It's Not Easy Being Pentecostal

I grew up “classical” Pentecostal. That tells you a lot about me right there. My father was a first generation preacher. I have a streak of loyalty that runs deep. There were days when it was not popular to be Pentecostal. I lived through the transition from persecution to popularity, poverty to prosperity. I did not fight the same battles as my father, but I felt some of the social stigma and suffered some of the misunderstandings. The measure of acceptance the revival has received has been welcomed by my generation. We want to go on to maturity. However, we are our own worst enemies.

I feel terribly embarrassed by preachers who blow people down, promise miracles for financial investments, or encourage physical manifestations as evidence of the Spirit’s work. I want to be open to the Spirit’s moving without being tyrannized by every new fad. I want to be true to my roots without being blind to past errors. I oscillate between recovering the original Pentecostal vision and transcending Pentecostal tradition. I want the revival to mature as an expression of historic Christianity and not fossilize as a monument to the past.

Sound Advice

I want to be positive about what is going on in the broader Charismatic ranks without being gullible and, yet, offer sound advice on questionable issues without being merely opinionated. I, too, am a pilgrim in search of a city. I don’t have all the answers. But I’m fearful of remaining silent when something needs to be said. It’s not easy being a balanced Pentecostal. It never was.

What has been troubling me lately is that popular piety left unchecked often results in distortions of the faith. Eventually the distortions become so ingrained they are accepted as orthodoxy.

An entire generation of Pentecostal and Charismatic believers has been sold on a distortion of the Christian faith. J. I. Packer once called it the “Pentecostalism reinvented.” Among the recent ideas that have become the new orthodoxy I would include the following.

• You are a hurting individual, inherently good, and deserving of all you desire.
• Because you are a King’s kid with royal authority, everything belongs to you. You can have it all.
• You are the best. Do not let Satan rob you of what is rightfully yours.
• Financial adversity and physical suffering are never God’s will. Don’t accept them.
• The Bible is a book of secret health laws and success formulas made known by revelation knowledge to certain select teachers. Get their tapes and books to discover the secrets.
• Don’t tarry for purity and power, just claim the promises.
• Tradition smashing and denomination bashing are signs of openness to the moving of the Spirit.
• Anti-intellectualism is a virtue. Accept every new thing. It may be a fresh manifestation of revival. If you ask questions you will miss God’s best.

The early Pentecostals had much more in common with the broader Christian tradition throughout history. Among those things I would include the following:

• You are a sinner dammed for hell who has been snatched as a brand from the burning by the sheer mercy of a loving God. Be humble and grateful.
• You are called to daily spiritual battle against the world, the flesh and the devil. You will lose some and win some but all your victories are Christ’s victories. To him belongs all the glory.
• As a sinner saved by grace you are constantly dependent upon Christ. Be faithful in prayer. Pursue holiness and wait upon God for divine power.
• You are a pilgrim on this earth. Don’t get attached to this world. Live simply and separate yourselves from worldliness for Christ may come at any moment.
• The Bible is God’s Word, a lamp and a light, a chart and a compass. Knowledge of revelation, not revelation knowledge, will bring comfort in affliction.
• Guard your life and doctrine. Judge everything by the Word and stay true to the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

These positions are neither the same nor equally acceptable. Theology may be a matter of emphasis but the truth lies closer to the latter position. While we affirm a plurality of gifts in the body of Christ we are wary of the ideology of pluralism which argues that all viewpoints are acceptable because God works differently in each individual. This effectively leaves no room at all for dialogue or improvement. If we accept this ideology, we can never question bad preaching, shallow worship, inadequate scholarship, misguided counseling or anything else. Growing up is often painful but necessary if we are to heed the Scripture’s admonition. We must not stay in theological adolescence when God calls us to maturity.
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Dr. Garry E. Milley teaches at Master's College & Seminary in Toronto