WON'T YOU HOLD MY HAND?

No doubt you've seen programs on television where people have been "slain in the Spirit" en masse! Again, is there any Scriptural background for that? One incident does come to mind, and that is in John 18 when the officers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Verse 6 tells us they went backwards and fell to the ground. But there is no record they were "holding hands" when that occurred. On the other hand, any time I've witnessed a mass "slaying in the Spirit," the people have been instructed to "hold hands" so the slaying could occur.

I was once in a meeting conducted by a well-known televangelist who often performed such mass slayings. He had the people on one side of the auditorium hold hands, then waved his hand toward them and they fell back in their seats by the hundreds! Our side of the auditorium was next. Same scenario. We, too, were told to hold hands; and as the evangelist supposedly "threw" the Holy Spirit at us, our group fell backwards also. Most of them did, that is. I remained standing even though the people on both sides of me went down. Of course, I was pulled in both directions, but somehow remained upright! The couple on my right (who happened to be my pastor and his wife), laughed excitedly and said, "Whoa!" So now I'm asking, Is that all there is to be slain in the Spirit -- just "Whoa" and a laugh of surprise?

You know, I have several questions for such a phenomenon. First of all, what is the purpose of a mass "slaying?" Has anyone's life been changed? Has anyone seen a vision? Has the experience drawn anyone closer to the Lord? Or is it just something to boast and reminisce about?

And why the holding of hands? Is the Lord unable to slay an entire group of people without their holding hands? If people are holding hands, naturally when the first person goes down, he's going to pull the person beside him down, too! If you watch such demonstrations closely, you'll notice that the people don't fall down simultaneously. The slaying starts at the front of the group and proceeds to the back like falling dominoes or an ocean wave.

Well, when I receive answers to some of my questions, perhaps I'll scratch "mass slaying" off my list of Pet Peeves! In the meantime, be careful about holding hands!!!

Preacher's Kid