BEING EQUIPPED AND STAYING ON-MISSION

BEING EQUIPPED AND STAYING ON-MISSION

Cessationism is the declining doctrine that mistakenly teaches that God 'ceased' to bless his Church with gifts of the Spirit such as tongues, prophecy, healing, etc. at some point early in Church history. While this doctrine has been thoroughly refuted (dunked on, as the kids say) by nearly every significant and reputable scholar from nearly every Christian tradition, the practical application of this teaching endures in many.

One of my favorite seminary professors made this observation in regards to early views on the subject.

"Congar [Roman Catholic Scholar] mentions Justin Martyr as an example: this late second-century Apologist claimed that prophecy and charismatic gifts still existed; in fact, it was believed that the charisms [gifts] should accompany the church until the end." (1)

Some church leaders have had to invent with reasons why they were not experiencing the gifts during certain segments of Church history. For example, many of them will teach a misreading of 1 Corinthians 13:10 to justify their claim that God no longer gives these gifts to his people. 1 Corinthians 13:10 is referring to the age to come, when Jesus returns, "but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears". Virtually every reputable Bible scholar sees this section as referring to the age to come when Jesus returns to bring the fulness of his Kingdom. Yet, cessationists usually hijack this text to refer to the completion of the canon of scripture. They claim that once the sixty-six books of the Bible were clearly listed (in the 4th century) the gifts were no longer needed. This is a devastatingly bad take on the text. Once again, and history has proven. wolves have attempted to negate the teachings of Jesus (and his commands to heal the sick, cast out demons, etc.) and the teachings of Paul (who tells the Church to eagerly seek manifestations of the Spirit to edify the Church in 1 Cor 14:12). Perhaps instead of inventing false doctrines to explain why one isn't experiencing the gifts of the Spirit, perhaps it would be better to look at other circumstances that were happening in history. For example, it was quite early in Church history when power dynamics became a factor among the organization of the body of believers. There have been highly visible seasons in history where some Church leaders were wrestling the freedom and authority away from the laity and reassigning the work of the ministry to a small, specialized team of ordained clergy. The power, the money, and the 'truth' soon were under the control of this group. In many places, the laity ceased to be equipped and empowered to do the work of the ministry - the work of being ambassadors for God's kingdom and were instead relegated to becoming a weekly audience for the priests and bishops. There is strong historical record that in spite of these efforts to control the laity, there is a strong history of God's people using the empowering of the Spirit to advance the Kingdom of God with signs and wonders. Church - you will get empowered as you get busy.

When the people of God become watchers instead of warriors, the "equipment" lies dormant. God is willing to send, but an audience is not ready to receive. If a contractor hires workers to build a home, and they show up ready to work - they are given the instructions and tools to do the job. If the workers show up and never get out of their vehicles, they do not have access to the tools. Why would they need them? They aren't working. The equipment comes as equipment is needed. Direction comes as direction is needed. In the Church, the gifts come as the Church is on-mission. In Acts 1 and 2, the whole Pentecost experience was based on the Church obeying the commission of Jesus to wait and witness.

I'm of the view that the more on-mission God's people become, the more access to the empowering and equipping that occurs. When we show up understanding our role as ambassadors of God's kingdom in this present evil age, God's Spirit will endow us with the power, the guidance, and the tools to unleash a heaven-quake in our homes, communities, and beyond.

(1) Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. The Holy Spirit: A Guide to Christian Theology (Basic Guides to Christian Theology) (pp. 8-9). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.