I was a teenage fundamentalist - part three

Barry Gittins says - A Spirited conversation is required

Prologue: First up, I want to thank those people who have added to this ongoing discussion of ‘things Salvationist and theological’ through their posts. I am enjoying the walk as we cover some much-covered terrain, but readily admit my navigational skills may prove to be ’suss’ at times. If I start going down dead ends, or ambling along in a daze, then I apologise; I hope everyone who crosses the Rubicon in this discussion enjoys the chance to stretch their legs and dip their toes.

I also trust the Holy Spirit will continue to guide us.

I

don’t know about you, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that I started to hear people preaching about the gifts of the Spirit, as opposed to the fruits (love, joy, peace etc.). It was about the same time that people started praying to the Holy Spirit in corporate worship in the various Salvation Army corps I attended. (People had previously seemed much more at ease praying to the Father, and to Jesus.)

I later found it a bit odd, that people would focus on a specific person in the Godhead to address and prioritise; at the time it just seemed a case of going with ‘who you know’, and for an evangelical body heaven-bent on ‘the whole world redeeming’ that meant Christ crucified and the father who so loved us that he put Christ there on that cross.

A deeper experience of holiness, a la sanctification by the Holy Spirit, had dropped off as a focus of teaching by the time I was a teenager. And as a mid-20-something - I am now 41 - more and more corps in Australia were going with a single Sunday meeting for adults and/or a seeker-sensitive service for those not in the know. So holiness wasn’t seen as a ‘biggie’ compared with the chance to preach to the choir, or the choristers’ mates if any were present.   Why?

Perhaps the lack of pursuit of the Spirit was because we hadn’t yet received some of the teaching on the Holy Spirit that kicked in during the 1980s. There were Spiritual gifts surveys, a flotilla of books and CDs, Televangelists and earnest ‘books on tape’.  Perhaps it was because earlier generations had been rendered gun-shy through corps schisms, as some congregations split over the influence of Pentecostal and charismatic preachers/officers back in the 1950s and ’60s.  Or perhaps it’s just because we didn’t (don’t?) have a great deal of teaching on the Holy Spirit on offer in the Army itself. Of our doctrines, there is no specific doctrinal teaching on the Holy Spirit, who gets   mentioned as a co-equal partner in the Trinity in the third doctrine, and described as our ‘regenerator’ (my description) in the seventh.

All up, we didn’t offer up much coverage of the Holy Spirit. But that’s not an insurmountable obstacle if we accept the third doctrine: ‘We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.’ Doctrinally, one plus one plus one equals one. If that’s accepted, then mystery is mystery and we abide by it. I’ve always thought the examples of steam/water/ice and St Patrick’s patented three-leaf clover were useful analogies for both kids and adults, in terms of coming to grips with the gradual revelation of who God is in the persons of Father, Son and Spirit. I also think there is a heap of confusion in how we view those persons co-existing. But the inexplicable is what you expect to find in any good mystery, and God is the ultimate author.

As a kid I sang pieces from the musicals of those dashing generals-to-be, Johns Gowans and Larsson. I also got to catch some staged performances of shows, such as Jesus Folk (writtenin 1972), Spirit (1973) and Glory (1975). One lasting impression was that God’s Spirit works through willing hands. Another was that there were gaps in my understanding of the subject matter up on stage; gaps that The Salvation Army’s Sunday school, junior soldiers and corps cadets weren’t up to filling. (The biblically- and culturally-based librettos and dialogue were exciting and pointed to stuff outside of my experience.) In fact, some of the best Salvation Army teaching I have ever received came from those musicals.

The Salvation Army, a Christian movement aka as a denomination, a charity and a paramilitary, parachurch paramour of Christ’s, has never been accused of being overly-focused on the mind; so it probably should not surprise me that, with its love of and obsession with music, the Army actually does some of its best theological work in its lyrics. I think that’s especially when you me ntion the lyrical output of Gowans, and his fellow general, Albert Orsborn.

The ways we approach our faith and the voices we listen to are always in flux. That’s part of the joy and grief of being human. There are times we get it. There are times we fall down.
As I’ve said previously, I make it my job as a person of co-mingled faith and doubt to read scripture and work my way through life’s choices to the best of my understanding, with the hope and expectation that God’s Spirit will help guide me through whatever vehicles (revelation, others, my own conscience, etc.) he chooses.

That means taking Jesus seriously and not judging others. That’s not tough; in fact, in practice, it’s a relief. But it is slightly taxing; there are times I’d love to hurl self-righteous denunciations. We give up our desire to throw stones at others when we recognise we make a decent target ourselves. Take an upcoming feature of the Boothian ‘Go for souls’ conference in Melbourne, Australia, at the end of October. Billed as an event for ‘teaching, equipping and empowering the body of Christ to fulfill the great commission through aggressive evangelism!’, the Go for souls gig invites folks to ‘ Come and get filled with the Holy Spirit’s power to win the world for Jesus!’.

I’m all in favour of people being filled with the Spirit. And if the guys are that enamoured with the exclamation mark, then more of the Spirit’s power to them (!). I reckon if we are going to try to live as Christians, then pursuing God and hungering for God’s presence is as natural as craving food, water or oxygen. I am there, I am on board fully, if you want to share your faith with respect (genuinely sharing with people in a dialogue about beliefs and values and life, rather than ’sharing at’ people). But I baulk at some of the descriptions the ‘night of mayhem’ party the event organisers are promising: a “Holy Ghost party to coincide with Halloween”.

I’m a diehard advocate of utilising pop cultural reference points, and I’m up for Paulian ‘Mars hill’ chats. But I admit my unease at the prospect, among the ‘ Best Costume Competition’, ‘Great Worship’ and ‘Lots of Lollies’ on offer, to receive ‘Destiny Words, Healing, Curse Breaking, Depression Lifting’ and ‘Nightmare Stopping’.

‘Get Filled with the Holy Ghost!’ is the invitation: ‘Come and have an encounter with the Holy Ghost!’ Anyone who has seen the Steve Martin film ‘Leap of Faith’ knows where my mind is at regarding this invitation. I’m praying for the guys, and I hope there are beautiful moments of God empowering people and uplifting worship through the Spirit. I hope the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost as they prefer, rocks their world. But I am concerned that some of those advertised wares would be better found at a carnival, or in therapy with qualified counsellors.

So, to be crystal clear, I am not judging the message but I am not sure of the medium; content is cool but I fear the context is a bit wobbly. But I am praying for the gig. I also recognise something of a chasm in the way we variously pursue our faith and the Holy Spirit.

I think it’s worth considering the Holy Ghost reference (as opposed to the reference to the Holy Spirit - ‘ghost’ primarily refers to the supernatural remains of something dead, while ’spirit’ literally meaning ‘breath’ in the source languages of Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek). To describe the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost is passé in the context of postmodern Christians and the general public. Many Christians don’t want to equate God the Holy Spirit with trivialising literary references to Shakespeare, or Dickens -or, even more bizarrely, link God to that jocular bogeyman Caspar and his cohorts.

In one of the more obscure and troubling of his teachings, Jesus enjoined us to avoid grieving the Spirit. This applies to all humanity and we all need to look at every step we take in matters spiritual and practical. How we communicate faith is crucial; thankfully the Spirit is greater than the sum of our efforts (thank God for that!). It may be helpful to note that when Jesus spoke against blaspheming the ‘breath’ (the Ruach HaKodesh, or Holy Spirit), the term he used for ‘blaspheme’ was the Hebrew word ‘naqab’, which can be translated to mean the act of deconstructing, belittling or cheapening. It’s what we say, how we say it and why we say it. Moreover, it’s how we live it.

Jesus enjoins us to love. His golden rule? To exercise love in our actions. I trust that the Go for souls conference will do so as part of the participants’ zeal and love for Christ. The source of power that God the Holy Spirit represents is also promised as our comforter; our guide; our disciplinarian; our advocate. Being open to God’s will through his Spirit (i.e. through God the Holy Spirit) and treating others as we would want to be treated ourselves is the challenge that confronts us all.

That’s also the summation of the ten commandments, and the preliminary, illuminary summation before Jesus launches into the surprising parable of the good Samaritan. May God temper our desire for aggression; unchecked zeal becomes rabid and we are in danger of losing ourselves in our own sense of superiority or moral certainty. Ultimately we need to recognise that the mystery of the Trinity, and the very mind and will of God, are beyond us.Ultimately we need to accept Jesus’ teachings about the unpredictability of the Spirit’s guidance and the transitory responses made by people ‘born of the Spirit’; the Spirit, like the wind, moves in ways we can’t fathom, insulate ourselves from or safeguard against.

Writer: Barry Gittins is a Melbourne-based writer, lifelong Salvationist, husband (to Trudy) and father(to Emily and Benjamin) who seeks God in everyday encounters. A frustrated poet and playwright, he has worked for the Salvos’ Australia Southern Territory in various roles since 1991: as a journalist (for Warcry, The Young Soldier/Kidzone, The Musician),technical writer and CD-ROM author in corps program (mission development), senior review editor (Warcry) and editor (On Fire). He currently works as a social program and policy consultant (writer/researcher) for the social program department.

 

2 Comments to I was a teenage fundamentalist - part three

1. Thanks for the plug Barry!

   Just thought I’d clarify that the language we are using is there for a reason. Sounds like a carnival? Well, it is! We’re even having stalls set up for different types of ministry! As for the word ‘Ghost,’ its halloween and halloween means ghosts, so why not introduce them to the friendliest Ghost we know! (and no, not Casper!)

   Appreciate your prayers! If anyone wants to come check out http://www.goforsouls.com for more details and join our facebook group.

   Thanks again!

   James
James on October 27th, 2009

2. Barry, certainly agree with what you have been saying and the concern regarding the Holy Ghost Party. One of the real issues behind such language is the worldview that is being put forward.

   I would suggest that the worldview is not a biblical one but that tends to reproduce the old Mesopotamian worldview. That is, the “Old Myth” that sees the creation of false gods, the collapse of human dignity and a universe that was created in conflict and violence and places the gods in charge. Just as the ancients needed diviners to exorcise their world so Christians today need spiritual warfare specialist to exorcise their world of nightmares, curses and sickness.

   What the terminology fails to see is that misfortune and illness are the result of sin, but most are not caused by demonic sources. They are part of the fallen world of humans and the judgment of sin. The greatest hindrance to people coming to Christ is not demon activity, real as it is, but human sin and rebellion expressed in fallen cultural and social systems which lead people to worship themselves rather than the Creator.

   WJE
Wayne Ennis on November 4th, 2009

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