As a mainline church we have been told to the point of weariness what is wrong with us. Many articles have been written about the demise of the mainline churches with their dwindling membership and attendance. Someone has figured out mathematically that if the United Methodists continue to lose members at the present rate, the last Methodist will leave the face of the earth in the year 2037. This is a very sobering thought.
The Dilemma Of Decline
To borrow a line from Dickens, these are, for the mainline Protestants, the "worst of times." The mainline churches in the early times of this century were used to vitality, growth, and widespread influence and popularity. Currently, they are experiencing severe decline. Martin Marty tells us that American religion now has a new map. And what is mapped is a massive realignment of American religious demography; a vast earthquake has shifted the so-called mainline denominations from the center to the margin of American religious life (A Nation of Behavers, University of Chicago Press, 1986). It is not only a margin of numbers but of vitality and influence. He points out that now occupying the new center are large, rapidly growing, aggressive and politically and religiously conservative Protestant denominations. It is not uncommon to find huge religiously conservative bookstores in large shopping malls and learn that conservative seminaries count their enrollment by the thousands instead of the hundreds. In the wake of such rapid and expansive growth by conservative churches, the mainline churches have experienced the loss of national and local visibility and influence, forced to the slippery slopes of decline in numbers and vitality.
The real danger confronting the mainline churches is the temptation to reach out and grab anything that might offer any glimmer of hope and relief. Edward Farley in his article, "The Modern Element in Protestantism" (Theology Today, July 1990, p. 131), points out the real dangers of such temptations. "Communities are like individual human beings in the sense that times of decline, uncertainty, insecurity, and threat are times of greatest temptation. When threatened with harm, extinction, or even change, we human beings will latch on to all sorts of ideologies, worldviews, demagogues, authorities, and institutions which we think may save us. Times of peril and insecurity are times of idolatries and absolutisms" (p. 133). The mainline churches, staggered by losses, now begin to envy religious movements that glitter with power and slick success and wonder whether to imitate them.
It is the fact of our times, that churches that do not hesitate to make absolute claims about themselves and their interpretations, who offer certainties, who make unabashed and even manipulative use of the media have experienced substantial growth. Farley points out that religions that develop specific pieties and claim the very will of God and make absolute claims for their traditions and institutions do well. But he goes on to ask a most crucial question, "Are we in the business of religion?" Then he concludes that our calling is not to religion, but to faithfulness. It is not to growth and success, but to witness to the gospel. One thing is evident: our destiny as mainline churches does not lie along the path of retreat from modernism nor in attempts to hug the right side of the theological road. But as Farley goes on to point out, critical modernism alone has never been a sufficient rallying point. We must go beyond the negative critical principle to affirm the positive, namely, that "God redeems, transforms, and empowers in and through the earthen vessels of the creaturely, the cultural, the historical."
How do Protestant mainline churches regain their vitality? Where in all of this is the promise of the Holy Spirit? What about the Holy Spirit's promise of power, to make possible a strong witness, to give guidance, and to lead into new things? Pentecost bears witness to the church's potential. It is good for us to know about the sociological and theological reasons for the decline in our mainline churches. However, it is disastrous if we become paralyzed through discouragement. The situation is more like that in Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones. Pentecost comes with a promise of new life and these dry bones can live again. This is the encouraging and challenging promise of Pentecost.
Although there may be few who seem to hold out much hope for the mainline churches, we must not lose sight of the potential of the Holy Spirit to bring new life. It has happened before and it can happen again. The Spirit acknowledges human weakness and paradoxically it glories in that weakness, because it is in weakness that the power of God is manifest. The word of the Lord to Paul was, "For my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). This is the message of Pentecost.
The Promise Of Power
First, look at Acts 1:8:
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
This promise about the Spirit is from Jesus. The promise is the promise of power. To understand the nature of this power look at the Greek word that is used for power in the text. It is the noun dunamis, from which we derive our word for dynamic, dynamite and dynamo. This seeks to express the magnitude of this power. This power in the life of the Christian and in the church is unlimited. It is an inexhaustible source of power. It has been suggested that all we need in the church to accomplish our goals is money. Never. What we need is the Holy Spirit. Here is a limitless source of power that can do far more than mere money could ever do. The ministry of the church is not dependent on money but the Spirit. Money is limiting and confining, whereas the Spirit knows no bounds and can accomplish the impossible.
The promise of power in this passage in Acts 1:8 is the power to be an effective witness for Christ. That witness was to operate in the manner of an ever widening series of concentric circles, beginning in Jerusalem, where Pentecost was experienced, and extending to the ends of the earth. The following account in the book of Acts shows how this power was a mighty factor in their lives. They were men and women with a message to proclaim, come what may. "For we can not keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20 NRSV).
Every Christian is called to be Christ's witness. Not only do we have the call and the commission to be witnesses, but we too have the promise that is attached to it. The Holy Spirit was the driving force and influence behind the church's ability to witness to Christ. It was the work of the Holy Spirit that brought about the power to convert this small band of ordinary, weak, and fearful men in Jerusalem into a force of fearless evangelists who "turned the world upside down." The power of the Holy Spirit is promised to the church in every age to enable the church to fulfill its mighty task of witnessing to her Lord to the ends of the earth.
Do not underestimate what the power of the Holy Spirit can do. Look at the incredible things that happened in Acts. There was healing, the restoring of relationships and the overcoming of racial and cultural barriers which appeared insurmountable. Do not underestimate the power of the Spirit in your life. Here is a boundless source of power to meet every human need. I went to the hospital to visit an older member of the parish and to my surprise I discovered she was listed as being in the maternity ward. I told the attendant at the desk that there must be some mistake and I asked her if she would call the nurse's station to see if the woman was there. To my surprise the nurse said she was there. When I arrived at the lady's room she said to me, "Are you surprised to see me here?" I told her that I was and she went on to explain that the test she was having could only be performed in that department of the hospital. As I was leaving she said to me with a twinkle in her eye, "Don't you underestimate this 82-year-old woman!" No matter how burdened or despondent we become we must not underestimate what the Holy Spirit can do.
On the day of Pentecost the disciples received something that they never had before -- power. Prior to this experience they were so timid, uncertain, stammering and confused. Incredibly Acts 2:14-17 records,
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ...' "
The disciples had preached before, but never with such force, power or persuasion. Never had they experienced such results.
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
-- Acts 2:41-42
This sense of power that came to the disciples was the ability to do and to accomplish. This was surely the way the church was meant to be. Vigorous and flexible. These were the years before it became fat and short of breath through prosperity and muscle-bound by over-organization. Remember that Methodism began as a lay movement, spirit-filled, expressive, spontaneous, vocal, and exciting, and this is the way Methodism was meant to be.
We are no longer a movement, but now we are an institution. We are encumbered with all the problems that beset institutions; the maintaining of the institution, caring for the survival of the institution, becoming preoccupied with budgets, agendas, and strategy. In the process the power and presence of the Spirit has been weakened. J. B. Phillips in his Introduction to his translation of Acts, titled The Young Church in Action, says of the apostles that they did not make acts of faith; they believed. They did not say their prayers; they prayed. They did not hold conferences on medicine; they healed the sick.
You may consider these early Christians in Acts uncomplicated and naive by modern standards. However, you would have to admit that they were open on the God-ward side in a way that is unknown to us today. First, the promise of the Spirit was the promise of power.
The Promise Of Guidance
Second, the promise of the Spirit is the promise of guidance.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
-- John 16:13
When present the Holy Spirit will lead. Life in the Spirit is never static, calm, or status quo. The presence of the Spirit means life, movement, activity, for that is the nature of the Spirit. Look at Jesus' words in John 3:
The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the spirit.
-- John 3:8
The Bible is a record of the unending march of God's purpose through history. God calls us to be Spirit-led and to follow God. The work of the Spirit is to prod, move and inspire men and women to be active participants in the kingdom of God. God drives Abraham from the ease and comfort of Haran declaring, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you ..." (Genesis 12:1-2).
The disciples left the comforts of home and families to follow Jesus. They left their nets dangling over the sides of their fishing boats as they responded to Jesus' call, "Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men." When Jesus prays for his disciples in John 17 he does not pray for their ease and comfort but he prays, "As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world."
Philip Schaff reminds us that on Pentecost the disciples received their baptism, confirmation, and ordination, all in one, for they received no other. To them it was the great inspiration which enabled them to be authoritative teachers of the gospel by tongue and pen. What previously had been confusing and mysterious to them (there were many things about Jesus' life they did not comprehend), now became clear and full of meaning for them. The Holy Spirit revealed to them the person and work of the Redeemer in light of his resurrection and exaltation, and took full possession of their minds and hearts.
The disciples were illuminated, controlled, and directed by the Holy Spirit. The manifestation of the Spirit's power was manifested in utterances that broke through the confines of ordinary speech and burst out in ecstatic laughter of praise and thanksgiving. Schaff declares, "It was the Spirit himself who gave them utterance and played on their tongues, as on new tuned harps, unearthly melodies of praise. It was the first Te Deum of the newborn church" (History of the Christian Church, Vol. 1, p. 230f).
Francis Giovanni was the son of a rich clothing merchant in southern Italy. He was a gallant, high-spirited young man, free-wheeling and wealthy. One day he attended mass at Portiuncula, a few miles south of his hometown of Assisi. It was here that Francis heard the words, "Preach, the kingdom of God is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. Provide neither silver nor gold, nor brass in your purses." Throwing away his staff, purse and shoes he made these commands the rule of his life and he gathered other companions around him and he became known as St. Francis of Assisi, and his group, the Franciscans. In 1210 Francis went to receive the blessing of Pope Innocent III upon his group. The pope seeking to test his sincerity said, "Go, brother, go to the pigs, to whom you are more fit to be compared than to men, and roll with them and to them preach the rules you have so ably set forth." Francis obeyed and returning to the pope said, "My Lord, I have done so." The pope then gave his blessing and told him to go and preach repentance. At this time there occurred one of the most remarkable episodes of Francis' career. He entered into marriage with poverty. He called poverty his bride and remained devoted to her with the devotion of a knight. With only a simple robe tied with a cord, barefoot, he set out on a lifelong ministry devoted to the poor. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him.
The Spirit drove Luther out of the monastery in 1517 and it was like striking a match in a tinderbox, touching off a firestorm of revival and reformation that spread throughout Europe. Wesley was driven by the Spirit out of the established pulpits of England which he loved to the open air of Bristol where he preached to the coal miners the unsearchable riches of Christ, bringing an unprecedented spiritual awakening.
The same Spirit is driving us today to move out of our complacency and ease into the exciting stream of the Spirit's activity in our world. Is it not possible that God is driving this generation into the wilderness away from the temples and the traditions, away from the ideals which have become idols, forcing us to be a pilgrim people? It is not easy for us to grasp this, or to gain any comfort from it, because we think of security in the certain terms of institutions and temples. We like our churches to be Gothic, granite-like, to be a solid rock in a world of flux and change, a place of refuge amid the milieu of unsettledness, a place where things will never change but remain the same. But it is not the church but Christ "who is the same yesterday, today and forever." If we demand that the church or anything else be "the same yesterday, today and forever," we shall be disappointed. We scan the wilderness for something stable. We long for a simple Gospel that would make no demands on thought, reason or lifestyle, but it's merely a mirage. If we accept the promise of the Spirit, who will lead us into all truth, such a journey will be one of constant challenge demanding change and flexibility. We must never lose sight that it is "the truth that sets us free" and the challenge of change is the price of freedom.
There is a suspicion that certain things we have known especially in areas of unquestioned authority such as education, economics, political and military power are today suspect. A variety of scholars are calling attention to the prospect that Enlightenment modes of power and Enlightenment modes of knowledge are at the end of their effective rule among us. (See Brueggemann's Hopeful Imagination: Prophetic Voices in Exile.) We are children of the Enlightenment which has brought us enormous gifts of human reason, freedom and possibility. Although we would not want to relinquish these gifts, they have come with high cost resulting in the concentration of power in monopolistic ways, often without ever being criticized. There are those who see the Spirit at work in the transforming of our world in the rise of Third World nations and in the emergence of the variety of liberation movements. The fear is that the church has been so fully meshed in the dominant values of our culture that freedom for action is difficult. The blending of the Christian faith with our culture has resulted in the church losing its prophetic voice.
The Spirit Leads Us To The Future
The Spirit promises to guide us into truth. There are new dreams in our world of justice and equity. Bob Dylan's words of the '60s seem relevant, "The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind." The Holy Spirit is leading us into the future, transforming old structures and bringing new life in the Spirit. The promise of the Spirit is the promise of the future. Do not believe the words of the doomsayer and those who have brought out their dispensational charts seeking to convince us by their apocalyptic timetables that the rapture is upon us. These are exciting days and the Spirit is leading us into new things. This is all part of the guidance of the Spirit who leads and guides us to all truth.
This brings to mind Isaac Watts' hymn which used to be sung in Methodist campmeetings and now is in the new United Methodist Hymnal.
Then let our songs abound, and every tear be dry; we're marching through Emmanuel's ground to fairer worlds on high. We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion; we're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.
The promise of the Spirit is the promise of the future. We are like Abraham as described by the writer of Hebrews, "For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10).
Thank God for the promise of the Spirit. The Spirit brings us a new surge of power to keep our optimism alive, to maintain our enthusiasm, to see clearly our responsibilities, and to recognize our potential. The Holy Spirit helps us to take bold and drastic action. We do not lack for opportunities, opportunities abound; but we need the power of the Spirit to give us the courage to make decisions that will mobilize us into action.
The promise of the Holy Spirit is the promise of power. It is the promise that the Spirit will lead and guide us into all truth. The Spirit leads us into the future, a future for which we do not need to be afraid, because "it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).
For Further Reflection And Study
1. What are the reasons for the decline of the mainline churches?
2. What is your response to the statement that "God is not calling us to religion or success, but to be faithful witnesses to the gospel"?
3. How are the mainline churches to regain their vitality? What role does the Holy Spirit play in this process?
4. Define the promise of the Spirit as: a. the promise of power
b. the promise of guidance
c. the promise to lead to the future.
5. What do you think about the statement that religious experience is uncommon in the church today? Define "religious experience."
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