Seeding spontaneous baptisms

[rlvaughn]

In another forum I read a statement about Steven Furtick's Elevation Church "seeding spontaneous baptisms" with people who had already been baptized. I had never heard such an expression, and did some looking to see what it means. Apparently it means planting people in the congregation who will be the first to go down and be baptized, to encourage others to go down. This is not "new news" (linked article is from 2014) -- just the first I've heard of it.

But a new report from NBC Charlotte suggests that Elevation’s supposedly spontaneous baptisms are carefully planned ahead of time, with people planted in the congregation to start the walk down the aisle.

“Fifteen people will sit in the worship experience and be the first ones to move when Pastor gives the call. Move intentionally through the highest visibility areas and the longest walk,” a guide posted on a webpage for Furtick’s book says.

Megachurch pastor Steven Furtick’s ‘spontaneous baptisms’ not so spontaneous

Spontaneous Baptisms How-To Guide

Thoughts?

 

[Reformed]

Thoughts? Hold on. Let me count to ten... OK. Now I am ready.

I call this sort of thing Hyper-Finneyism. Play with the emotions. Deceive. Play act. Do whatever you have to do in order to get the outward result you desire. Finney did it by having notorious sinners put on the anxious bench. Fugazy baptisms are a modern rendition of Finney's 19th-century tactics. What is wrong with just preaching the Gospel and baptizing professed converts? It is the biblical model.

 

[terrpn]

Hyper-Finneyism

could you explain a little further, sounds interesting if you find time

 

[Yeshua1]

Thoughts? Hold on. Let me count to ten... OK. Now I am ready.

I call this sort of thing Hyper-Finneyism. Play with the emotions. Deceive. Play act. Do whatever you have to do in order to get the outward result you desire. Finney did it by having notorious sinners put on the anxious bench. Fugazy baptisms are a modern rendition of Finney's 19th-century tactics. What is wrong with just preaching the Gospel and baptizing professed converts? It is the biblical model.

Are we going to be planting persons to run up at altar calls then also?

 

[Reformed]

Are we going to be planting persons to run up at altar calls then also?

That happens too.

 

[rlvaughn]

Are we going to be planting persons to run up at altar calls then also?

Been happening quite some time. In regard to the altar call, I've heard them called "decoys".

 

[Yeshua1]

Thoughts? Hold on. Let me count to ten... OK. Now I am ready.

I call this sort of thing Hyper-Finneyism. Play with the emotions. Deceive. Play act. Do whatever you have to do in order to get the outward result you desire. Finney did it by having notorious sinners put on the anxious bench. Fugazy baptisms are a modern rendition of Finney's 19th-century tactics. What is wrong with just preaching the Gospel and baptizing professed converts? It is the biblical model.

I always wondered if some were planted among the faith healers, to yell I can see or something!

 

[Reformed]

Hyper-Finneyism

could you explain a little further, sounds interesting if you find time

I am going to assume you know a thing or two about Charles Grandison Finney. Finney's preaching style was heavy on the side of appealing to the emotions of his audience. Ostensibly, Finney's "anxious bench" was a place where seekers could sit and ask for special prayer. In practice, it was more of a place where notorious sinners would be seated, which gave Finney direct eye-to-eye contact with them during his preaching. Finney was a master communicator. He was skilled at the art of persuasion, and he used his skill for all its worth when preaching. The Finney style of preaching became very popular across the United States. Billy Sunday was a Finney-type preacher. So was Billy Graham and Jack Wyrtzen. Many of the tent revival preachers that traveled the countryside used the Finney model. They used it because it was highly effective in eliciting a positive outward response to the Gospel. I sat under Finney-type preaching myself. I knew one famous evangelist who used to say during the invitation at a mass evangelism rally, "If you can't stand up and come forward at a place like this surrounded by God's people, you'll never stand up for Him anyplace!" What made this type of preaching so dangerous is that it did not rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to convict sinners. God needed a little help through the emotional appeal of the preacher.

What I call Hyper-Finneyism is taking what Finney did to the next logical step. Fugazy (fake) baptisms and altar call responses are two examples of that. Priming the pump is great for a well, but it is not the way the Holy Spirit works. He does not need the novel inventions of men in order to better His work.

 

[terrpn]

Gotcha..............yes I am familiar with Mr. Finney and agree- thank you

Billy Sunday's Book on his bio was a great read. Sad about his kids though