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A “Great
Century”
81
of Pentecostal/Charismatic Renewal and Missions
Edward Keith Pousson
Pentecostals and Charismatics missionary-minded segment
of dynamics
Charismatic
to
produce
a worldwide
The
following
make
up
what is
probably
the most
world
Christianity today.
What are the
of this
century-long
movement of both Pentecostal and
Renewal that have
converged
missionary
thrust? And on what
grounds
can we
speak
of the twentieth century
as a
“great century”
of Pentecostal/Charismatic missions?
two
questions
launch and
guide
our discussion.
will also be addressed: What kind of
missionary
has
emerged
from the Charismatic Renewal in
particular?
has Pentecostal missions
impacted
Charismatic
missions,
and what lessons can Charismatic missions learn from Pentecostal missions? What is the
emerging
Charismatic contribution to mission
theology?
between renewal and missions is the theme that unites
These
related
questions movement How
The
relationship this entire article.
An End-Time
Movement
in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. Missions
Scott Latourette
Christian missions.
worldwide
religion.
century
as a
comparably “great renewal and missions? What common to
Renewal and
Missionary
This section
explores
the
relationship
between renewal and missions against
the
backdrop
of
developments
Professor
Stephen
Neill and Yale Historian Kenneth
called the nineteenth
century
the “Great
Century”
of
It was that
century
that made
Christianity
a
On what
grounds may
we
speak
of the twentieth
century”
are some of the
dynamics
of renewal
both of these centuries that have birthed massive missionary
movements around the world?
Renewal Results in Mission
First,
and of
primary significance movements
every
Christian Orthodox, renewed
of Pentecostal/Charismatic
for this
article, spiritual
renewal
to
global missionary
in both of these
periods gave
birth
expansion. By
the end of the
eighteenth century,
for
example, virtually
denomination
throughout
the Western
world, including
Catholic and Protestant
churches,
had been
recently
in one
way
or another. Renewal movements in Protestantism included Pietism, Puritanism,
Moravianism,
England
and the related
Wesleyan revival,
and the Great
Awakenings the American Colonies.
Though unevenly
distributed and
timed,
it was this church-wide
awakening
that
provided
the
spiritual impetus
for that
the
Evangelical
Revival in
in
1
82
which is now called the “Great I
Century”
of Christian
missions,
Similarly,
renewal
pervasive
missionary expansion
and
global country
where
rapid
church Pentecostal/Charismatic
decadal
growth
rates.2 In
1992, Wagner penned
this
hypothesis: non-militaristic,
beginning
1792 and
ending
1914.’
in the twentieth
century,
impacted virtually every
renewal has likewise
brought
church
growth.
Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian denomination. This
about
unprecedented
In
nearly every multiplication
is
occurring, are
leading
the
way
in terms of
C. Peter
movement has over the
past
congregations
church
growth professor
“In all of human
history
not another
non-political voluntary
human movement has
grown
as dramatically
as the Pentecostal/charismatic
25
years.”3
Without
question,
as Wagner suggests, Pentecostalism in all its forms is the fastest
growing segment
of
Christianity
in the twentieth century.
It
grew
from 16 million worldwide adherents in 1945 to 4.3
billion in 1993.4
Renewal
about dramatic
changes
of
that both
periods
of renewal Protestant
institutions, new
missionary
structures. Protestant
the nineteenth
century minds of Neill and Latourette
Changes
Christian Institutions
A second
comparison
from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is
brought
in
including
and
especially
a vast
proliferation
The birth and
multiplication
of these
missionary
societies is
perhaps
the
leading
factor that makes
the Great
Century
of Christian missions in the
Once freed from church and state
launched more than
21,000
control,
these
voluntary
societies focused
exclusively
on missions and
Protestant missionaries
by
1910.6 Thanks to
Harper
History of
‘ See Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity, Vol. 2 (New York, NY: .
& Row Publishers, Inc., 1953), 1013-1035; Gary B. McGee, This Shall Be Preached. A
Gospel to 1959
History and Theology of Assemblies of God Foreign Missions
(Springfield,
MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1986), 24; Stephen Neill, A
Christian Missions (Second edition revised by Owen Chadwick; London and New York: Penguin Books, 1986), 204, 213-215, 240-245, 286-287, 332-334. 2 C. Peter “Church
Growth,”
in Pentecostal and Charismatic
Wagner, Dictionary of
Movements, eds.
Stanley
M.
Burgess and Gary B. McGee (Grand
MI: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1988),
185-188.
[Hereafter
cited as
Rapids,
A1issions, 214; Sydney (New
6 McGee, missionary
DPCM.] I
‘ C. Peter Wagner, Warfare Prayer (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1992), 48. 4 ‘David J. Hesselgrave, Today’s Choices for Tomorrow’s Mission
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 119; David B. Barrett, “Annual Statistical Table on Global Mission: 1993,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 17 (January 1993):
22-23.
‘Latourette, A History of Christianity, 1013-1033ff.; Neill, A History of Christian
E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People
Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1972), 422-423.
This Gospel Shall Be Preached, I, 21.
Examples
of early Protestant
societies include William Carey’s Baptist Missionary Society (1792), the London Missionary Society (1795), and the American Board of Commissioners for
Missions (incorporated 1812).
Foreign
2
during
Through
the twentieth movement has likewise
given sending agencies, including
83
living
in
Asia,
the Pentecostal/Charismatic
and the world’s
largest
with some
25,000
of recent
their
efforts,
the
percentage
of the world’s Protestants
Africa and Latin America increased from one
percent
to ten
percent
the nineteenth
century.’ 7
century,
birth to hundreds of new
missionary
the Assemblies of God
Foreign
Missions Division with more than
1,500 missionaries,
Christian
mission,
Youth With a Mission
(YWAM),
missionaries
reaching
out to
nearly every country
of the world.’ But the
the movement is not its number of
missionaries,
on the mission field.
Eighty percent
to
Christianity
have been the result of
according
Today
at least 66% of the world’s Pentecostals/Charismatics
Latin
America,
and
Oceania, including
88% of Assemblies
church members and 75% of Church of God
(Cleveland, TN) believers,
two of the
largest
Pentecostal denominations worldwide.’°
crowning
success of
but its
growth
conversions from
paganism Pentecostal/Charismatic
efforts,
Asia, Africa, of God
Patterns
of Piety
fueled the nineteenth produced striking changes piety.
Moravian
pietism
to several researchers.’
live in
movement,
for
instance, of Protestant
Renewal
Changes
A third common feature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is that both
periods
of renewal unleashed new forms of
spirituality
that aided fresh
missionary expansion.
The various renewal movements that
century missionary
in the forms and
expressions
centered on Christ and him crucified. Wesleyanism
called for
personal conversion,
The Great
Awakenings
in the Colonies/States stressed
the
unchurched,
preaching.
“evangelical” preaching
for the need for individual “decisions”
holy living,
and zeal in
resulting
responsibility
for
witness, in the “new
birth,”
and a
prayer
for enabled the Protestant
strong
desire for individual and
corporate prayer, including
concerts of
world missions. These new
expressions
of
spirituality
faith to
adapt
itself and reach out to the ends of
History 8 Gary
for
(Grand Rapids,
‘Paul E. Pierson,
“Why
Did the 1800s Explode with
Missions?,”
Christian
11/4 (1992): 20.
B. McGee, “Overseas Missions (North American),” DPCM, 614-624; David B. Barrett, “Global Statistics,” DPCM, 814-815, 830; Choices
Tomorrow’s Mission, 120, 255n; Edward K.
Hesselgrave, Today’s
Pousson, Spreading
the Flame
MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 88-89; John A. Siewert and John A. Kenyon, eds., Mission Handbook 1993-95 (15th Edition; Monrovia, CA: MARC, 1993), 243, 248, 255-256.
9 Vinson Synan, “Global Consultation on
AD 2000 3
Evangelization: AD 2000 the Target,”
Together (Spring 1989): 7; Larry Pate, From Every People (Monrovia, CA: MARC,
1989), 129; C. Peter Wagner, Spiritual
Power and Church Growth (Altamonte Springs, FL: Strang Communications 1986), 12; C. Peter
How to Have a
Healing Ministry
Without Company, Making Your Church Sick (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1988), 68-89.
‘°L. Grant McClung, “The Pentecostal ‘Trunk’ must Learn from its ‘Branches’,”
Missions Quarterly 29 (January 1993): 35.
Wagner,
Evangelical
3
84
our
changing movements.”
world
through many
new and
unprecedented
renewal
has
produced
new
and material.
Comparing
needs-spiritual, Pentecostal
Comparatively,
Pentecostal/Charismatic
and varied
expressions
of
worship
and
spirituality
which have reached to the ends of the earth. One
major
factor behind the
astonishing success of the movement is its
appeal
to a broader
range
of human
physical
to
ministry
with the Interdenominational Foreign
Missions Association
(IFMA), missionary theologian
Arthur F. Glasser of Fuller
Theological Seminary’s
School of World Mission
emotional, approaches
writes,
challenge
evangelicals…
… Pentecostals were willing to tackle the “dark side of the soul” and
the
growing phenomenon
of
occultism,
Satan
worship
and demon
possession.
Whereas IFMA
people
and other non-charismatic
had found it relatively easy to
the occasional
expose the extravagance of
charlatan, they
were silenced in the
presence
of the Pentecostal’s serious confrontation of the hard realities of the spirit world. Here was a spirituality which could not be ignored. 12
Charismatic
spiritual guidance, together ministry, dynamic praying movement
world.
such as
exorcisms,
worship,
healings
and spontaneous
secularizing
“power-encounters,”
with
expressive
and a
lively
oral tradition make this
especially appealing
to
many peoples
of the non-Western
Through
these and other viable
spiritual dynamics, PentecostaUCharismatic missions has curtailed trends of earlier missions that offered
people
“soul-salvation” but left
miracles,
healings
to the
early
church.’3 Pentecostal/Charismatic missionaries offer
healing,
not to “disembodied
exorcism and
physical
souls,”
but to whole
persons. Renewal
expansion
global
of
Changes Leadership
Patterns
A fourth renewal
dynamism giving
rise to
unprecedented
in nineteenth
century
was the creation of new
patterns
of leadership, including
the service of
women,
increased
participation lay people
and of less
formally
trained
clergy,
and the
unprecedented mobilization of
180,000
student volunteers for missions.14
Similarly, Pentecostals/Charismatics have advanced in missions
through hands-on,
leadership training models,
and the
sending
of many women
evangelists
and missionaries. ‘
decentralized training,
semiformal Bible institute
11 Latourette, A History ojChristianity, 959-960, 1019-1029, 1043-1047; Neill, A History of Christian A1issions, 202-204, 214,
275.
12 Arthur F. Glasser and Donald A. McGavran,
Contemporary Theologies of Mission (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983), 119-120.
“See Paul G. Hiebert, “The Flaw of the Excluded
Middle,” Missiology:
An International Review 10
A
(January 1982): 35ff.
14 Latourette, History ojChristianity, 960, 1020, 1027; McGee, This Gospel Shall Be Preached, I, 24; Neill, A History of Christian Missions, 217-218.
“L. Grant
McClung, ed., Azusa Street and Beyond:
Pentecostal ivissions and
4
example,
undesirable, proven growth
provided
people respond.
They
“experience”
85
modified Calvinism
by making
Strong
reliance on the
laity
and
multiple
routes to ordination have
accelerated
leadership emergence
in areas of
rapid
church
growth.
For
most Assemblies of God
pastors
around the world are
without so much as a Bible school education. `6
Higher
education is not
but
imposing
educational
requirements
for ordination is a
restriction in some cases. And the lack of educational
requirements
for ordination has not
stopped
the Assemblies of God
from
becoming
the
largest
Pentecostal denomination.
Renewal Alters
Theological
Traditions
Consider one final
comparison
between these two
“great
centuries”
of renewal and missions. In both
cases,
renewed
theological
reflection
motivations for a new thrust in world
evangelization.
Of
great
significance
for the nineteenth
century
missions movement was this one
fact: renewal
reshaped
traditional Calvinism with
respect
to election
and
predestination.
The Puritan
fathers,
for
example,
believed that all
would hear the
gospel
and that some from
every
nation would
launched missions to the Indians in all Thirteen
Colonies. The Great
Awakening
in the Colonies broached Arminian-ish
ideas, establishing
the need for an individual “decision” and a personal
of salvation for the elect. And Jonathan
Edwards,
a
leading theologian
of the
Awakening,
for the sinner’s
response
in accepting God’s
forgiveness.”
in England, the
Evangelical Awakening
with its stress
breaking up
hyper-Calvinism.
Even
among
the Particular
Baptists,
William
Carey’s
there was a “slow
awakening,”
Stutd1fse, Carey,
and others
planted
seeds of a mission
theology
into
In these and
many
other
ways,
revival .
of traditional
theology, providing
fundamental
convictions and motivations for the nineteenth
century
missions
more room
Simultaneously on
evangelism
was also
denomination,
the
English religious
scene.” altered the
landscape
movement.
Topeka, America.
the fallow
ground
of
as Andrew
Fuller,
John
in Pentecostalism. The revival in
of Pentecostalism in North
reflection
to Los
Angeles,
We observe the same
pattern
Kansas marks the
beginning
This revival was
triggered by
fresh
theological
concerning sanctification,
the
baptism
in the
Holy Spirit and speaking
in tongues.
From
Topeka
the revival
spread
to
Houston, Texas,
and then
where the Azusa Street Revival broke out and
76-77;
Rapids,
Church Growth in the Twentieth Century (South Plainfield, NJ: Bridge,
1986),
McGee, This Gospel Shall Be Preached, I, 91-93.
16 J. Herbert Kane, The Christian World Mission:
Today and Tomorrow (Grand
MI: Baker Book House, 1981), 105.
“These and many other theological developments linked to the Great
and
Awakenings
providing missionary motivations are
discussed in
Latourette, A History of
958-961, 1019, 1043-45.
‘eTim Dowley, ed., A Lion Handbook: The History of Christianity (Oxford: Lion
406-409.
Christianity,
Publishing, 1990),
5
86
innovations in
early
motivations and
convictions
movements. Consider
One,
Pentecostals Spirit
Testament
experience.
impacted
various
parts
of the world.
Theological
and mature Pentecostalism have
provided powerful
that could not
help
but
produce explosive missionary
the
following
three
theological
innovations.
claimed that the
personalized power
of the
Holy
is
readily
available now to
every
believer
just
as it was in New
Pentecostals
discovered that
they
can receive
the sacraments
and
experience
the
Spirit,
not
through
the mediation of
and the
clergy (as
in Catholicism), and not
only through
the
ministry
of the Word
(as
in mainstream
Protestantism),
but
through
direct and personal
access to the Father and to
Jesus,
the
Baptizer
in the
Holy
Spirit.19
Two,
Pentecostals
emphasized
Pentecost
expect
the
supernatural
ministering
that the
purpose
of this
personal
for missions. This claim
of the biblical
experience
of the
Holy Spirit
is
empowerment
is a
rediscovery by experience
of the true
purpose
(Acts 1:8). Being “baptized”
in the
Spirit,
Pentecostals
manifestations or charismata of the
Spirit
to be there for them in evangelistic and
missionary
outreach.
Three,
Pentecostals see themselves as
living
in the last
days
and
in the same salvation
history
context as that of the New Testament.2°
They have, therefore,
recovered the New Testament
hope of the soon return of Jesus. This view of things has
generated powerful
motivation which is characterized
by expectancy, urgency,
how renewal
alters
missionary
and
intensity.
These three innovations theological
traditions movements.
Theological
serve to illustrate
in such a
way
as to stimulate fresh
missionary
reflection
concerning
the mission of the church has
played
a vital role across the last two
great
centuries of
renewal and missions.
century”
above
parallels
between these
of a
professional
of the School of World Mission Pasadena,
California. 21
Although my analysis may
lack the nuances
historian,
I believe that the twentieth
century
can be called the
“great
of Pentecostal/Charismatic renewal and missions in that it bears
comparison
to the
nineteenth-century missionary
movement. The
two
periods
of renewal and
expansion are not
only striking
but also instructive.
They
illustrate the
following key missionary principles taught by
missions historian Paul E. Pierson
at Fuller
Theological Seminary
in
First,
renewal and missions are interlinked.
Missionary expansion
is both the natural and the
supernatural
result of the
outpouring
of the Spirit
of God
upon
the church
(Acts 1:8). Any
renewal that is
truly
Missions “Dowley,
ed., A
Lion Handbook,
646; Paul
A. Pomerville, The Third Force in
(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1985), 65.
2°Pomerville, 21
The Third Force in Missions, 57-58.
While Pierson is to be credited for these principles, I do not claim his authority for the ways in which I have adapted and applied them in this article.
6
87
eschatological
will
eventually
turn its focus outward and cross social and cultural barriers to reach the
lost,
as the biblical Pentecost did.
Second,
renewal
changes
the
way
we do church and
missions, creating
new structures and
patterns
for both.
Specifically,
missions is most effective when local churches and extra-local mission structures cooperate together
in a
semi-autonomous, mutually interdependent fashion,
as seen in both the nineteenth and twentieth
century missionary movements mentioned
above,
as well as
throughout
church and missions
history.
Third,
renewal creates new and viable forms of
spirituality
that
spur fresh
missionary
outreach and
appeal
more
effectively
to the unchurched
peoples
of the
day. Fourth,
renewal creates new
patterns
of leadership
that unleash fresh
missionary
outreach. And
fifth,
renewal alters older
theological
traditions and ushers in new
theological insights that
provide
fresh motivation for
evangelistic
and
missionary
outreach.
Observing
Pentecostal/Charismatic renewal and missions in a general way,
we have thus far identified
key dynamics
or characteristics of renewal that lead almost
inevitably
to a missions thrust. This
analysis provides
the
foundation, perspectives
and
presuppositions
for all that follows. From here
on, however,
the
emphasis
falls more
specifically
on Charismatic missions of the latter half of this
century.
The Charismatic Renewal:
Creating
New
Patterns for
Church and Missions
That the Pentecostal revival has
produced
a
major missionary movement is a well documented fact.
By
1990 there were
320,000 classical Pentecostal churches around the world with a total membership
of over 45 million. 22 But what kind of
missionary movement has the Charismatic Renewal
produced?
How are the dynamics
and
principles
observed above also
working
in the Charismatic Renewal? .
The
Emergence
of a “Charismatic” Ecclesia
Renewal,
we have
observed, changes
the
way
we do church. The healing
revival of the 1950s formed the
bridge
between the Pentecostal Movement and the Charismatic Renewal. William
Branham,
Oral Roberts,
T. L.
Osborn,
Jack
Coe,
A. A.
Allen,
R. W. Schambach and hundreds of other
healing
revival leaders
caught
the attention of the masses in mainline churches who had more or less
ignored
classical Pentecostalism. This was the real
beginning
of the Charismatic Renewal. Dennis Bennett’s
public
announcement in 1960 of his “nine o’clock in the
morning” experience
was
merely
the
cutting
of the ribbon.
After the media
publicized
Bennett’s
announcement, many
others in mainline churches admitted their own Charismatic
experiences. Many z2 Barrett, “Global Statistics,” DPCM, 812-815.
7
88
Charismatic leaders were able to
stay
in their traditional churches and cultivate renewal. But hundreds of others were forced out. New wine skins were needed for the new wine. As a
result,
tens of thousands of independent
Charismatic churches were
eventually
formed across the United States and around the world.
For the sake of
definition, “independent
Charismatic” denotes churches or ministries that have embraced the Charismatic Renewal
and,
because of their Charismatic
experiences
and
innovations,
are not institutionally
linked to classical Pentecostalism or
any
denomination. Although
these churches
only began
to form in the
early 1970s, they represent
14% of all Charismatics and now make
up
the fastest
growing segment
of
Christianity
in the United States as well as in
many
Third World countries.23 There are between
60,000
and
100,000 independent Charismatic
congregations
in the USA alone. Consistent with observations made in the
beginning
of this
article, independent Charismatic churches are bom out of renewal and have certain characteristics which
promote
effective
missionary
outreach. What are these characteristics?
First, despite
the
apparent
“babel” of
diversity,
there is an
underlying spiritual unity among
these churches.
Nowadays
old rifts are
being forgotten
and Charismatic churches and ministers are
coming together in
“networks”-loose, overlapping
ministerial associations without the legal
or bureaucratic encumbrances. Well known
examples
include Charismatic Bible Ministries
(1,500 ministers),
Christ for the Nations (600 churches),
Rhema Ministerial Association
(500 churches)
and the large,
umbrella
type
Network of Christian
Ministries,
which
brings together
leaders of other networks.
Second, independent
Charismatic
churches,
like new wine
skins, help preserve
the witness and the
heritage
of the Charismatic Renewal. The practical
value of this is best seen in
light
of the fact that most mainline Charismatics become
“postcharismatics”
after two or three
years
of involvement in the renewal. 24
Third, independent
Charismatic churches have unleashed their
laity. They
have
recruited, apprenticed,
and released into
ministry
and missions thousands of
people
with little or no formal
theological training.
Not that
professional training
is of no value. But Christian history
teaches us that God often calls and uses
people
on the
periphery of our
religious
institutions. “Can
.
anything good
come out of Nazareth?”
“Peter D. Hocken, “Charismatic
Movement,” DPCM, 144; Wagner, “Church Growth,” DPCM, 181-182; Paul G. Chappell, “Healing Movements,” DPCIU 374; Stephen Strang,
“Nondenominational Pentecostal and Charismatic
Churches,” DPCM, 640; Barrett, “Global Statistics,” DPCM, 811-813.
“For definition and statistics on
“postcharismatics”
in mainline
churches,
see Wagner,
“Church Growth,” DPCM,
183; Barrett, “Global Statistics,” DPCM, 811-813, 826.
8
Fourth,
Charismatic The
by
leaders, Jesus, people
Renewal, powerful
strongest
and most consistent
For
an
exception
the movement’s
missions.
Many
movement.
89
and missionaries are
“practical”
or mission fields.
But some of these
love the Lord
Missions
thrust of the Charismatic Charismatic churches and
a
major missionary
pastors
theologians.
frame of reference for their
theology
is provided, not
the
seminary,
but
by
the context of their
ministry
and
by
the
hurts, needs and
questions
of their
congregations
The lack of theological foundations is sometimes
problematic.
who are often the
subject
of a media-inquisition,
love their
congregations
and have led hundreds and thousands of
into a
liberating experience
of the
kingdom
of God. These and other
spiritual
and institutional
dynamics
make the Charismatic
and in
particular,
the
independent
Charismatic
church,
a
force for world
evangelism.
The “Slow”
Emergence
of Charismatic
If renewal and missions are
linked,
then what kind of
missionary movement has come out of the Charismatic
Renewal,
and what kinds of structures and
strategies
are
being
used to muster missions
activity? While denominational Charismatic missionaries have
excelled,
the
missionary
Renewal has come from the
independent
ministries.’ To this
exciting story
we now turn.
a while, it looked as
though
the Charismatic Renewal would be
to the rule that revival results in mission. Some still question missionary
track record. Three
things
need to be noted.
First,
not all Charismatic churches are
equally
interested in
are still “bless-me”
communities,
not
yet realizing missions as the reason for revival.
Second,
the Protestant Reformation was
nearly
two centuries old before it
produced
And
third,
most of what is now
being
done
by Charismatics in missions remains undocumented. But there are indicators of a ground swell of effective
missionary activity among
Charismatics.
the
beginnings
of a distinctively Charismatic
missionary
thrust have been
relatively
slow for the
following
reasons.26
within the churches.
rightly spent
much time and
energy bringing
their own churches and denominations.
Structure limitations. Thousands of
independent
have no connections with
organized
missions agencies. Many
have
espoused
the ideal of
being
a
“sending
church” apart
from the
expertise
and assistance of
agencies
that
specialize
in
if
any,
have
really
succeeded over the
long
haul. Related to this
problem
is the
spirit
of independence that obstructs
practical,
functional
unity
and
cooperation
however,
Renewal
ministry Charismatic leaders renewal to bear
upon
churches
training
and
sending
missionaries.
efforts.
Admittedly,
Many
of the
early
Charismatic
sending
Few,
in missions
2S
26 Hocken, “Charismatic Movement,” DPCM, 157. Pousson, Spreading the Flame, 79-82.
9
90
Strategy
limitations. The
emphasis
on the
Holy Spirit
and
subjective guidance
sometimes
preempts practical goal-setting
and informed strategy planning.
Once a Charismatic minister “felt led” to
evangelize
a certain Caribbean island. He
resigned
from his
pastorate,
raised funds and went to the
island, finding nothing
but coconut trees. No
people.
Limited
theology
of mission. Charismatic anti-intellectualism coupled
with the idea of
learning by
“revelation”
apart
from
theological discipline
has taken a toll. Too
many
churches are built around faith for prosperity, healing
and
spiritual gifts,
often to the exclusion of the biblical basis of missions and the New Testament revelation of the
Holy Spirit
as
empowerment
for
worldwide,
cross-cultural witness to the Risen Lord.
Limited missions
exposure. Many independent
Charismatics have little awareness of recent
global
mission trends even in their own movement. What is an unreached
people group?
What is the 10/40 Window? What is the AD 2000 &
Beyond
movement? What is a career missionary,
and how does a
person
become one? Sad to
say, surveys have shown that vast numbers of Charismatics all across the United States are
simply unacquainted
with these and other mission
dynamics. Related to this lack of exposure is the lack of real
missionary
vision and leadership.
These and other bottlenecks account for what some would consider a sluggish
start for Charismatic missions. But that is not the whole picture.
There are
signs
that
Charismatics, particularly
the independents,
are
seizing
a
global
missions vision and
making
a global contribution.
Charismatics,
for
example,
outnumbered Pentecostals in the number of worldwide annual converts in
1988, according
to David Banrett.2′ From the
very beginning
of the Charismatic movement there were notable
missionary pioneers.
And
through
the decades of movement we have seen the
emergence
of Charismatic
sending churches, sending agencies,
and a
premier
association of Charismatic mission
agencies
and churches called the Association of International Missions Services
(AIMS).
Charismatic
Missionary
Pioneers
Oral
Roberts,
T. L.
Osborn,
Gordon
Lindsay,
Kenneth
Hagin, Sr., and Lester Sumrall are
among
the few leaders from the Post-World War II
healing
revival
(1947-1958)
who also became
significant
leaders in the
subsequent
Charismatic Renewal.
They
have blazed a trail for Charismatic missions. Oral Roberts founded the
university
named after him which trains Charismatics from all over the world. From 1976 to 1990,
Oral Roberts
University
sent several thousand students into more than 30 countries on “Summer Missions”
assignments.
T. L. Osborn has
played
a
leading
role in Charismatic renewal and missions.
By
the
early
1970s he had
already evangelized
in over 50 27Barrett,. “Global Statistics,” DPCM, 811.
10
91
countries where his
ministry
was
producing
more than 400 self-supporting
churches
annually. 21 In 1970 Gordon Lindsay
founded Christ for the Nations Institute
(CFNI)
which continues to train and send out Charismatic missionaries to
many parts
of the world. Kenneth Hagin,
Sr. and Lester Sumrall have also founded and led
major Charismatic ministries which have launched missionaries and missions efforts in every continent.
Pentecostal/Charismatic
pioneer
Daniel Ost founded Charismatic Ministerial Institute
(CMI)
in El
Carmen,
Mexico in 1955. Since
then, CMI has trained and launched more than
1,000
ministers
throughout Mexico and in ten other
countries, including
India and France. CMI graduates
have founded 120 churches called “Centers of
Faith, Hope and Love” which are
transforming major
cities across Mexico. The school is now
challenging
its students to
go
as missionaries to the “10/40
Window,”
the least
evangelized region
of the
world, stretching from West Africa to East
Asia,
10 degrees and 40
degrees
north of the equator.
Mexico is no
longer just
a mission
field,
but also a missionary force.29
Charismatic
Sending
Churches
Bethany
World
Prayer
Center in
Baker,
Louisiana is an
independent Charismatic church of four to five thousand members. A million dollars annually
from their
budget supports
various
projects
and over 100 missionaries in 25 countries. One-third of these missionaries were recruited and sent out from
Bethany
World
Prayer
Center. The
pastor, Larry Stockstill,
a graduate of Oral Roberts
University,
has
adopted
a strategy
which combines crusade
evangelism
with church
planting techniques.
With this
strategy,
several
large
and
growing
churches have recently
been
planted
in Russia,
Nicaragua, Uganda
and India. In
1991, for
example,
a
Bethany
team held an
evangelistic
church
planting crusade in Moscow. The result was
5,000
decisions for Christ and 1,000
new believers in attendance at the first service of the Moscow Christian Center.
.
Another Charismatic church with a serious
missionary
vision is John Osteen’s Lakewood Church in
Houston,
Texas. Since its
founding
in 1961,
Lakewood Church has launched effective missions outreaches to more than a hundred countries.3° Tulsa Christian
Fellowship,
the oldest independent
Charismatic church in
Tulsa,
Oklahoma numbers about 500 and
gives $150,000
a year to missions.
They
have sent out at least
28 David Edwin Harrell, Jr., All Things Are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America
(Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1975), 171.
z9 Lee Anderson and Christina
Tumey,
“Mexican Churches
Charisma &
Growing
Christian
Rapidly,”
Life 19 (October 1993): 68-73.
” Stephen Strang, “Osteen,
John
Pentecostal Explosion (Altamonte Springs, FL: Creation House,
Hillery,” DPCM, 656;
Vinson
Synan,
The Twentieth-Century
1987), 25-29.
11
92
40 of their own
people
as missionaries involved in just about
everything from Bible translation to
pioneer evangelism among
unreached
people groups.
Still another
example,
the
8,000-member Victory
Christian Center,
also in
Tulsa, supports
125 missionaries to 20 different countries.
A closer look at a few successful
sending churches, including
some of those mentioned
above,
has revealed certain
keys
to their success.
1) They
have a
consistently
missions-minded
pastor
and a missions director or a missions committee to steer the church’s
missionary involvement.
2) They
commit a substantially large
percentage, typically from 20% to
30%,
of their annual
budget
to missions.
3) They strongly emphasize
the role of the local church in missions,
providing
consistent missions
exposure through literature, preaching
and mission conventions.
4) They provide
their
missionary
candidates with both informal
apprentice training
as well as structured Bible school
training. 5) They
have loose but functional ties with mission
organizations
that provide
various
types
of
training, helps
and services to their missionaries. For
example, they may
send a
missionary through
Youth With a Mission or
Wycliffe
Bible Translators. Some churches relate to Charismatic service
agencies
that handle the missionaries’ financial matters and newsletters.
6) Sending
churches
usually
have
relationships with senior missionaries and/or
indigenous
Christian leaders in or near to the countries where their missionaries serve. These leaders in the host countries serve as mentors and field
directors, especially
for new missionaries.
7)
Successful
sending
churches
provide pastoral
care for their missionaries
away
from home. This
caring support
involves correspondence, phone calls,
cassette
recordings
of the
pastor’s sermons, and,
if necessary, a
personal
visit from the missions director. These seven factors make
up
a
fairly simple
and
reproducible methodology, regardless
of the size of the church.
The Charismatic
sending
church model has much to offer. It
bring their members back to the New Testament conviction that Charismatic experiences
are
given
to the church for the
purpose
of mission. It emphasizes
the
centrality
of the local church in missions. It
produces missionaries that have the local church at heart and believe in church planting.
And it helps ease church-missions tensions that exist in
many Christian traditions.
Despite
a highly vocalized ideal of “sending direct” without the aid of so-called
“para-church” organizations,
I have found that the
really successful
sending
churches
usually rely
on extra-local entities for
help in
training, mobilizing, serving
and
supervising
their missionaries. When, however,
the church tries to act like a self-contained mission agency,
certain weaknesses
crop up.
Missionaries often become like lone
rangers
on the frontier without
proper supervision
or accountability.
To the other
extreme,
some
sending
churches
only get
12
93
involved with
persons
and
projects
that
they
can somehow control from the home front.
Furthermore, many
churches that
try
to be the mission agency
act more like travel
agencies.
Short term mission
trips
to
places where churches
already
exist becomes a substitute for real
pioneer missions work. Other weaknesses include the
sending
of
inadequately trained
missionaries, haphazard
field
selection,
and
duplication
or lack of cooperation between missionaries in the same location.
The
greatest problem
with churches that
try
to become the mission agency
is the
historically repeating pattern whereby
the
apostolic function becomes absorbed
by churchly
concerns. A sudden or
gradual shift in missions
philosophy
or
priorities
on the
part
of the
sending church can leave missionaries in the lurch. In
1990,
for
example,
a large Charismatic
sending
church
changed
its focus from
foreign
missions to home missions and
expeditiously
withdrew financial
support
from 35 overseas missionaries.
Many
of these had to come home because all their
eggs
were in one basket.
Charismatic
Sending Agencies
Consistent with the
pattern
of the Great
(nineteenth) Century, whereby awakening
resulted in the
proliferation
of new mission agencies,
the Charismatic Renewal has also
produced
a multitude of new mission structures.
Many
of the Charismatic networks described earlier in this article have formed creative
missionary sending
and service
agencies
which contribute in various
ways
to the
recruiting, training,
and
mobilizing
of cross-cultural missionaries. Other Charismatic mission structures have
emerged independently
of networks. In the late
1980s,
one hundred new
agencies
surfaced in the Western
world,
and over three hundred in the Third World.3′ At least ten of the
agencies
listed as “Charismatic” in the 1993-95 edition of the Mission Handbook are
independent
Charismatic and
represent
a total of 646 USA
personnel
overseas.32
There are
many
other
agencies
of various
types
which
represent thousands of Charismatic missionaries. Listed in the Mission Handbook as
transdenominational,
Youth With A Mission has thousands of missionaries who come from
independent
Charismatic churches. Not listed in the
Handbook,
the Oklahoma-based “Teen Mania” has sent hundreds of
high
school students on summer missions outreaches since 1987. In the summer of
1993,
for
example,
Teen Mania took
1,750 teens to 14 countries,
including Mongolia, Egypt
and Albania.33 A Charismatic Missions Association
In
1985,
Charismatic leader Howard Foltz saw that the
groundswell Charismatic
missionary activity
would warrant some kind of 31
32 Barrett, “Global Statistics,” DPCM
830.
Siewert and Kenyon, Mission Handbook, 248, 255-256.
“1. Lee
Grady, “Radically Saved,”
Charisma & Christian
Life
19 (September 1993): 38-40.
13
94
overarching fellowship
or association. So he founded and now leads the Association of International Missions Services
(AIMS),
a consortium of some 150 Charismatic
sending churches, sending agencies
and training
institutions. Based in
Virginia Beach, Virginia,
AIMS is devoted to
catalyzing
the resources of the Charismatic Renewal for world
evangelization.
It
provides
a framework for
unity, cooperation and the
sharing
of information between its member
organizations.
These kinds of
developments suggest
that the Charismatic Renewal is producing
a
major missionary thrust,
and that the
independent Charismatic church is the heartbeat of this thrust. With this in view, we now take
up questions
raised in the introduction about the
relationship between Pentecostal missions and Charismatic missions.
The Charismatic Contribution in Relation to Pentecostal Missions
Several observers of Pentecostalism
agree
that the various Pentecostal and Charismatic
expressions
in the twentieth
century
all stem from one
eschatological
renewal movement. The
spiritual foundations and
impulses
for Charismatic missions are traced to the same
Holy Spirit
revival that
began
at the start of this
century.
For all their
innovations,
Charismatic missions stand in
strong continuity
with the Pentecostal movement in certain
important respects.
How Pentecostal Missions
Impacts
Charismatic Missions
First,
most of the
early pioneers
in Charismatic
missions, including those mentioned
above,
either had Pentecostal roots or were influenced by
Pentecostalism. Gordon
Lindsay,
for
example,
in the late 1960s transformed his revivalistic “Voice of
Healing” organization
into a Charismatic
missionary society
devoted to world
evangelization. By 1973, Lindsay’s ministry,
Christ for the
Nations,
had
helped
finance 3,000
church
buildings
in 83 nations and had distributed 15 million books in 46
languages. 31
Second,
Charismatics have also followed
many
of the
strategies
of Pentecostal missions. For
example,
the
supernatural calling
and recruitment of
missionaries, apprenticeship training
of
missionaries,
the use of women in
missions,
the
dependence
on the
Spirit’s
intervention in
evangelism,
the use of
evangelistic
crusades to
plant
churches and the
application
of
indigenous
church
principles
are common
strategies in both Pentecostal and Charismatic missions.
And
third,
Pentecostalism’s
theological
motivation for mission has significantly impacted
the Charismatic movement. The Pentecostal emphasis
on the
Holy Spirit
as
empowerment
for mission is basic to Charismatic missions. Charismatics have inherited from Pentecostals a
“Gary
B. McGee, “Association of International Mission Services,” DPCM,
30; Pousson, Spreading the Flame, 25-26, 52, 70, 88, 127-128.
35Harrell,A// Things
Are Possible, 166-168.
14
95
strong
commitment to the literal and
plain meanings
of
Scripture,
a Christ-centered
approach
to
worship, preaching,
and
ministry,
a sense of
urgency
for mission as
people living
in the last
days
and a sense of divine
destiny.36 Although
“Charismatic
theology”
is still in its formative
stages, many
Charismatic leaders
intuitively
know that their Charismatic
experiences
should lead to
evangelism
and missions.
Emerging
Charismatic Contributions to
Theology
of Mission
The Charismatic movement is consistent with historic
Evangelical theology
with
respect
to the
Trinity,
the
Incarnation,
Christ’s atonement, resurrection, regeneration by
the
Spirit
and other basic doctrines.”
Also,
as noted
above,
Charismatics are
basically
in the same theological
orbit as Pentecostals. The Charismatic
movement, however, is
yet
to
develop
an
adequate theology
of mission as such. A solid theology
of mission
would,
in
fact,
be an effective antidote to
many
of the abuses in Charismatic circles.
Nevertheless,
there are several tenets of Charismatic
“theology-on-the-way”
that can or do contribute positively
to mission and mission
theology.
Faith
teachings. Despite
its
many abuses,
the so-called “faith movement” honors God and serves mission inasmuch as it cultivates in people
a
deeply personal, corporate
and biblical trust in the Person and power
of Jesus Christ. Charismatic faith
teaching
stresses
physical healing,
material
well-being, positive thinking
and
confession,
divine guidance
and the believer’s
authority
and
victory
over
Satan, principalities
and
powers.
Criticisms and reactions
against
these teachings
abound. Some criticisms are valid. But the
spiritual dynamics related to the faith
teachings positively
account for much of the success in Charismatic
evangelism
and missions
today. Rightly
focused faith is central and essential to all successful missions. Howard Foltz of AIMS writes,
Faith
teaching
has elevated the
expectations of many believers today to for God and
“attempt great things expect great things
from God.” When
dynamic
rhema faith is released in reaching the nations, and not on selfish
or material wants, great things can happen. Numerous missionaries from
the faith movement have gone to the mission field and believed God for far
more than the “average” missionary. 38
Kingdom
now. There is another stream of Charismatic
thought known as
“Kingdom
Now.”
Leading
centers of this
emphasis
include Earl Paulk’s
10,000-member Chapel
Hill Harvester Church in Atlanta, Georgia,
and
Tommy
Reid’s Full
Gospel
Tabernacle of Orchard
Park, New York.
These,
and others in the
“kingdom
now”
circle,
model and
36 McClung, Azusa Street and Beyond, 48-52.
“J. I. Packer, “Piety on Fire,” Christianity Today, 12 May 1989, 20.
38Howard Foltz,
“Moving
Toward a Charismatic Theology of Missions,”
paper presented
at the 17th Annual
Meeting
of the
Society for Pentecostal Studies (Virginia Beach,
VA: November 12-14, 1987), 76-77.
15
96
visible
expression
of God’s
concern on
change
social conscience
Covenant
theology.
into secular
society
for the sake of
The church is to be a
of
urge
active Christian
penetration
social service and structural transformation.
dominion in the world.
Kingdom
now theology represents
at least a small
step
towards a
theology
of social
the
part
of Charismatics. Since internal and external cultural
is
part
of the biblical
missionary mandate,
the
emergence
of a
in Charismatic circles is praiseworthy.
This
wing
of the Charismatic movement emerged
from the controversial
discipleship-shepherding teachings the 1970s. Some of these
principles
continue to find
expression
in many Charismatic churches
today,
such as the
Fellowship
of Covenant Churches and Ministers founded
by
Charles
Simpson
and based in Mobile,
Alabama. Covenant
teachings emphasize
self
denial,
obedience to the commands of Jesus and the need for
growth
to
maturity
in the
between believers and between
spiritual
and mentorees.
Notwithstanding
abuses in
discipleship circles, their basic
principles
are at the heart of the Great Commission and can contribute
positively
to a theology of mission.
context of
strong relationships mentors
Restorationism. Restorationist Charismatic
Carolina based National emphasize
the
recovery
paradigms,
teachings
are
emphasized
in several
and the
Montreat,
North
groupings, including
a nation-wide network of churches known as the
People
of
Destiny International,
Leadership
Conference. Their
teachings
of the nine
spiritual gifts
of 1 Corinthians
12, and the “five-fold
ministry” of Ephesians 4:11, especially
the
apostolic and
prophetic
dimensions of church
authority.
Driven
by
these
the
People
of
Destiny
movement has
developed
a creative model of
ministry
based on Paul’s
apostolic
team in the book of Acts. The movement is led
by
a mobile team of four to six
“apostolic”
team”
provides
direction for church
planting, church
nurturing
and
leadership training,
but the
relationship
between
churches is
spiritual,
leaders. This
“apostolic
the team and the
non-bureaucratic.39 This
approach
Paul’s
missionary
band. This
semi-autonomous and and its
theological
convictions
display principles
and
dynamics
consistent with those of the
apostle
“restoration” of
apostolic
teams is a positive
contribution to world
evangelism
movements.
One of the most
significant
Prayer theological
and
power developments
in the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement
1986):
Quoted
Prince,” People of Destiny Lfagazine
39Hocken, “Charismatic Movement,” DPCM, 141f; Larry Tomczak, “The World Mission of Every
Christian,” People of Destiny Magazine
4
(September/October
15; Larry Tomczak, “Relationship
With the
Sending Church,”
in The Church Planters Handbook, ed. Jim
Durkin,
et. ai.
(South
Lake
Tahoe,
CA: Christian Equippers International,
1988), 105.
40 in 1986 Charismatic leader Derek Prince said, “I’ve also begun to see that in a certain sense the major outreach arm of the Church should be apostolic teams.”
from Larry Tomczak, ed., “Unfinished Business, An Interview with Derek
4 (September/October 1986): 23.
16
97
comes under the rubric of “signs and wonders” and
“spiritual
warfare.” The
present proliferation
of
power
literature
by
Pentecostals/ Charismatics and
“third-wavers,”
such as Peter
Wagner
and Charles Kraft,.
is
making
an immense contribution toward our
understanding
of how
effectively
to resist and neutralize demonic
powers
that hinder evangelism
and missions. Without these and other
spiritual dynamics, missiological techniques
and
methodologies
are like state-of-the-art computer
hardware without the software to run it. The current
global prayer
and
power
movement which is sweeping into all six continents is introducing
new
spiritual dynamics
for
evangelism
and missions with documented results in terms of countable
disciples
of the
kingdom.
Much of the above
may
indeed
represent
formative Charismatic contributions to mission
theology
and the science of
missiology.
Most of the hermeneutical
problems
in Charismatic
teachings
could be ironed out
by
the
integration
of a solid
evangelical theology
of the
kingdom with an
understanding
of the mission of God.
However, theological formulation
always lags
behind revival and
missionary
movements. We must remain
patient
but
hopeful.
I
agree
with missions
professor,
L. Grant
McClung’s
statement
that,
.
In this “Decade of Definition” there will be a rapid growth in the science of
pentecostal/charismatic
studies and
enough missiological
literature to
support
what I feel is the emergence of a definitive pentecostal/charismatic
missiology.”
Consistent with
precedent patterns
of renewal and
missions,
fresh theological
reflection has created fresh
missionary
motivation
among Charismatic believers.
What Charismatic Missions Can Learn from Pentecostals
If Charismatic
churches, especially
those of the
independent movement,
are to maximize their
potential
for world
evangelism,
there are several areas where Charismatics need to catch
up
with their Pentecostal friends.
First,
Charismatics need to tackle the
disciplines
of theology
and
missiology.
Charismatics must learn from Pentecostals to overcome their own anti-intellectualism and
engage
in
high-level theological
reflection as Pentecostals are now
doing.
J. Rodman Williams of
Regent University
in
Virginia
has made forward strides with Renewal
Theology,
a three-volume work which takes a fresh look at
theology
from a Charismatic
perspective.
But much remains to be done, especially
in the area of mission
theology. Many
Charismatics are yet
to learn and embrace what classical Pentecostalism
really
stands for-that,
as a
part
of salvation
history,
renewal is
essentially missionary
in nature and cannot be
complete
without
expansion
to the unchurched and the unreached.
41 L. Grant McClung, ” Mission in the 1990s,” International Bulletin
Research 14
ofMissionary
(October 1990): 153.
17
98
Second,
Charismatics must overcome their own aversion to organization.
It was not until the forebearers of the Pentecostal movement struck the
right
balance between
Spirit-led spontaneity
and strategic organization
that their movement became an effective worldwide
missionary
force. The Assemblies of God
denomination,
for example,
was formed in 1914 as an
agency
for world
evangelization. This
organizational
move
helped provide sorely
needed
cooperation among pastors
and
churches,
and
helped
achieve a more effective missionary
outreach. Before that
time,
Pentecostal missions was notorious for a number of fiascoes due to the lack of
organization. Charismatics have
needlessly repeated virtually every early
Pentecostal fiasco:
duplication, competition, inadequate training
and financial backing
for
missionaries,
lack of structure and the omission of long-term strategy planning. Many
are
yet
to learn the lesson from Pentecostalism that a certain amount of
organization
is
necessary
if Charismatics are to fulfill their own
missionary calling.”
Third,
Charismatics need to
create, recognize,
and unchain more mission structures.
Espousing
ideals of a
“sending church,”
some Charismatics all around the world are
trying
to turn local churches into missionary sending agencies.
A related
problem
is the
practice
of subjecting
mission
agencies
to the control of
sending
churches. These practices
are
contrary
to the New Testament
pattern
and deaf to the voice and verdict of missions
history,
which teaches us that the authority
for mission is not tied to
any
ecclesiastical institution. The authority-
for mission stems
directly
from the word of the
Spirit
and from a revelation of Christ in the
calling
of the
missionary.
Paul’s apostolic
team was not in
any way
under the direction of the Antioch church. Both church and mission team were under the
headship
of Christ and the
spontaneous leading
of the
Spirit
of God. Where this pattern
has been recovered
through history,
missions has
prospered. But where the local church has tried to control
missions,
it has generally
stifled rather than stimulated effective cross-cultural evangelism.
Research has confirmed this outcome
among
Charismatics as well. For Charismatics to unleash a more effective
missionary force, they
will need to
multiply
and release more mission structures and provide
more and more
missionary
candidates with a
clearly
defined career
path
to missions.
Conclusion: “Nine O’Clock in the
Evening”
The
century-old
Pentecostal
movement,
and the
one-half-century-old Charismatic
movement,
and the
younger expression
known as the “third wave” all
represent twentieth-century expressions
of the eschatological outpouring
of the
Holy Spirit
which
began
in the first
42 Howard Foltz, “Bottlenecks
Hindering
Mission
Mobilization,”
Ministries 4 (Summer 1986): 42; Pomerville, The Third Force in Missions, 57.
18
engage
99
century
A.D. The essential
purpose
of this and all other renewals is to
the church in God’s
redemptive
mission to the nations. What will it take to make the twentieth
century
the
greatest century
of all in
even if this achievement
takes
factors,
the
history
Christian
missions, Pentecostals,
twenty-first century?
theological breakthroughs, needed?
Charismatics and other Christians a few decades into the
What new institutional
and what new
spiritual dynamics
institutionalization.
happens,
God
always sparks
what new
are
that
First,
with
respect
to the above
suggestions
about
organization,
both Pentecostals and Charismatics must avoid the
trap
of over
Renewal creates new
patterns
and structures for ministry
and missions. But
eventually,
these become
organizations quench
the
Spirit.
As movements become mature
institutions, they
tend to “domesticate” the
Spirit
and the
kingdom
of God. When this
a renewal somewhere on the
periphery
of the ecclesiastical structures of the
day. Then,
old wine skins often burst rather than stretch to accommodate the new
things
God is
doing.
The
and Charismatics is this: how can
they
the
necessary
and church
spontaneous
institutions are
increasingly
ineffective for cross-cultural
Third World models and
strategies
are
multiplying
question
for Pentecostals continue to
provide
evangelism,
missions
spiritual dynamics?
informal
becoming increasingly
effective. 43
overlooked.
are
Calvinistic
thinking
think
Charismatics reflection
structures and
strategies
for
growth
without
quenching Traditional
centralized,
hierarchical
missions,
while
and
if
they
to critical
Second,
the
necessity
of
ongoing theological
reflection must not be
We have noted that new
missionary
movements have often been fueled
by
fresh
theological thinking.
What
theological
alterations
now needed in Pentecostal/Charismatic communities in order for there to be a fresh outburst of
missionary
zeal and action? Extreme
was a
theological
barrier in the
days
of William Carey.
Pentecostals and Charismatics are
kidding
themselves
there are no
theological
barriers
today.
What are these barriers? How can
they
be identified and
challenged?
Are Pentecostals and
willing
to
subject
their favorite
theologies
and
scrutiny
in order to
identify
their own blind
spots
that hinder world missions?
And
third,
what kinds of new
spiritual dynamics
are needed to launch new and
greater missionary
movements from Pentecostal/Charismatic communities?
Reporting
on the 45th General Council of the Assemblies
in
Minneapolis
in
August 1993,
Peter Johnson asked the question,
“Can the world’s
largest
Pentecostal
the revival fires of Azusa Street and
go
on to
greater spiritual heights?
of God held
denomination
reignite
Handbook “Bryant
L.
Myers,
“The
Changing Shape
of World
Mission,”
in A4ission
1993-95,
eds. John A. Siewert and John A.
Kenyon (15th Edition; Monrovia, CA: MARC, 1993), 35.
19
100
Or will it
degenerate
into a bureaucratic dinosaur nourished
chiefly by programs, building projects,
and committees?”44
Johnson’s
question represents
the kinds of
questions being
asked
by many
Pentecostals and Charismatic leaders
today.
But
my response is, do Pentecostals and Charismatics
really
want to
relight
Azusa Street? Some Pentecostal and Charismatics are
looking
back to what God has done in the
past
with a kind of
“do-it-again-God” nostalgia.
But God never
quite
does it
again;
his work is often
new, surprising,
incredible. But a recurring problem with
every generation
that
experiences
renewal is the
tendency
to
cling
to and
perpetuate
the forms and
expressions
of their
particular
brand of
spirituality.
When God
begins doing
new things, they
look back to the old
ways.
My point
is this: God is
already lighting
new fires of renewal and missionary
zeal around the world.
Many
Pentecostals and Charismatics are in the center of
it,
but some either do not see it or
they
are
standing aloof and
looking
askance. I am
referring
to the
many
multifaceted movements, especially
in the Third
World,
that are now
converging under the banner of the AD 2000 &
Beyond
movement. In all six continents there are the
stirrings
of an
unprecedented transdenominational
prayer
and
power
movement which has its focus on the unfinished task of world
evangelization. Through
this
global prayer movement,
new
spiritual dynamics
are
being
introduced for the “pulling
down of
strongholds”
that hinder
evangelism
and missions. Prayer concerts, prayer walks,
marches for
Jesus, spiritual mapping, repentance
and reconciliation between
pastors
and leaders from different denominations and ethnic
groups,
and a renewed
compassion for the
lost, especially
the
peoples
of the 10/40 window are some of the new
patterns
of
spirituality
that God is
using
to turn resistant populations
into
people
who are
receptive
to the
gospel.”
One of the greatest challenges
for the heirs of Pentecostalism will be to
recognize the new
ways
in which the
kingdom
of God is now
advancing
and to remain on the crest of that wave until his
glorious
return. The
way home is through harvest.
“Peter K. Johnson, “AG Leaders Call for New Pentecost,” Charisma & Christian Life
19 (October 1993): 84.
resources for the United Prayer Network of the AD 2000 Movement include: John Dawson, Taking Our Cities for God (Lake
the the
Mary, FL: Creation House, 1989); Cindy Jacobs, Possessing
Gates
of Enemy (Grand Rapids,
MI: Chosen Books, 1991); C. Peter Wagner, ed., Engaging
the Enemy (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1991); C. Peter Wagner, Warfare Prayer (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1992); C. Peter
Wagner, ed., Breaking Strongholds
in Your City (Ventura, CA:
C. Peter Wagner, Churches that Pray
Regal Books, 1993); (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1993); George Otis, Jr., The Last of the Giants (Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen Books, 1991).
Information is available from: Mobilization of United
Prayer
Resource Network,
215 N. Marengo Ave., Suite 151, Pasadena, CA 91109.
20
