Volume 1, Issue 2 – March 2025
Why Religious Sensationalism Draws Thai Christians—And How to Return to Experiencing the Gospel of Christ
Date: 25 March 2025
Author: Dr. Chansamone Saiyasak (Professor of Religious Studies and Missiology), Theological Commissions & Religious Liberty Commissions of Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand & Asia Evangelical Alliance (a WEA-Regional Alliance) | Author’s Profile
Across Thailand today, many believers are being swept into forms of Christianity that emphasize dramatic experiences over the truth of the Gospel. Practices such as receiving fire, falling to the ground, ecstatic prophecy, and promises of miraculous wealth, health, and healing are commonly promoted by Neo-charismatic/Apostolic Movements. These experiences appeal deeply to Thai cultural instincts—but we must ask: Are these experiences truly drawing us closer to Jesus Christ and His Gospel—or just to religious sensation?
Culturally, Thai people are deeply rooted in a worldview that values tangible, felt experiences over abstract concepts. In daily life and religious practice—whether from Buddhist rituals or spirit worship—what is seen, felt, or touched often defines what is believed to be real. This same instinct is carried into the church, where many believers assume that experiencing emotion or visible signs equals experiencing God. This becomes a dangerous spiritual blind spot, especially when emotional experiences are confused with the truth of the Gospel.
Psychologically, dramatic experiences stir the senses and feel authentic. When someone cries, shakes, falls, hears a personal prophecy, or is healed (allegedly), it creates a sense of spiritual power. But not all powerful sensations are from God. Scripture warns us clearly in 1 John 4:1: “Test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” If we do not test experiences by the Word of God, we can be easily led astray by what feels real rather than what is true.
But at the heart of the Christian faith is not religious spectacle—it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is itself the truest and most powerful spiritual experience. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 1:9 that he serves God “in his spirit in the preaching of the Gospel of His Son.” This Gospel is defined not by fire, wealth, health and healing, but by the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1–4). It is through believing this Gospel—and not through chasing signs—that we are saved, transformed, and made alive in Christ.
Lastly, many of these movements exhibit a disregard for sound doctrine and church history. A common refrain is that "God is doing a new thing," often used to bypass theological accountability and historical orthodoxy. This disdain for doctrine opens the door to heresy and isolates believers from the wider body of Christ.
As Evangelicals, we strongly believe in God’s supernatural (miraculous) works today—healing, deliverance, provision—but these must flow from the Gospel, glorify Christ, and align with Scripture. When miracles happen, they serve to confirm the Gospel, magnify Jesus, and build up the church—never to entertain or promote emotionalism/sensationalism.
The true spiritual experience of every believer must begin with and flow from the Gospel, not from religious sensationalism. Neo-Charismatic/Apostolic Movements and similar movements, however, often make emotion the foundation and signs the focus, while the cross of Christ fades into the background. Many Thai believers, lacking strong Bible grounding, fall into the trap of pursuing experiences over truth, when in reality, the Gospel is the greatest experience of all—to know Christ, His forgiveness, and the power of His resurrection.
Thai churches must therefore call believers back to the Gospel as the center of faith. Scripture—not emotional highs—must be the final authority. Pastors must teach that true spiritual power is found not in receiving fire, or displays of wealth and healing, but in the Gospel’s power to change lives, to bring love, holiness, endurance, and joy in Christ (2 Timothy 1:7). This is the kind of encounter or experience with God that lasts—not a moment of thrill, but a lifetime of transformation through Christ.
In the end, Thai believers need not less experience, but a truer experience—the experience of the Gospel itself, living in its power daily, and walking in obedience to Jesus who died and rose again for us.
- Dr. Chansamone Saiyasak (Professor of Religioius and Missiology) is a theologian and missiologist based in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. He serves on the Theological Commission and Religious Liberty Commission of the Asia Evangelical Alliance and the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand, contributing to theological development and religious freedom initiatives in Southeast Asia. He also serves as an Asian theologian for the World Evangelical Alliance. With over 30 years of ministry and leadership experience, Dr. Saiyasak has led Christian educational and theological institutions, community development projects, and church planting movements across Thailand and Laos. He holds a Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies from Evangelische Theologische Faculteit (Belgium) and Doctor of Ministry from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary (USA), and has completed advanced leadership programs at Harvard University, Yale School of Management, and Oxford University. Through his work with organizations such as the SEANET Missiological Forum and the Lausanne Movement, Dr. Saiyasak is committed to advancing Gospel-centered leadership, contextual theology, and mission engagement in Buddhist-majority societies.
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