And the Sunday spotlight shines on . . . ?  In participatory church many people share Scriptures, short teachings, testimonies, prayer requests, gifts of the spirit, words of encouragement, prayers, etc., so no one steals the show and the spotlight stays shinning on Jesus!

Catherine Booth, co-founder of The Salvation Army puts it this way:  “You need no human ordination, no long and tedious preparation, no high-flown language, no towering eloquence; all you need is the full baptism of the Spirit on your heart, the Bible in your hand, and humility and simplicity in your manner. Thus equipped, you will be mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”

When ordinary people are allowed in church to openly show and tell what Christ has done, an amazing thing happens; the spotlight moves away from the pastor and begins to shine on the living resurrected Jesus Christ.  And Jesus becomes the actual  Let’s let Jesus (“the bright and morning star”) be the only star in church meetings!

Religion just wants us to be quiet and to fit in.  However, Christ wants us to let Him flow out of us.

(Perhaps the only man actually qualified to head up a church and be the actual “Senior Pastor” under the spotlight, is the God/man, the living, resurrected Jesus Christ.  “And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.” –Colossians 1:18)