A Setting of Super-Suggestibility

One sunny Sunday morning, around 11:30, we sat on the front row at the Rock of NW Arkansas in Springdale. It was shaping up to be a typical service. The people were riled up, Todd was bouncing from one side of the room to the other. Off came the coat and tie and then it happened…

Todd, in his frustration - and general lack of understanding of the book of Revelation - finally got himself worked up enough to say something about it. I’m not sure how he got to the subject of the book of Revelation, but if you ever hear a service you’ll know what I’m talking about – there is no real order, rhyme, or reason to the topics.

Todd began to raise his tone of voice. His face got red. His veins began to bulge. His fist was in the air and he bellowed, “We’ll just write our own book of revelation!” The crowd leapt to their feet, not in shock and anger, but in complete, total, mindless agreement.

Shocking? It should be. But such is the environment that Todd has created at the Rock.

My wife and I stayed seated. We couldn’t believe what he had just said and completely disagreed with the statement. We were rebuked later for our “subdued attitude” and informed that more was expected of us as leaders.

How could this happen?

Time and time again we witnessed Todd make a ridiculous statement - and the people rejoiced – only to have Todd contradict that statement minutes later – and the people rejoiced. As for ourselves, we often were right there with the crowd, mindlessly agreeing with what was being said.

The field of psychology has taught us that what Todd creates every Sunday at the Rock is a setting of super-suggestibility. What is suggestibility? It’s a state in which we are much more likely to accept the suggestions of others. How can a grown adult find themselves in such a state?

When you put a crowd of people whose values have been warped to think that God wants them rich and powerful, you start singing songs to that affect, and then subject them to HOURS of disconnected and disjointed ideas, you have created a near perfect environment for suggestibility.

People in a group of their peers want to be accepted. It only takes one person to stand and shout in agreement for the rest of the crowd to at least WANT to follow. So, with a few loyal followers that have “tithed their minds” to Todd, he can say just about anything in the heat of the moment and get a resounding “Halleluyah!” from his children.

But church should be exciting!

I hear this argument a lot from the Rock crowd. Church should be exciting and fun and churches that dare to submit information and doctrine in an organized, orderly fashion are “Babylonian.” I try to make two points when I hear this argument.

First, what God did for us and how we share His love in our communities is exciting! How we carry out the “law of love” and the fruits we see in our lives and in others is wonderful and should be celebrated! I’m all for hoopla and excitement in this department. Bring on the testimonies! Let’s celebrate together!

Second, doctrine is important and requires thought, which is traditionally not necessarily a lot of fun. Anytime I hear somebody shouting and screaming new doctrines, I get very suspicious. We MUST be able to separate our emotions and bias from doctrine. Are we always going to enjoy it? Not so much. Is it going to be fun to always sit and learn? Again, not so much.

We’re a society used to being entertained. Make sure that your desire for entertainment isn’t bleeding over into your expectations for what should be happening in church.

Final thoughts

I could tell hundreds of stories of times where Todd dropped a doctrine bomb – and the people rejoiced. There were even times when Todd would simply get loud and proud and not really be saying anything – and the people rejoiced. The environment was one of super suggestibility. We were lead along in this state to agree to many monstrous ideals. Could he say ANYTHING while we were in this state of mind? No. But as long as he stayed somewhat close to what we expected, used some of the same words, and kept the energy level up, we often followed mindlessly.

Recently, Todd has begun a campaign where he tells people that those who do not attend simply take his words out of context. My response: make your services public! Why hide the message if it is truth? And why require people to be in this environment of super-suggestibility instead of allowing people to slowly digest what is being said? Makes you wonder…