As I begin to write this blog I realize I may get some criticism.  And I don’t wish to cause issue with anyone I’m simply using this space to voice what is playing out in my heart.  My heart is deeply committed to Christ and this assurance has played out extremely Pentecostal (if that means I believe in speaking in tongues).  I believe there are many gifts of the Spirit, but my Christian life has grown in the shadow of charismatic movements and I’ve associated myself with these movements.

I still deeply believe in the Pentecostal view in regard to the Christian faith, because its view of the gifts is to empower believers to be a witness in the world.  I genuinely believe this is the purpose of the empowering Spirit, to be Christ witness.  I’m convinced all the gifts of the Spirit are meant to bring people (body of Christ) closer to Him and outward to others.  The purpose of the gifts is to be agents of change – ushers of the Kingdom of God.  So I think less about the initial physical evidence of tongues as the sign of the Holy Spirit and more of what gifts the mission calls for.

Please understand me.  I have a prayer language and believe it is uniquely from God.  But if I view the language like a walkie-talkie, but never leave home base, then it’s just a two-way radio between me and God.  I view that a little egocentric.  I agree there is much evidence for the initial evidence, but there’s more evidence for suffering.  Maybe we should view the evidence of the Holy Spirit by the amount of suffering one undergoes beginning the day one confessions their faith, because to undergo suffering one would have to be on mission with Christ. And I’m not talking about suffering because you speak in tongues, stump your toe or your guitar string broke.  Biblical suffering: rejected by family, discriminated for faith, unwanted for your commitment to Christ, abandoned because you live so radical that your spouse can’t remain with you.

Just so we’re all clear.  I believe the greater gift is the mission of Christ.  Jesus’ life, message, and prayer (Matt 9.10) was the ushering in of the Kingdom of God (Matt 13.41; Luke 22.30; Rev 1.9; 2 Tim 4.1; Eph 5.5; Rev 11.15).  When we come to faith and obedience we turn to God and become part of this kingdom and its operation. And I desire to be apart of this kingdom. The true power it not in the gifts, but in the kingdom and manifested in the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, and passed on to all who follow Christ.  We continue the ministry of Jesus as the Church.

This power is not limited to any denomination, institution, buildings, or particular politic but is best understood through imagery such as salt and light (Matt 5.13, 14), concern for the needy (James 1.27, 2.16) and the oppressed (James 5.4-6), the opportunity to influence society, by denouncing unjust laws (Isaiah 10.1, 2) and seeking justice and goodness (Micah 6.8; Amos 5.14, 15).

I’m not denouncing my roots, I’m announcing the kingdom.  I want to be apart of the Kingdom of God that radically changes human personality and life, not just private life.  Through people who recognize its authority and live by its standards, the Kingdom of God invades the stream of history.  That is the kind of kingdom I desire to embrace and participate in and I believe the early Christians agree with me.