Why didn’t Jerusalem become a fully Christian city?  With the steady growth that took place from Pentecost 31 AD through the 30 years or so of James’ oversight, couldn’t the number of Christians have become a majority of the population?  Wouldn’t that have been a good thing?  What if this growth had so spread throughout Judea that it became a Christian province of the Roman Empire?

Part of the answer to these questions is that the persecutions carried out by Saul of Tarsus and later, Herod when he targeted James of Zebedee and Peter for execution, and finally, the Roman destruction of the Temple and scattering of the Church in 70 AD made a virtual Christian takeover impossible.  The other part of the answer is that apparently it was not the will of God; otherwise I think it would have occurred.  If anywhere in the world, the Church should be predominant, one would think it should be where it all got started with Jesus and the Apostles.  Surely there was nothing that could have prevented God if that was what He willed.

A large church can be the result of effective evangelism.  Megachurches are not intrinsically bad.  However, the actual history of “First Megachurch” highlights the problems that can plague such a large gathering of Christians in one place.  The large group can more easily lose focus on its purpose and centrality in Jesus Christ.  Instead, it can become subject to “movements” among the members that generate a mob effect.  These movements are often the product of influential people who are not the real Spirit-chosen leaders.  Such individuals are subject to corruption through temptations of power and wealth.  Further loss of centrality in Christ can result in political cooperation with governments, leading to misguided attempts to convert the masses through compulsory compliance with “Christian” values and ideologies.  Smaller churches are less prone to such temptations and more likely to keep their focus on Christ.  

Later, as Christianity spread and became dominant in some nations, Christian rulers began to enforce their values on the people they ruled.  A “Christian culture” compelled the non-Christian culture around it to submit to what eventually became known as Christendom – the collective culture, institutions, and even government that ascribed its name to Jesus Christ.  Of course, the risen Christ did not see it that way and was not the author of their mistake.  History shows that this outcome is adverse to the Kingdom of God.

Megachurches, and taken to the extreme, Christendom, do not promote unity or oneness in the Church as Jesus had prayed in John 17.  The book, Echo of Jesus Prayer – in the Church explains how God will bring about the answer to Jesus’ prayer, and it helps readers to understand their roles.