6-13-22<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not going to go Theological on you here. I will take a moment, however, to invite us all to consider a glaring matter (I believe to be a problem) in today\u2019s churches.<\/p>\n
The root of \u201cTheology\u201d literally is \u201cthe study of God,\u201d so I might break my promise before I start, but I rather think in this matter we should study not God so much as contemporary worship, the practices of Western churches, and the evolution, yes, of denominations.<\/p>\n
Simply: I think significant portions of Christendom \u2013 north of the Equator, generally, and in America especially \u2013 have sublimated important aspects of Christian doctrine. That is to say, the Church that Jesus inspired and the Apostles established.<\/p>\n
Stick with me: Essential elements of Christianity, the accepted teaching over many centuries, and the foundational beliefs of Christians\u2026 are often ignored today. In Christian churches themselves.<\/p>\n
Many Christians are being taught incomplete Gospels, if taught at all.<\/p>\n
An incomplete Gospel is not the Gospel at all. Churches and their traditions and denominations used to proclaim \u201ca full Gospel\u201d and be dedicated to \u201cknow Christ and make Him known.\u201d Now it is what has become convenient, or appealing, or uncomplicated. And I am not here referring to obscure debates or fine points of, say, eschatology or, you know, “how many angels can dance on the heads of pins.”<\/p>\n
Those challenges are serious enough\u2026 and I suppose always will be. My concern actually is more basic, and can be illustrated by two recent days in the church \u201ccalendar\u201d that are practically ignored in much of today\u2019s church.<\/p>\n
The first is Ascension Day. For centuries the Transfiguration of Christ \u2013 His bodily ascension to Heaven, witnessed by Disciples and accompanied by faith-heroes of the Old Testament \u2013 was a major event, celebrated by churches in a major way, observed for its major significance.<\/p>\n
This Transfiguration of the Christ \u201cclosed the circle,\u201d made complete His earthly Ministry. The fulfillment of a hundred various prophesies\u2026 the details of His life and many miracles performed\u2026 His suffering and sacrificial death\u2026 all were the varieties of signs and wonders that announced who He was. Of course, His miraculous victory over death, and 40 days of being seen, and preaching anew, were further signs that He was \u2013 as His followers were now believing \u2013 much greater than the prophets of old.<\/p>\n
But Jesus\u2019s bodily Ascension to Heaven, lifted to the clouds, welcomed by the Father\u2026 this<\/em> was the final act in His ministry on earth. The Ascension confirmed, finally, that Jesus was Divine; that He was returning to the Father.<\/em><\/p>\n This act, this fact, was profoundly important to the early Church. And it remained a major element of teaching and creeds and church observances for centuries. Properly so.<\/p>\n Today (and believe me, I know and honor the pockets of exceptions) the mainstream denominations scarcely mention the event, the Day, its implications. A needless omission; a symptom of post-Modern disrespect for God Almighty and His plan for His church.<\/p>\n You might ask: Would clergy who undergo training, and people who build churches, really abandon the Faith??? The answer is found, sadly, many times throughout Biblical history. At one time (see Samuel II, chapter 6) the Israelites actually let the Ark of Covenant — delivered and designed by God Himself — be abandoned for three months. There is an example. (King David wanted to return it to Jerusalem, but instead consigned it to the household of Obed-Edom, appropriately, a Levite — and this, I believe, was a sign to us: “As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord!”)<\/em><\/p>\n Even more egregious, and more widespread, is what I call the \u201cDuine God\u201d who is worshiped and glorified, to the extent He is, by the contemporary church. (That is, opposed to the \u201cTriune God\u201d \u2013 the Trinity.)<\/p>\n Ten days after Jesus\u2019s Ascension, a significant promise of His was fulfilled. As the Disciples and others \u201cwaited\u201d as Jesus commanded, \u201cthere came a rushing sound as from a mighty wind\u2026 over the heads of the assembled crowd there appeared what seemed like tongues of flame\u2026 everyone began speaking, but in languages of others, and in unknown talk that sounded like gibberish…\u201d (My paraphrase of the account in the Book of Acts.)<\/p>\n Happening on Pentecost (the \u201cFeast of Weeks\u201d on the Jewish calendar; subsequently known as Whit Day, sometimes Whitsunday) \u2013 the events of that day gave rise to the Pentecostal experience of believers.<\/p>\n That Pentecost event was the birth-day of the Church. Jesus had assured the Disciples that it was \u201cbetter that He leave them, because One will come with power, so they might do all things He had done.\u201d A miracle happened that day\u2026 and has not ceased. Nine Spiritual Gifts, as listed in I Corinthians and elsewhere, came upon those people, and are still promised to believers today<\/em>. They include speaking, and understanding, strange tongues, \u201cthe language of angels.\u201d Gifts of miraculous knowledge, and wisdom, and prophetic visions; and healing.<\/p>\n Not all \u201cpowers\u201d at all times to all people: they are not magic wands. But they are gifts<\/em>.<\/p>\n And I am astonished how few Christian churches believe in them today. Or seek them. Or accept them. Or teach them. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever\u2026 and so is the equal member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit<\/em> \u2013 God in<\/em> us. Yet today\u2019s churches are afraid to see the Gifts, and the Holy Spirit\u2019s indwelling, as anything but a 2000-year-old religious relic. Tragic.<\/p>\n Some people today claim that this experience was “emotionalism.” But things changed, forever. Peter, for instance, had been an impulsive and sometimes foolish fan of Jesus. After Pentecost he became a wise, mature, and persuasive leader. Some people today claim that the Pentecostal experience was for that moment only, to “anoint” followers. However, it did not stop. Within decades there were Christian churches as far away as England, and in short centuries, Christianity was the official faith of the Roman Empire. The power of Pentecost!<\/em><\/p>\n I have experienced some of the Gifts; and friends have. Pentecostalism is the fastest-growing segment of the church, and south of the Equator is overtaking Catholic and traditional Protestant denominations in numbers. Holy-Spirit Christianity is outstripping Islam in Africa (the massacres you hear about in the news are routinely of Pentecostal communities).<\/p>\n These \u201choles in the Gospel\u201d today I see as nothing less than a religious \u201ccancel culture\u201d of the post-Modern age, with dead, frightened mainstream skeletons behind pulpits of social clubs and mausoleums posing as churches. Churches that deny the Trinity.<\/p>\n That is harsh, but I think Christians need some spiritual tables overturned in church parking lots and courtyards. Would Jesus know His church if He returned today?<\/p>\n + + +<\/p>\n