When I was in high school a Baptist girl who was one of my best friends asked me a funny question. We had had a nice night out together. I guess you would have called it a date except we had always just enjoyed being friends rather than making it romantic.
We had laughed, joked, told stories and carried on and as I was slowing the car in front of her house to drop her off, she became quiet. You know that moment at the end of the night where it gets awkward, or expectant, for a good night kiss or hug?
Well it became our habit at the end of an evening to ask something serious, and real, and let that be our climactic ending. That night she looked at me and asked, "Jonathan, what's it like to be a Pentecostal?" Honestly I didn't know what she meant. So to clarify her question she asked a few more ... "do you really roll around in the altars?" "do you really jump pews?" "could you pray in tongues right here if you wanted too?"
They were the kind of honest questions that young people ask. I understood where she was coming from. She had heard about those crazy Pentecostals, but as she and I became close friends she must have been confounded to find me almost normal.
Another friend asked me the same kinds of questions this week. So just in case a few more of you have been wondering I guess I'll share some of my feelings about what it means to me to be a Pentecostal Christian. When I'm beyond words. When my heart is broken. When my need is too great. I have the Spirit's words.
When my joy is uncontainable. When no words can express my thankfulness. I have the Spirit's words.
In these times instead of praying "with my mind," I have freedom to pray "with my spirit." 1 Corinthians 14:12-15 -- 12 Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. 13 Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
We can let the Spirit of God shape the language of our prayers. Romans 8:26, Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. We can lean on God's Spirit in all types of occasions. Ephesians 6:18, And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
For me this is what it means to be Pentecostal. To lean into God's Spirit when I find the many limits in my own spirit. Sometimes it does involve very emotionally charged responses. Sometimes when you are so overwhelmed it has physical results. (Though I would like to say that I have never personally jumped any pews. My momma would not have been very keen on that. J)
For those of you who have trusted me enough to feel you could satisfy your curiosity without offending me I'd like to say thank you. Your childlike curiosity gives me hope for a better and kinder future together.
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Watson is pastor of the Bella Vista Assembly of God.
Religion on 03/18/2015