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Pentecost 2013

Coptic icon of Pentecost

Coptic icon of Pentecost

Pentecost Sunday! 

Some thoughts:

- I am hesitant to speak of Pentecost as “the birth of the church,” since this seems foreign to the Lukan message. If by “church” we mean followers of Jesus, then there have been followers before Pentecost. If by “church” we mean one group including Jews and non-Jews, then we are finding something in the narrative that doesn’t occur until several chapters later. It seems more appropriate to see Pentecost as the full inauguration of the New Covenant as depicted by the availability of the Spirit to all people, not a select few.

- It should be observed that this is not the first time people are filled with the Spirit. In Luke 1:15 John the Baptist is filled with the Spirit in his mother’s womb. In 1:41 Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit. In 1:67 Zacharias is filled with the Spirit. Old Covenant figures such Bezalel (Exodus 31:3; 35:31), Joshua (Deuteronomy 34:9), and Micah (3:8) receive the Spirit before Pentecost. This doesn’t detract from Pentecost, because Pentecost is the “democratization” of the Spirit (if you will). Moses imagined a day when all the people of God might be prophets (Numbers 11:29). In some sense (not to ignore that the New Covenant seems to include a new role of prophet distinct from that of the Old Covenant) Pentecost does make all the people of God a prophetic people. Similarly, as the prophet Joel foresaw, the Spirit would be poured out upon all sorts of people, many marginalized by society, including daughters and slaves (2:28-29). The apostle Peter interpreted the Day of Pentecost to be the fulfillment of Joel’s vision (Acts 2:16-21, though the exact nature of Peter’s interpretation is not as clear as we might like in that he includes much of the apocalyptic imagery).

- If we read Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4; 2:33; 13:23, 32 we find that Pentecost is a fulfillment of the Old Covenant: the Spirit has been “poured out” upon people; the Messiah have been revealed (through the resurrection). Pentecost is connected to the resurrection of Jesus as the two stage beginning of the “already, but not yet,” the eschaton before the eschaton.

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Pentecost Sunday 2012

Pentecost by He Qi

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tonguesas the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2.1-4)

Worthwhile reads:

Craig Adams, Spirit Baptism: Wesleyanism and Pentecostalism

Daniel Kirk, The Spirit of Easter

Brian LePort, Pentecostal and not Pentecostal

Jack Levison, Pentecost for the Rest of Us

Bo Sanders, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Pentecost


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Pentecostal and not Pentecostal.

Azusa Street, where Pentecostalism began to become a global movement.

It is inevitable that every year near Pentecost Sunday I revisit my Pentecostal roots. I came to Christianity through Oneness Pentecostalism, which is a sectarian branch identified by their rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity, their emphasis on the name “Jesus” being pronounced during baptism, their insistence that someone must speak in tongues to receive the Holy Spirit (which for some means to be “saved”), and their emphasis on particularities of appearance which they call “holiness standards.” Obviously, I am not this type of Pentecostal.

I don’t think I am the Assemblies of God (AOG) type either, especially since they retain the “tongues as initial physical evidence” doctrine. The AOG teaches that Christians must speak in tongues to have any “physical” evidence of the Holy Spirit’s infilling. I think this is misguided exegesis of the Book of Acts where particular groups of people are described as speaking in tongues as a way of depicting integration and catholicization, but never as a way of depicting what is necessary for every individual who becomes a Christian. There are other doctrinal peculiarities emphasized by the AOG that I deny, e.g. their understanding of the “rapture” and their outright denial of annihilationism as an eschatological possibility.

Yet I cannot deny that I am shaped by Pentecostalism. I know many Pentecostals would never label me a Pentecostal (like many Calvinist would never label me a Calvinist), even if I share much common ground with their views. I understand why they would be uncomfortable with including me in their ranks. Often I am uncomfortable with aligning with one group anyways since I fear I will be like those in Corinth who were “of Paul, of Peter, of Apollos.” I use the label “evangelical” (small “e”) because it means “of the Gospel” and I am comfortable with saying I am a Christian who finds my identity in the Gospel proclaimed to me and by me to others. Yet there is much about evangelical culture that concerns me–not only politically, but at times theologically (e.g. see Peter Enn’s “Would Paul Have Made a Good Evangelical”). I do not identify with Roman Catholicism or Orthodoxy (see Peter J. Leithart’s “Too Catholic to be Catholic”). As much as I appreciate N.T. Wright, Alister McGrath, and many other Anglican thinkers I don’t find Anglicanism all that appealing. I don’t connect to Lutheranism, Methodism, or many of the dozens of -isms of Protestantism.

I agree with Jonathan Martin that Pentecostalism tends to be a middle ground between Catholicism/Orthodoxy and Reformed/Protestantism (see Rachel Held Evan’s interview post “Ask a Pentecostal…”) because it provides a “third way” by being grounded in Pneumatology. But Pentecostalism proper is identified with particular views on glossolalia that I find problematic and I don’t know if Pentecostalism without those views on glossolalia remains Pentecostalism. If so, how? I’ve asked myself many times, “What is the center of Pentecostal theology?“

I affirm the Pentecostal ideas of Spirit empowerment and Spirit-centered ecclesiology. This Spirit-centered ecclesiology is why I am not “high church” (though I acknowledge that “high church” and Spirit-centered are not contradictory), why I affirm women having equal standing in the church, why I think we should be open to signs and wonders, why I am a continuationist, why I think a truly “high view of Scripture” opens the door for the guidance of the Spirit (I think the Apostle Paul’s view of the Spirit’s interaction with Scripture was much closer to Pentecostalism’s than evangelicalism’s). But I don’t think a liturgical or more reserved church has “less” of the Spirit (something many Pentecostals have argued). I don’t think the work of the Spirit is always (or even most often) seen in dramatic form. The fruits of the Spirit are far from dramatic. I don’t think every Christian has to function in one of the gifts listed by Paul in 1 Corinthians (because I think there is a broader, often evolving diversity of gifts that goes beyond what Paul mentioned). I don’t think the only “physical” sign of the Spirit is glossolalia (what about prophecy, healing, etc?) and that has been one of the main points of contention.

So as you can see there is a sense in which I am Pentecostal and not Pentecostal. Maybe it is the same as my evangelicalism? Maybe it depends on who’s asking?! Maybe some Pentecostals would accept me as one of their own? Maybe others would prefer to see me as a charismatic evangelical (who has not been in a “charismatic” church since moving to Oregon)?

I do know I am thankful for much of what I have received from Pentecostalism. I read Gordon D. Fee, and I realize someone can be a scholar who appreciates and participates in education while retaining some sort of Pentecostal identity. Then I remember the many times Pentecostals have rebuked me for seeking “the wisdom of the world.” I read books like Harvey Cox’s Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century and I feel like my heritage and tradition is being explored. Then I see Benny Hinn or Ken Hagin and I run back to my evangelical friends. I am excited to hear that most of global Christianity has been “Pentecostalized,” but like many North American Pentecostals I have been “Evangelicalized.” It is as if I have ecclesiastical dissociative identity disorder!

Maybe this will always be so? Maybe I will always be a bit Pentecostal and a bit not Pentecostal?


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What Reformation Sunday and Pentecost Sunday (can) have in common if we’re not careful.

When I was in Pentecostal circles the most significant holiday on the calendar may have been Pentecost(al) Sunday, which rivaled Christmas and eclipsed Easter in hype. Sometimes the emphasis was on the democratizing work of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem a couple thousand years ago, but more often than that it was on the birth of the Pentecostal Movement about one hundred years ago. I don’t consider myself Pentecostal anymore, but I am grateful for the moving and shaking brought by Pentecostalism to Christianity. That being said, what happened at Azusa Street in 1906 doesn’t seem to me to be superior to what happened on the Day of Pentecost after Jesus’ ascension. I fear that sometimes Pentecostals forget what the Spirit has done by bringing millions of people into the family of God over the last two thousand years. Instead, they celebrate what makes them different from Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, and everyone else whom they don’t consider to be “Spirit-filled”.

Likewise, when I see how some speak of Reformation Sunday it worries me that it is far too easy to move from glorifying God to celebrating ourselves. My local church did not mention Reformation Sunday at all, so I am not speaking first hand here, but I am cautioning. How ironic would it be that a church spends a Sunday rejoicing over how they found a more correct doctrine than their Roman Catholic neighbors while the Catholics down the street celebrate Eucharist, consuming our Lord Jesus Christ, worshiping him.

Whatever may be special about Reformation Sunday must come back to Christ. It cannot be a celebration of schism. That aspect must be mourned. We must pray for Christ’s body to be one, even if that is merely an eschatological hope at this juncture. Nothing comes to mind at this moment, but I do ask churches who celebrate Reformation Sunday (which seems to be growing in popularity if social media is any indication of trends) to make sure that this day doesn’t turn into one where we pat ourselves on the back for being “right” while being wrong about how this day should be remembered. For those who respect and honor Calvin, Knox, Luther, Wycliffe, Zwingli, and others must remember that they were fighting for the church to return from corruption to Christ. If Christ is the center of your Reformation Sunday, celebrate! If not, reconsider.


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Pentecost Sunday 2011

Pentecost Sunday is an important day for me. I came into Christianity through the Pentecostal paradigm. I know that many branches of Christianity celebrate this day, but there was something special about celebrating it as a Pentecostal. It was a day to remember when in 1906 a building located at 312 Azusa Street, Los Angeles, CA, became one with an upper room of a building in Jerusalem, Judea sometime in the early part of the fourth decade of the first century. It was a day when we all celebrated the arrival of the New Covenant Spirit upon humanity as foretold by the prophets that still comes into the heart of people today.

My own relationship with the Pentecostal movement has been love/hate. In part, I think this is because it began in the Oneness Pentecostal context and there is a lot of baggage from those days. Yet there is something about global Pentecostalism that I appreciate (maybe even need). In its purest form it is the Christianity for those whom Christianity has chosen to ignore. It welcomes those who work tough 9-5 jobs to be on equal footing with something who holds the professorship at a local university. Scripture is not the book of the elite, but rather it is the book of the oppressed (for a thousand doctoral degrees do not surpass the work of the Spirit). Worship is unrestricted allowing us to reach to the Spirit as it comes down to us. You don’t need to know the jargon, you just need to say what is on your heart. While people fight over whether or not Jesus has resurrected there is no doubt for those who feel his presence, by the Spirit, when they call out his name.

It is the type of Christianity that answers the powerful wisdom of the scholars with the confounding testimony of the cross. When Judaizers came at the church in Galatia with their reading of Torah all the Apostle Paul had to do was remind them of when they received the Spirit. There is something to this. While I do not adhere to the classic “initial evidence” doctrine I do agree with Pentecostals that the Spirit should be evident. One should know (at some points, maybe not all) that they are the temple of God because there was that moment, or that day, or that week, or that year when the presence of God was as thick and real as the Shekinah glory falling on Solomon’s newly christened temple.

Like Bono I can say “I have spoke with the tongue of angels” yet “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”, though without those times I am not sure I’d still be searching.

We humans are more than brains in vats. Yes, Pentecostalism often makes the equal and opposite mistake of treating us as emotional zombies, but it is a fitting critique of those who say, “Well, I researched this all day every day and I decided Christianity can’t be true because…”. Many with their intellectual arrogance are deeply frustrated by the Pentecostal style of faith that says, “You have your arguments, I have my experience.”

One of the great things that has happened to Christianity since 1906 is the Pentecostalization of our religion. I am not saying everyone looks and acts “Pentecostal” (I don’t even go to a Pentecostal church), but rather that this movement has forced us to remember that this is a Spirit-religion. The gospel goes forth and signs and wonders are real (in spite of the enlightenments misguided, one sided, attack). Even if you are not “charismatic” you who are Christ’s have the Spirit working through you and gifting you to do a work you could never do alone.

Pentecost Sunday is not about Pentecostalism, per se. It is about Pentecost. And Pentecost is about the Spirit of God birthing a new people with a new covenant. It is about the beginning of a tidal wave that took Israel’s God and made sure that everyone hears that he is God of the world. Whether you are Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, or some other brand of Christianity, let us never forget the importance of Pentecost. For the Spirit is shared by all of us who call Jesus “Lord”, who confess him to be God’s chosen one, who await his return. Let us remember that we still have a great mission before us. We must proclaim the gospel of our returning King in the face of all those who deny him and scoff at our hope.


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Wednesdays with Wright: The Point of the Ascension and Pentecost

This week’s N.T. Wright quote is on the point of the ascension and Pentecost:

The question of God’s kingdom in the gospels – the question to which so many parables are the oblique answer – is this: What would it look like if God was in charge here? Supposing, instead of Caesar, or Herod, or the Chief Priests, we had God in charge instead – what would be different, how would things work? We may imagine our schoolchild, grumbling under the harsh rule of a stern teacher, wishing that Dad or Mum could run the school instead; or perhaps, who knows, sometimes the other way round. Israel had dreamed for many generations that her God would come and run the world instead of the horrid tyrants who were presently in charge; and that is what they took Jesus to be talking about, for the good reason that it was what he was talking about. The point of the parables, though, was that it wasn’t going to be like they thought it would be. And the point of Ascension and Pentecost is to show how that plays out: this, it now appears, is what it will look like when God is in charge!

N.T. Wright, “When the Spirit Comes: A Sermon for Pentecost” accessed from here.


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Fully Trinitarian; Fully Embracing Pentecost

I read this great quote from Steve Farmer today: “I love that Pentecost is followed by Trinity Sunday. We’re often not Trinitarian, because we don’t fully embrace Pentecost.” It is no coincidence in my mind that Pentecost Sunday is followed by Trinity Sunday. We can fully appreciate the Triune God only when we acknowledge that he exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Too often it seems we forget to think in these terms.