In
honor of Reformation Day, here are some complaints I’m nailing on the
Wittenberg door.
Long before there was an Occupy Wall Street,
Martin Luther staged the most important protest in history. He was upset
because Roman Catholic officials were promising people forgiveness or early
escape from purgatory in exchange for money. So on October 31, 1517, Luther
nailed a long list of complaints on the door of a church in Wittenberg,
Germany.
Luther’s famous 95 theses were translated
from Latin into German and spread abroad. Like a medieval Jeremiah, Luther
dared to ask questions that had never been asked, and he challenged a pope who
was supposedly infallible. Through this brave monk, the Holy Spirit sparked the
Protestant Reformation and restored the doctrine of grace to a church that had
become corrupt, religious, dysfunctional, political and spiritually dead.
“I’ve grown increasingly aware that the
so-called ‘Spirit-filled’ church of today struggles with many of the same
things the Catholic church faced in the 1500s. We don’t have
‘indulgences’—we have telethons. We don’t have popes—we have
super-apostles.”
I am no Luther, but I’ve grown increasingly
aware that the so-called “Spirit-filled” church of today struggles with many of
the same things the Catholic church faced in the 1500s. We don’t have
“indulgences”—we have telethons. We don’t have popes—we have super-apostles. We
don’t support an untouchable priesthood—we throw our money at celebrity
evangelists who own fleets of private jets.
In honor of Reformation Day, I’m offering my
own list of needed reforms in our movement. And since I can’t hammer these on
the Wittenberg door, I’ll post them online. Feel free to nail them everywhere.
1. Let’s reform our theology. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the
Trinity. He is God and He is holy. He is not an “it.” He is not a blob, a
force, or an innate power. We must stop manipulating Him, commanding Him and throwing
Him around.
2. Let’s return to the Bible. The Word of God is the foundation for the Christian
experience. Any dramatic experience, no matter how spiritual it seems, must be
tested by the Word and the Holy Spirit’s discernment. Visions, dreams,
prophecies and encounters with angels must be in line with Scripture. If we
don’t test them we could end up spreading deception.
3.
It’s time for personal responsibility. We charismatics must stop blaming everything
on demons. People are usually the problem.
4. Stop playing games. Spiritual warfare is a reality, but we are
not going to win the world to Jesus just by shouting at demonic principalities.
We must pray, preach and persevere to see ultimate victory.
5. Stop the foolishness. People who hit, slap or push others during
prayer should be asked to sit down until they learn gentleness is a fruit of
the Holy Spirit.
6. End all spiritual extortion now. Christian television ministries must cease
and desist from all manipulative fundraising tactics. We must stop giving platforms
to ministers who make outlandish claims of supernatural financial returns,
especially when Scripture is twisted, deadlines are imposed and the poor are
exploited.
7.
No more Lone Rangers. Those who claim to be ministers of
God—whether they are traveling evangelists, local pastors or heads of
ministries—must be accountable to other leaders. Any who refuse to submit their
lives to godly discipline should be corrected.
8. Expose the creeps. Churches should start doing background
checks on traveling ministers. Preachers who have been hiding criminal records,
lying about their past marriages, preying on women or refusing to pay child
support should be exposed as charlatans and shunned if they do not repent.
9. Stop faking the anointing. God is God, and He does not need our “help”
to manifest Himself. That means we don’t sprinkle glitter on ourselves to
suggest God’s glory is with us, hide fake jewels on the floor to prove we are
anointed or pull chicken feathers out of our sleeves to pretend angels are in
the room. This is lying to the Holy Spirit.
10. Let’s return to purity. We’ve had enough scandals. The charismatic
church must develop a system for the restoration of fallen ministers. Those who
fall morally can be restored, but they must be willing to submit to a process
of healing rather than rushing immediately back into the pulpit.
11. We need humility. Ministers who demand celebrity treatment,
require lavish salaries, insist on titles or exhibit aloofness from others are
guilty of spiritual pride.
12. No more big shots. Apostles are the bondslaves of Christ, and
should be the most impeccable models of humility. True apostles do not wield
top-down, hierarchical authority over the church. They serve the church from
the bottom up as true servants.
13. Never promote gifts at the expense of
character. Those who operate
in prophecy, healing and miracles must also exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.
And while we continue to encourage the gift of tongues, let’s make sure we
don’t treat it like some kind of badge of superiority. The world needs to see
our love, not our glossolalia.
14. Hold the prophets accountable. Those who refuse to take responsibility for
inaccurate statements should not be given platforms. And “prophets” who live
immoral lives don’t deserve a public voice.
15. Let’s make the main thing the main thing. The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s anointing
is to empower us to reach others. We are at a crossroads today: Either we
continue off-course, entertained by our charismatic sideshows, or we throw
ourselves into evangelism, church planting, missions, discipleship, and
compassionate ministry that helps the poor and fights injustice. Churches that
embrace this New Reformation will focus on God’s priorities.
J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He expounds on these topics in
his 2010 book The Holy Spirit Is Not for
Sale (Chosen).
