Becoming fire

There’s a beautiful story in the tales of the desert fathers and mothers, the wonderful men and women of God who lived in solitude and prayer on the wilderness extremities of the Nile valley during in the early centuries of church history. One of these men, Lot, went to seek guidance from his elder and mentor, Joseph of Panephysis. Lot was troubled that all his devout and sincere attempts to grow in the spiritual life weren’t enough to bring him into the close relationship with God he so desired. “As far as I’m able, I say my daily prayers, I fast a little, I meditate,” he explained to his wise father in the faith, “I live in peace with others, and as much as I can I keep my thoughts pure. What else can I do?” Joseph said nothing for a few moments, then slowly stood up and stretched his hands up to heaven. To Lot’s amazement, Joseph’s fingers began burn like the wicks in an oil lamp. Joseph looked him straight in the eye and said, “Lot, if you want to, you can become all fire!”

It’s a story that could describe the charismatic renewal movement at its very best. Joseph burned with a passion for God that came straight from his immersion in the life of the Spirit. He recognised in Lot a devotion to God which he longed to nurture and encourage, but also recognised that Lot’s efforts to love God needed to be overwhelmed by the fire of the Spirit, needed to be consumed and completed by the wild and restless love of God. The charismatic movement has brought so much to the life of the church - a fresh appreciation of the Spirit’s action in the church and the believer, a renewed understanding of spiritual gifts, a lively spontaneity in worship. But perhaps more importantly than all this, the charismatic movement has given the whole church a radical new openness to God at work, directly and intimately, in our lives, and a willingness to respond to this ardently and passionately. We have learned once more to become “all fire”.

So much has charismatic renewal brought to the whole church over the last few decades. But what lies ahead? More of the same? Perhaps, in some places. It’s the sad fate of any movement that some folks in some places will pickle and preserve the initial vision to carry it safely through the generations, handing on the dead husk of a once living tradition. But ‘more of the same’ doesn’t seem to feature in God’s vocabulary, he seems to prefer the words, ‘see, I am making all things new’. So my guess is that wherever charismatic renewal continues to trim its sails to the gracious wind of the Spirit, we’ll keep seeing new gifts, new understandings, new life, and an ever new passion and fire. As time passes, renewal itself will be renewed. What might that look like? For what it’s worth, here are a couple of my guesses.

Church for beginners

David Hay, a researcher at Nottingham University, recently published work he had done interviewing people who didn’t go to church, about their spirituality. It was revealing and moving to see quite how rich and deep their spiritual lives were in every case, and how often they connected their spirituality with church, especially the experience of being in our buildings. But one theme emerged again and again: the church community is designed for insiders, and is both hard to relate to and hard to break into - and there’s not much incentive to do either. As one woman expressed it, “They should do church for beginners, for people like me.”

Looking from this angle at charismatic renewal, we see the strangest contradictions. On the one hand, renewed churches often have a burning commitment to sharing the faith - we’re right there in the front line with Alpha courses, seeker-friendly services, welcome teams and training in evangelism. On the other hand, we often seem blind to the customs, jargon and behaviour that can exclude, alienate and – let’s face it – bemuse. We live in a culture in which simple things like group singing, or adults listening to a book being read aloud, are strange behaviours. ‘Passing the peace’ is neither a meaningful concept nor a comfortable one if it turns out to be a massive group hug. When we say ‘God is releasing prophetic giftings across the land in this generation’ they don’t know that what we really mean is ‘God is enabling people to speak his message here in Wales right now’. Does renewal have to mean speaking in tongues even when you’re speaking English?

A renewed renewal would think again about what people experience when they come into church, and how much of it is habit or weirdness rather than an essential expression of the Spirit. But perhaps more, a renewed renewal would address with more urgency how people can experience the life of Christ in the Spirit without coming to ‘church’ at all; how, by discovering Jesus in new contexts, they can find new expressions of Christian community, ‘church for beginners’. The passion for evangelism would translate more and more into a sacrificial willingness to follow the example of Abraham – leave the home comforts of church life, and journey to a new and unknown land, risking everything to follow the promise of the God who goes before us.

Spiritual horticulture

Every time I wonder whether there’s anything more that can possibly be said about the spiritual gifts, I visit a Christian bookshop to reassure myself that there is. ‘Of the writing of books there is no end,’ wrote the Preacher in Ecclesiastes, in a clear prophetic reference to the renewal movement publishing industry. One of my favourite titles at the moment is G-Force: Taking Your Relationship with God to a New Level – I’ve not read the book, but the title conjures up wonderful memories of a childhood cartoon show, and the author has the irresistibly implausible name of Bo Boshers. Another book, Developing Your Prophetic Gifting by Graham Cooke, promises “the joy of birthing a new prophetic environment throughout the whole Body of Christ.” Frankly, birthing anything throughout a body suggests that gruesome ‘emerging from the stomach’ scene in Alien more than a spiritually uplifting experience.

Fortunately, we’re seeing strong signs of a renewed renewal that is placing a little less of the spotlight on the glitzy and glamorous gifts of the Spirit, and a little more on the rather more plain but nutritious fruit of the Spirit. The charismatic renewal, in its early days, seemed intoxicated with the power of the Spirit, some of the emphasis on power became a little disturbing. One friend of mine, after reading John Wimber’s Power Evangelism and Power Healing offered to start the ‘Movement for the Propagation of the Weakness Gospel’ to remind people that folks who are called to be slaves of all and lay down their lives in service of a crucified God might want to go easy on the whole ‘power’ trip.

That emphasis has been shifting for some time. We’ve always known the importance of nurturing a strong life of prayer and service, of allowing the character of Christ to be shaped in us by the Spirit, of a steady walk on the long road of faith. A renewed renewal is increasingly discovering the proper place of the spiritual gifts in the wider life of the Christian and the church. Healing, prophecy, spiritual wisdom – these are always welcome, but are always at the service of the more central aim of the Spirit: making people and communities that reflect the grace and life of Jesus. As Paul reminds us, the gifts are great but they will do their job and pass on – in comparison with being like Jesus they are very much in second place. This nurturing and growing of the fruit – spiritual horticulture – is every bit as much a miraculous, supernatural work of the Spirit as astounding healings and insightful prophecies, and we are rightly learning to value and emphasise it in our teaching and our lives.

A New Vision?

Is this really a new vision of renewal? Of course not. Right back in Acts 2 we read about the church in its earliest days who were “faithful to the teaching of the apostles, the common life of sharing, the breaking of bread and the prayers,” and that “every day the Lord added to their number”. Our vision for sharing faith and nurturing faith is as old as the hills. But it is a vision that has to be constantly refreshed and revisited as our society and culture changes, and as we learn more together about life in the Spirit. Should I long for the spiritual gifts, for words of wisdom and knowledge, for gifts of healing? Of course. Should I long for the renewal of worship, for new songs and an open spontaneity in prayer? I’m sure I should. Should I long for the birthing of prophetic giftings in this land for this generation? Well … maybe! But above all this, long for God. This is the hallmark of charismatic renewal at its best, it’s greatest gift to the church, and the key to a renewal that is open to being renewed. Never forget: if you want to, you can become all fire!

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