CHURCH: History and Today June 9

Intro

Well, here we are. The final class. We have spent the last several months going through some church history and trying to understand where these different church groups came from and how they got here. Today we want to finish off by looking into the Charismatic movement, and then turning our attention to Evangelicalism.

Pentecostalism

What do we know about the Charismatic movement? What do we know about Pentecostal faith and belief?

The start of the modern Pentecostal movement comes shortly after we finished off last week’s topic. Last week I mentioned that there was not just one, but two Great Awakenings in North America, particularly the United States. Revival swept the country, and there was rapid growth in church attendance. Part of this was a result of revival meetings that took place. Traveling ministers would announce a public event and try to spread the word. There was usually a wooden platform that the speaker would stand on, and then hundreds or thousands of people could see him and hear his message. There was lots of enthusiasm among listeners and many became more devout and fervent in their faith. The 2nd Great Awakening took place approximately between the years 1790 and 1820.

After this time, with the rise in church attendance, church services changed. Congregations built bigger, more elegant buildings to meet in. The exciting revival-type meetings that had occured changed into organized, formal and ordered worship services. Overall, church meetings became less exciting and more structured. Something else that happened during this time is that these mainstream Protestant churches became the home church of the more well-to-do in North America, and so those less fortunate in life felt out of place. This gave a rise in their desire to find something to fill that spiritual hunger. As a sidenote, there were many factors that led to a segregation between the well-to-do and the less well-to-do. Unfortunately, much of this had to do with race. From the Civil war that took place only 50 years earlier, to the discrimination against the Hispanic population trying to find better lives in the United States, many American churches had strong prejudices that supported this chasm between peoples.

With some earlier movements that helped set the stage, what really opened the door to the Pentecostal movement was the Azusa Street Revival. “The movement began among a small group of believers meeting at a private home on Bonnie Brae Street. They were led by Pastor William J. Seymour, a former slave who had been profoundly influenced by Pentecostal preacher Charles Parham, and whose preaching on the gift of tongues had led to his being banned from the pulpit. In the house on Bonnie Brae there were sudden manifestations of the power of the Spirit, particularly speaking in tongues. Inspired by those events, Seymour’s followers moved to a larger location on Azusa Street. From that point on, Pentecostal fire, starting from that Azusa Street revival, spread throughout the nation.” (Gonzalez, 340) While it did spread across racial lines, the majority of the movement took place in the minority groups. As the churches grew, new Pentecostal denominations grew as well. These denominations made a lot of headway into the poverty-stricken urban areas that had felt neglected by the mainline Protestant churches. But the movement did not stay there. These denominations were active in sending out missionaries as well. They believed that the outpouring of the Spirit upon them was evidence of the last days. As a result they needed to go out and spread the Gospel before Christ came again. From then on, Pentecostalism become one of the fastest growing denominations in the Americas. Even today there are massive Pentecostal populations in Latin America especially.

Pentecostalism 101

So what do they believe? Well, the Pentecostal movement started in a regular Protestant setting, so Pentecostals will mostly believe in the core doctrines of the Bible as we would agree with (there are always exceptions who don’t hold to the core doctrines of Christianity, even among Mennonites!). So things like the Trinity, the Incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus, salvation through Him alone, and more are doctrines that they hold to. What is different is mostly their emphasis on some other teachings.

After this time, “Denominations that were known for revivalistic fervor became subdued. Emotional modes of religious expression - enthusiastic congregational singing, spontaneous testimonies....gave way to ordered, formal worship services that were conducted by “reverends,” ministers trained in homiletics (preaching skills)…Lecture centres and elegant sanctuaries replaced camp meetings and crude wood-frame tabernacles.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

As we can gather from the name, “Pentecostal” comes from the even that takes place in . Here we read of the tongues of fire that rest on the believers’ heads and they start speaking in tongues. They are baptized by the Holy Spirit. Many Pentecostals will say that Christians should seek a baptism of the Holy Spirit after their initial conversion to the Christian faith, just like the first apostles experienced. Another example would be the story in Acts chapter 8, where believers were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ but didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until Peter and John arrive and pray for them and place their hands on them.

Acts 20:21–22 NIV

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.

John 20:21–22 NIV

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Is there a difference between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and a Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Speaking in Tongues

Probably the most well-known teaching is that of speaking in tongues. This speaking in tongues involves both tongues as an unknown language and tongues as a known language, but not to the person speaking it. This speaking in tongues is the outcome of being baptized by the Holy Spirit, the external evidence that the Spirit lives in you. Some will say that unless you speak in tongues you are not baptized by the Holy Spirit.

What is the evidence of the Holy Spirit living in you? Is speaking in tongues a prerequisite?

We should remember that this is a massive movement and that this is not true of all Pentecostal Christians.

Healings

Another emphasis is that of divine healing. Jesus performed miracles while He was on earth and these miraculous healings still happen today. While this is also true of many other faith streams it does not enjoy the emphasis that it has in Pentecostal groups. According to one study, over 60% of U.S. Pentecostals say they have witnessed miraculous healing.

What role do miracles play in Christian life today? Should we expect them?

Summary

Overall, there is a greater emphasis on the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. His presence is made known through the outpouring of these gifts of tongues and healing. But something else that came up in my research was their focus on the imminent return of Christ. This did much to push them to missions and outreach.

Does the idea that Christ could come at any time affect how we live our lives today?

What can we learn from the Pentecostal movement?

Evangelicalism

Churches all over the world today identify themselves as Evangelical Churches. What is interesting here is that the term ‘Evangelical’ is used across all sorts of different church streams and denominations. There are examples Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist, Anabaptist, Methodist, and many more churches that are also Evangelical. So what is Evangelicalism, and how has it come to be found in so many different churches that are otherwise ‘unrelated’?

What is Evangelicalism and what does it teach?

The term ‘Evangelical’ comes from the Greek word euangelion, which means ‘Good News’ or ‘Gospel.’ So from the term itself we see an emphasis on the Gospel, or the story of Jesus Christ. There are some different theories about how Evangelicalism came around, but here are the two common views. The first one says that Evangelicalism as we know it today is a continuation of the great revivals that took place across the western world during the 1700’s. The second one says that today’s Evangelicalism is a movement that began in the 1900’s in contrast to the mainstream mainline Protestant churches. Either way, this is not the first time that people emphasized the Gospel. Since we talked about the Great Awakenings of U.S. last time, we will talk about the rise of Evangelicalism in the 1900’s. Here’s a quote from Encyclopedia Britannica.

“Earlier in the century, an intense conflict developed between the modernists (liberals) and fundamentalists (conservatives) in several of the larger Protestant denominations. Some fundamentalists left their old churches to found new ones when it became evident that they had lost control of the governing boards of their denominations. Many of those who left called for a separation from modernism, which they saw as heresy (denial of fundamental Christian beliefs) and apostasy(rejection of the Christian faith). This demand for separation led to a break with conservatives who remained within the established denominations. It also meant a break with church-sponsored institutions of higher learning (from which many of the defectors had graduated) and the founding of new colleges and seminaries committed to fundamentalism—actions that seemed to indicate a denial of the legitimacy of modern scholarship. By the late 1930s, conservatives still in the older denominations and those who left but remained friendly (especially Baptists and Presbyterians) made common cause against the separatist position. Although they maintained a commitment to fundamental Christian beliefs, they also declared their willingness to engage in a dialogue with the academy and society. To distinguish themselves from the separatists, they chose to be called Neo-Evangelicals, soon shortened to Evangelicals.”

It is from within this time period and this group of Evangelicals that Billy Graham began his career.

What Evangelicalism Says

Again, there are many different church groups that call themselves Evangelical, so obviously there aren’t major points of theology that they disagree on with different churches. There is rather an emphasis on certain theological and practical topics that are highlighted. Here are a few of the big ones.

Personal Conversion Experience

One emphasis is that of having a ‘salvation experience.’ This would be what people talk about when they say they got saved or became a Christian. People must personally believe in Christ Jesus for salvation. This sounds pretty standard to most of Christianity. The standard call was to repent and convert.

How does this focus on a personal salvation experience differ from previous teachings on salvation? Why would they emphasize something that sounds like such a standard part of Christian life?

The Importance of Scripture

Evangelicals will also state that the Bible is God’s inspired word, and that it is infallible, or that it will never fail in its message. Again, this sounds pretty standard.

What would cause Christians to emphasize another standard teaching of Christian faith?

Part of the equation here is the idea of science and faith as opposite ideas. This could be in response to a negative result of Biblical criticism, which was that some people started believing that the Bible was only a ‘good book’ and not divinely inspired or authoritative. Now I am not denouncing Biblical criticism, it is actually a very useful tool in understanding more of God’s Word. But there were those who came to unbiblical conclusions about the Bible. Because they believed it was just a ‘good book,’ it was not as important as previously believed. This emphasis on Scripture was thus (at least partially) a callback to the Bible as the standard for Christian life and practice.

Evangelism

This is another term that is closely related to the name itself. This is the spreading of the Gospel, the winning of other people’s personal commitments to the Lord.

When I was in England we helped in several churches in various cities. One pastor that I talked to stated that northern England needed many more missionaries, because there were very few Evangelical churches farther north. This led me to an internal debate and a question. It seemed that unless a church pronounced itself Evangelical, this pastor didn’t believe that it was a ‘true’ church.

Is an Evangelical church the ultimate church?

Are there any other comments or questions?

Conclusion

I wanted to end with Evangelicalism since so many of the churches in this area identify as such. It is helpful to remember that we are just a miniscule part of the entire body of believers, whose head is Jesus Christ. There are many different thought processes in many different churches, and many of these strive to follow Christ to the best of their knowledge and ability. But it is helpful to remember that far beyond the scope of Evangelicalism, the unifying theme across Christians is that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, and He came to save us. That is what unites us across historical, geographical, ethnic, and cultural boundaries to truly create one body. No, we don’t all agree on everything, and we certainly don’t get everything right. But all believers share the call to follow Him, serve Him, and bring His message to the world around us.

It has been a great pleasure going through this class with you all. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and the conversations we have had. I trust that since you are all still here that you feel the same way! I hope you have learned something useful and beneficial. I have learned a lot, and thank you so much for the opportunity to share in this way. I know I’m younger than many of you, and to have your trust and support in this is an honor. I would like to close by reading a few verses and praying.

Ephesians 4:1–6 NIV

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Colossians 3:11–17 NIV

Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 11-17

Let’s pray.