Growing up in the Pentecostal
South, otherwise known as The Bible Belt (say it with fervor please) definitely
has an effect on a person.When you
become an adult, there is the concept that the whole world has a basic belief
in God, that you should at least be afraid of going to hell and that the Ten
Commandments have some sort of governing power over the choices of the
individual.
The lack of reality in this concept
hits home when this same person gets a job in the real world or goes away to
college. Suddenly the hope of heaven and fear of hell aren’t quite so important
anymore. Why, look at all the people doing all the sins and living to tell the
tale! They actually look happy too! That little concept is shock enough to
throw most Bible Belt Christians into the arms of a waiting, complacent world
and church.
I’m on the tail-end of the baby
boomers. I watched all of the hippies – turned – Jesus People flood into our
small churches in the South. I was even one of them. I had been raised in “The
Wonder Working Power in the Blood Days of Miracles are not Over” church. I
remember my parents throwing away their cigarettes and Mom burning her shorts.
As they came to fresh terms with God and envisioned the better world they would
create for their children, very few of them thought about affecting every area
of society with the gospel they embraced. WHY?
Today it is my turn. I am the Mom
this time around. It isn’t shorts and cigarettes I am concerned with. I want to
know the internal character of everything that influences my children. The
television has been gone a long time now. Sooner or later I had to confront the
Great Time Waster it really was. Even with Christian programming and video
straight out of heaven, we were basing our concepts of life on someone else’s
interpretation.
School?You mean a specific place where parent send their children to
learn the basics of life? How to read, write, and cipher? They worship at the
feet of Pharaoh everyday for seven hours and then come home for seven hours of
down tome. If you do nothing but be with your kids from 3PM-10PM, it doesn’t
leave a lot of time for refurbishing what the God of Humanism has established
in the minds of the children during the day.Our family can’t participate in that either. We are supposed to be
“lights,” you say? Think about the kind of light you were in school, oh
Churched One, then reconsider. Children must be trained to be lights by the
models set in front of them. Granted, there are a few kids in public and
private schools that can set the world on fire, but the numbers are slim
considering the actual casualties lost to the battle. Keep ‘em at home.
Socialization. “The children will
be deprived if you don’t let them socialize!” Even the time with churched
public school kids is bad enough. From the few hours that my children are at
church they learn how to say nasty cutting remarks to each other, how to flirt,
ugly attitudes, actions, disrespect for adults and authority. This is at a great
church with good kids. I don’t think they are missing anything they can’t pick
up on really quick.
There are some aspects of church
life that I do desire my children to participate in. I grew up thinking that a
family stayed with a church through thick or thin. I’ve since learned that the
principle of individuality dictates that there be wide variety of style and
leadership.When we switched churches
after ten years, it came after much prayer and consulting with one of our
pastors from the church we were leaving. We didn’t want to leave over things
that didn’t matter but because we truly could not come to terms with saying you
believe one thing, but acting another. Sort of the “do as I as I say, not as I
do” mentality. I have seen the spirit of God do great things, but when I sit in
a church where the pastor has to tell the congregation that the church is
charismatic, something is wrong.
We began the
search.
You know it: The best music.
Platform singers not too vain.Practical preaching where the “S” word (that is “sin”, in case you
haven’t heard it in a while) can actually be said and the congregation thinks
it just might apply to them. The kids would feel a part of the body and be
ministered to. A church that wants relationship instead of the “seeker
friendly” mentality. Someplace that doesn’t have a program for every need but
thinks the blood of Jesus should take care of the problem.
So what is the problem? We found
THE church, based on our former pastor’s recommendation even! Turned out to be
everything and more. You don’t have to be told these guys are charismatic. It
speaks for itself, but is that such a good thing?
I remember
‘Pentecostal.” I remember the Power of God healing the sick, bringing
repentance AND causing people to make restitution. I saw hopeless, divorced
marriages come together again and miserable families become happy. I saw God
work miracles everyday by neighborliness coming to the rescue because God moved
on the heart of man and man obeyed.
Today I hear hype all around.
People scream for revival. Men get together in big stadiums and enjoy the
emotional high. Women have retreats. Kids go off to SuperCamp. What happened to
one family touching another? That is where revival is: Each one reach one.
America thinks that watching people
fall on the floor is revival. I remember Pentecostal revival. There wasn’t a
need for anyone to be pushed over. When God slayed people in the middle of my
church, those standing around were afraid to get in the middle of what God was
doing in that person. It had that “don’t touch the Ark” feel to it. They
wouldn’t have dared to reach out and touch what God was doing.
Catchers? What are those? When God
slew you, everybody knew it. There was no need to be caught. Heads hit hardwood
floors with nice loud thuds and nobody had to be told there was “slaying in the
Spirit” going on. Modesty cloths? As conviction of sin rose, skirt hems just
naturally got longer. If God was slaying, there wasn’t immodesty showing up as
theses bodies were going down. Women became modest and men became gentlemen
because God was requiring holiness everywhere. It didn’t have to be a man-made
rule.
My point in all of this?
Emotionalism has been one of the downfalls of the Pentecostal movement. In
looking back, I have few memories to draw on of adult believers who embraced a
biblical worldview. I can’t even remember one who could articulate their faith
well enough to refute an educated skeptic.
In high school I walked away from
everything I ever believed about God. I not only was educated in the
institutions of Pharaoh but I enjoyed what he had to offer. When I came back to
God, it was a fellow sinner’s words that brought conviction of sin to my soul.
I knelt beside my bed and asked for God’s forgiveness. I was still turned off
to hypocritical churches but I had finally come to realize that churches will
always fail. The churches I knew had compromised on every issue I felt was
important.
There have been many years of
trying to understand how churches and people fail. I left my southern roots and
vowed to find Christians who wanted to affect EVERY area of society. The
teaching and questioning through the years have helped me to renew my mind
biblically and feel that my children won’t be troubled with knowing in whom or
what they believe.
I watch with caution the words of
“REVIVAL” I hear. I know that my God can do all things and desires to. I also
know He doesn’t need help. If a standard of excellence is raised and the people
who call themselves Christian will do what is right, society will be affected.
The light of Jesus will shine to everyone and churches will be filled.
REVI’VE – To return to life, to recover life or
vigor; to be reanimated after depression to recover from a state of neglect,
oblivion, obscurity or depression. Sin revives, when the conscience is awakened
by a conviction of guilt.Romans 7
(Webster’s 1828)
