{"id":15496,"date":"2017-11-27T12:09:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T20:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=15496"},"modified":"2017-11-27T12:09:46","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T20:09:46","slug":"pondering-questions-on-pentecostalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/pondering-questions-on-pentecostalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Pondering Questions on Pentecostalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mus\u00e9e<\/a><\/p>\n

To be truthful, I cringed just reading the title of this book: Global Pentecostalism<\/em>. It is my humble opinion, we need to stop compartmentalizing Christians with labels like “Pentecostal” and “conservative” and start seeing each Christian as a valuable member of the body. As Christians, we are all in need of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and how it is revealed and expressed in each of us can be vastly different.<\/p>\n

Having been raised by a conservative Baptist minister, who turned non-denominational, and eventually Pentecostal, I have found strengths and weaknesses in many worship styles. Personally, I resist identifying with any particular category because I relate to many. Professionally, it is a barrier that prevents me from relating to my clients and developing a rapport. Categorizing Christians through denominations, labels, and stereotypes seems to do more to create division than unity among Christians, and impedes us from relating to the un-churched and spiritual seekers.<\/p>\n

With that said, I enjoyed many aspects of this book and found it inspiring, and relatable to our current churches and ministries. I would like to highlight some pertinent points applicable to ministry and conclude each point with a Pondering<\/em> Question<\/em>. Impressively, the largest Pentecostal movement is the Assemblies of God located in every country with over 50 million participants (no wonder Jim travels so much).[1]<\/a> Just as impressive was the multiple ethnicities represented in Pentecostalism, and the growing trend of the various people groups collaborating together through Pentecostalism. This is reshaping the church and bringing people together in a way only God’s spirit can do. Pondering<\/em> Question:<\/em> If we have a predominately white church or are comprised of exclusively one race, would it be reasonable to question whether or not the Holy Spirit is having a transforming influence on the church?<\/p>\n

The progressive social work stated throughout the book in many countries was inspiring. Addicts in Hong Kong under the leadership of Jackie Pullinger with St. Stephen’s Society captured my attention when she described the plight of heroin addicts and how they became addicts. Many of them were abused as children, often by their fathers, so they turned to drugs to dull their pain. Many of my clients’ faces and stories came to mind with the phrase “What they crave is love, even if they don’t know how to give it.”[2]<\/a> As a therapist, loving people and teaching them to love themselves before they can love their partners, friends or families is a fundamental treatment goal.<\/p>\n

As pastors, I consider this a critical goal of building a healthy and thriving church: teach people how to love by loving them first so they, in turn, can love others. This is done strategically, over time, and with consistency, and all under the influential presence of the Holy Spirit. While agencies and institutions are valuable they can come and go “whereas churches are stable institutions with deep roots in their community.”[3]<\/a> Unlike any other institution, the church has a unique role to play in society and in our world. We are called to speak, live, and teach love and move out of compassion, a tenet of love. Yet, how can we love others if we are not loving ourselves? Similarly, “…what makes an organization an exciting, vibrant, and satisfying place to work is by looking at what makes for a well-functioning individual”.[4]<\/a> Pondering<\/em> Question:<\/em> Investing in our church leaders to create healthy, balanced leaders, helps them foster deep connections in their community and empowers them to better impact our world. How are we empowering our church leaders to be well-functioning so they can love well?<\/p>\n

Although there are some powerful social movements ignited by Pentecostalism, there are unfortunately, some Pentecostal churches lacking in inspiration and innovation for impacting their communities. “Not all Pentecostal churches are engaging their communities in acts of compassion and service. There are many Pentecostal churches mired in legalism and prefer to pray for the salvation of the world rather than to transform it through their actions. On the other hand, some of the more creative programs that have evolved in the last decade have been implemented by Pentecostal churches.”[5]<\/a> Frankly, I found this to be a very inclusive description of the global church and not at all unique to Pentecostal churches. As Christians, it can be challenging for us to live love, and often we would rather just speak of love. Jim Collins says it best: “…once you know the right thing, do you have the discipline to do the right thing…”[6]<\/a>.\u00a0Pondering<\/em> Question:<\/em> Loving takes a bold leader committed to loving their world enough to sacrifice for it versus fearing it more to hide from it. Staying comfortable in a static environment can be safe but not very dynamic or exciting. How do we motivate people to leave their safe worlds and love sacrificially?<\/p>\n

With impacting our youth, we need to care for them. Studies show how different neuropathways are developed with children who grow up in homes providing loving attachments versus children who grow up on the streets. This changes the lives of our children, youth, families, societies, and ultimately, our world. It is the churches “obligations to create a community environment that gives them a fighting chance in life.”[7]<\/a> Pondering<\/em> Question<\/em>: Each Christian has a moral responsibility to help our youth heal and become healthy and strong. According to James, this is true religion: taking care of our orphans and widows.[8]<\/a> What could our world be like if we all practiced true religion regardless of our doctrinal beliefs?<\/p>\n

Global Pentecostalism is the Holy Spirit breaking down these “man-made walls” of ethnicity, gender, and social class that have existed in the body of Christ. We are finding value and esteem in people and their stories instead of in their religious history and ethnicity. Like a broom, the Holy Spirit indiscriminately sweeps every willing person in her path to be lovingly transformed. When we submit to her sweeping power, we are united and used regardless of our belief system, background, and denomination as we find ourselves speaking the universal language of love. Pondering<\/em> Question:<\/em> Isn’t Christianity another name\u00a0for Pentecostalism?<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [1]Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement<\/em>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007, 19.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [2] Ibid., 101.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [3] Ibid., 41.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [4] Manfred Kets De Vries, The Leadership Mystique,<\/em> (Edinburgh Gate, 2001) 246.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [5] Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism, 66.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [6] James Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap–and Others Don’t<\/em> (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2011) 141-142.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [7] Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism, 98.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [8] James 1:27<\/p>\n

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To be truthful, I cringed just reading the title of this book: Global Pentecostalism. It is my humble opinion, we need to stop compartmentalizing Christians with labels like “Pentecostal” and “conservative” and start seeing each Christian as a valuable member of the body. As Christians, we are all in need of the transforming power of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[716],"class_list":["post-15496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-miller-and-yamamori","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15497,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15496\/revisions\/15497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}