My Early Story (36)

 The Charismatic Movement (3)

There are two other things I’d like to share.

 

Sharing Christ and His Word with one another and praying for one another ought to be as natural as breathing. When folks get together for a cookout, for dinner at someone’s home, or for a holiday get together, they don’t have agendas, they don’t have printed guides telling them how to interact, printed topics of conversations, and how many minutes to talk about various subjects.

 

People typically get together because they want to be with each other, they want to enjoy time together. People are generally open and attentive to others, to how the afternoon or evening is going, to possibilities of interaction, to listening to others as well as talking to others, to helping others. When folks gather, they usually want to “catch up” with each other, or if meeting a new person they want to learn about that person and perhaps share a bit about themselves with the person. People look for common ground, and they also look for diversity – it is nice to meet people who have different experiences.

 

The above is how most of us naturally spend time with people in a group.

 

A few years ago Vickie and I visited a home group that was part of a church we were attending. As the people arrived at the home there was the natural banter and conversation you’d expect in social settings. Then the time came, the bell rang (so to speak), and demeanors changed – it was time to get religious.

 

The study guides were produced, the pages were opened, and the script was followed by a facilitator who wanted to make certain that whatever was said was in line with the study guide. No longer did these men and women have anything to share or contribute out of their life in Christ, all attention was on the study guide. Once we had worked through the lesson for that evening it was time to leave.

 

This was nuts, especially considering that these folks had been meeting for a few years, that they knew each other, and that I think they really cared for one another. What causes adults to switch gears and act like children? Not just children, but docile children? This is hardly the picture of the functioning Body of Christ that we see in the Bible.

 

When I visit churches as a guest speaker, it is my practice to attend Sunday school before the morning service in order to get a sense of the congregation. Time after time I see the same thing, normally reasonable adults go into a mode in which they have nothing to share with others out of their life in Christ. They may talk about sports beforehand, they may talk about family, they may talk about sister so-and-so who is in the hospital, but they won’t talk about Jesus. They will follow the lesson material, but they will not share out of the fruit of their own life in Christ, out of their own experience with the Bible.

 

Nor will people in small groups or Sunday school classes generally pray for one another, or if they do pray for each other they generally will not touch one another while doing so – they won’t lay hands on one another. (Touch is important in this life, Jesus touched people.)

 

On the other hand, during the Charismatic Movement it was naturally expected that our gatherings would include sharing what we’d been seeing in the Word, sharing how Jesus and the Holy Spirit were leading us and teaching us, and that we’d naturally pray for one another during our time together.

 

I should be quick to say that many of us without a background in the Charismatic Movement also find it natural to share Jesus and pray for one another – so please don’t misunderstand me. However, the people I know who are naturally comfortable sharing Jesus with other believers, and who are comfortable praying for others out loud and being prayed for by others – generally have not learned that way of life within traditional settings because it is generally not encouraged. Again, there are exceptions.

 

Not long ago I was part of a team leading a retreat for a congregation. During the afternoon one of the associate pastors dropped in to spend some time with us. This dear man is about my age, meaning that he has a good deal of life experience. I think he is a wonderful pastor, a faithful brother. Since an element of the retreat was learning to pray for one another, when he mentioned that he’d have to be leaving soon I asked him if we could gather around him and pray for him, and of course he assented. There were about 25 of us.

 

After we laid hands on him and spent some time in prayer, many verbalizing in turn, he said, “I haven’t experienced anything like this since I was a young man and had an occasion in which people also prayed for me. I feel so refreshed and encouraged. Thank you so much.” His face was glowing.

 

Now I ask you, dear reader, this question: Why did this dear man go 40 years between being prayed for? Why did not this dear pastor introduce others to the joy of praying for others and of being prayed for by others? To the joy of touching others and being touched by others?

 

Something is amiss but we dare not admit it.

 

A friend of mine recently suggested that my early exposure to the Holy Spirit in the Charismatic Movement had a foundational influence on me. As I thought about his comment, I realized that while it is certainly true, that it is especially true when coupled with the experience of sharing Christ in a community of believers, coming together in the freedom of Christ and in the expectation that everyone has something to share out of their life in Christ. This is what I saw in both the Charismatic Movement and in the Jesus People, there were no bench (pew) warmers, everyone was valued, everyone was special, everyone was encouraged to grow in Christ and contribute to the entire Body. This was as natural as breathing.

 

As it ought to be (1 Peter 4:10 – 11; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians chapters 12 – 14; Ephesians 4:1 – 16).