangelists were men who traveled about
the countryside preaching God's Word, healing the sick, and preparing the way
for apostles to come and establish local New Testament churches. Is this what
the Power Team does? Let's be honest! The Power Team are Christian
entertainers. Good ones, I might add, but entertainers nonetheless. Thank
God they preach the Gospel and win people to Christ rather than just
entertain. Is it wrong for Christians to be entertained? [WARNING...THIN
ICE!]
Now everyone knows an evangelistic team such as the Power Team, or any
missionary, pastor, full time Christian worker etc., needs money. I was very
interested in how the Power Team would approach the subject of money during
the performance. The program, by the way, was absolutely free. They of
course sold T shirts, tapes, books, baseball bats - replicas of those they
snap in two during the performance - and other related paraphernalia. In this
case, they were brought into Denver by a local Christian business which was
plugged repeatedly during the performance. All this was certainly acceptable
and I personally believe that if there is a place for such performances, they
indeed should be supported by Christian businesses rather than by local
churches.
When John Jacobs announced they would receive an offering and began
discussing the financial needs of the Power Team, I checked my watch. He
spoke for thirty minutes before the ushers actually moved down the rows to
pass the offering plates. This did not include the amount of time he spent
selling tickets to a banquet which the Power Team was sponsoring the following
day for Christian business men and women. What do you suppose was eventually
talked about at that banquet? Money maybe? The financial support of the
Power Team? I don't honestly know since I failed to attend. This form of
gathering the collections, to which Paul referred in the epistles, is so
unscriptural, it shouldn't even need to be addressed.
I was, however, mostly concerned about the hype generated. Every
performance of super human strength was preceded by several minutes of
explanation. For example, how many times the performer had accomplished this
feat, how many times he had been injured, that he had passed out once from the
exertion, or that bones had been broken. When the feat was then attempted,
the "Christian rock" music was pumped out to and almost unbearable DB level
while the performer struggled to attempt the impossible. In was all done, of
course, in the name of Jesus...I guess, or so we were told.
John Jacobs stood on the stage during the remaining minutes of the
performance and announced that he and his Power Team members were going to
break police hand cuffs. He had a police woman on the stage who hand cuffed a
couple of the Team members and as the music pounded, John encouraged the Team
members on over the loud speaker system. The emotional excitement continually
grew throughout the evening until it seemed as though something just had to
give.
Finally, after nearly two hours of showmanship, John said he was going to
attempt to snap two sets of hand cuffs. After they were placed on his hands,
he spoke until his hands turned blue from the lack of circulation. When he
finally announced he was going to break the cuffs, he compared this to
snapping the chains of darkness which held the lost in bonds which he said was
what Jesus did on the cross. He furthermore requested that no music be
played as he did so in order that the audience could hear the snap of the
chains when they finally broke. He informed the audience he might faint from
hyper ventilation which, he confessed, had happened to him once before. By
the way, this entire part of the show took perhaps twenty minutes by itself.
His labored breathing, as he built up physically, emotionally,
psychologically, and perhaps spiritually - he said this would be done in the
name of Jesus for those chained by the Devil - filled the auditorium as it was
amplified by the public address system. It was captivating! You could feel
the tension in the fourteen thousand attendees; you could sense the secret
desire in everyone that indeed John would snap those chains; you could almost
tangibly feel the power build up. Seconds passed as the huge auditorium
speakers bulged with the heavy breathing - inhaling and exhaling - of the
performer. Suddenly a man near me leaped to his feet and cried, "Jesus!" The
chains snapped and the crowd exploded! He had done it! He had done the
impossible! The lost were set free!
Immediately following the bursting of the chains, John Jacobs began his
altar call. He asked each Power Team member to step from the platform and to
stand in the aisles to meet with those who came. He made it very clear the
altar call was for those who wanted to be born again and for those Christians
not right with God who wanted to now make things right. In seconds the aisles
were filled. People crawled over the seats to get closer. Children crawled
on the floor between legs. Everybody wanted to get to Jesus, or was it the
Power Team?
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
I have expressed my concern about the improper music played. I am also
bothered by the commercialism; the buying and selling; the advertising; the
commercialization of Christ. I am concerned about John Jacobs opening
statement: "We don't care what church you go to, we just hope you have a good
time tonight." I am concerned about the plea for money and the fund raising
techniques employed to support the Team's activities. I am greatly disturbed
about the hype employed. Are all these things necessary in order to get
people to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Has the plane preaching of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ lost its power? Is not Christ our example? Did He
employe any such techniques in order that people might listen to His
preaching? If you say He in fact healed the sick which drew crowds, that
would be correct but He did not do so in order to attract the crowds; He did
so because He was the Messiah and He had the power to do so. In another
words, He preached the Gospel first; the healings were a natural consequence
of His Messiahship. What I am suggesting is we do not need the Power Team nor
any other para-church ministry to do the work the Church - the Body of Christ
- should be doing. Every radio or television show, every traveling
evangelistic team of any kind, every special entertainment group not supported
fully by local church ministries should disband and go back to the local
church ministry where they belong. Christians do not need to be entertained,
they need the preaching of God's eternal Word which changes lives for
eternity.
A friend of mine pastoring in western Colorado had moved into a small town
of about fifteen hundred people to start a church. The church now runs about
one hundred fifty. He heard of an old dying pastor in the small town and went
to pay his respects. They visited for some time as the old man lay in his bed
waiting for his home going. My friend asked the old preacher if he had any
advice for him concerning the church he had just started. "Son," he said,
"whatever it takes to bring them in is what it'll take to keep them." I have
never forgotten those words. How can the man of God who stands before his
thirty or forty people in a small rented store front building; the man who has
prayed and cried all week and studied the Scriptures and prepared the message
God has laid upon his heart for his little flock; how can this man possibly
top the performances of super human strength of the Power Team the night
before? It is my opinion that the Power Team and all such Christian
entertainment groups are robbing God's house and short changing the Christians
of God's true blessings for His people. Stop it and stop it now! Go back to
Church and spend your time walking the streets with your pastor and knocking
on doors and winning the lost to Jesus Christ. That's the true "POWER TEAM!"
