100 Years of PENTECOST
I think this is the last part of the series for now.
It has been 100 years since the modern outbreak of Pentecost. Instead of changing our world and ushering in a time of great revival we have seen the opposite. The 20th century was the bloodiest in the history of the world. We have seen the moral decay march unopposed in Western culture in the face of Pentecostal revival. Abortion became legal, shacking up became acceptable, and same-sex marriage embraced. Religions of the world are gaining significant influence in what was a Christian culture for the western world. Fundamental Christians are seen more as power hungry manipulators than true followers of Jesus. In fact the current Prime Minister probably lost votes because of his connection to evangelical Christians. Somehow the great revivals of the early 20th century have become impotent. The charismatic church has lost its voice in society. We are not connecting to in a culture that desperately needs Christ. The amazing thing is that for all the problems in the Pentecostal Assemblies we are still growing, the number of people who worship in Pentecostal churches in Canada has gone up. However; we are much more capable than marginal growth. To rest on our accomplishments or to see meager growth as a sign that we don’t need to reexamine all we do, is short sighted and wishful thinking.
We need to teach that the Holy Spirit gives us power to live, but that we have a part to play in this. That what happens at the altar needs to be lived out in the world. That we see God’s presence and power more in living out the fruit of the Spirit than we do in the signs and wonders. There is not separation of the supernatural works of the Holy Spirit and the fruit, but that the two are joined like Siamese twins. If we want to preserve Pentecostalism in the new millennium it needs to be more about our mission and less about our distinctive.