My last encounter with the Pentecostal church was about ten years ago when a family friend was convinced that I wasn’t saved because of the choices I was making (I chose to be a pastor and was thinking about doing my MDiv). He offered to lay hands on me and pray that I would receive the Holy Spirit who would surely not only convince me of my wrongdoing, but would also give me the ability to speak in tongues. I kindly declined his offer, and walked away, but that encounter together with a few other minor incidents has caused me to cringe a little when I think about the Pentecostal church and the denomination in general.<\/p>\n
The other thing that has caused me discomfort with the Pentecostal church is its association with the prosperity gospel. Lately, it seems like the two go hand in hand. I might be wrong but in the United States, prosperity gospel is synonymous for Pentecostalism. Maybe?<\/p>\n
So with all this said, when I picked up Donald Miller\u2019s book, Global Pentecostalism I was not excited to start reading. This book however was very eye opening and refreshing. There are many interesting things that stood out to me, but the thing I found most interesting is the segment of the book that talked about Pentecostalism and upward economic mobility. Yes! I rolled my eyes when I started reading, but I think that Miller makes some good points, at least some points that I’ve never really thought through before. He says,<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important to note, however, that the goal of conversion is not financial; rather, financial gain is an unintended consequence of a changed life. As individuals become more disciplined in their spiritual lives, they establish patterns that contribute to their work life and business activities. This new ethic, however, does not exist in a vacuum it is supported by a number of associated factors that strengthen the link between Pentecostalism and economic advancement.\u201d (Loc 2020)<\/p>\n
He proceeds to give us a list of issues that cause people to be stuck in poverty and how Pentecostalism addresses the issue:<\/p>\n
First<\/strong>, Miller says that it is the lack of a sense of self-worth (Loc 2020) that keeps people from climbing up the economic ladder. Pentecostal theology deals with image and identity. I\u2019m wondering what you all think of this list?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My last encounter with the Pentecostal church was about ten years ago when a family friend was convinced that I wasn’t saved because of the choices I was making (I chose to be a pastor and was thinking about doing my MDiv). He offered to lay hands on me and pray that I would receive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"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":[257],"class_list":["post-2680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dmiller","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680","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\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2680"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2684,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680\/revisions\/2684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSecond<\/strong>, worship allows people to be part of a community and allows individuals to become \u201cone with Christ\u201d. Group identity provides strength.
\nThird<\/strong>, a close-knit community can provide safety and networking opportunities.
\nForth<\/strong>, \u201clarge Pentecostal churches have well-developed social services and education facilities that give their members a competitive advantage over nonmembers.\u201d (Loc 2028)
\nFifth<\/strong>, spirit possession seems to be an issue in many developing countries\u2026 Pentecostalism provides deliverance from these forces.
\nSixth<\/strong>, the skills that people learn in Pentecostal churches transfer into the business sphere.
\nSeventh<\/strong>, spiritual disciplines transfer to discipline in the secular world.<\/p>\n