Worship, for Pentecostal and charismatic Christians, is an expression of the experience and empowerment of the Holy Spirit—an event which for many brings the Scriptures to life and continuously incarnates Jesus Christ in his church. The release of a life of praise, intercession, and of spiritual gifts for ministry takes place in the setting of the body of Christ at worship.
Although tongues and interpretation are an important manifestation of the Spirit in the worship of Pentecostals, emphasis is also placed broadly on other gifts of the Spirit, including those of healing and prophecy. The modern Pentecostal movement originated in revivals that occurred in Kansas, Los Angeles, and other places early in the twentieth century. As Pentecostalism came to be perceived as a “dangerous” influence in denominational churches, those who had experienced the revival were often forced to leave their congregations. The formation of Pentecostal churches and denominations was the result. This never seemed to be an explicit goal of Pentecostals, who wished primarily to revitalize their existing churches from within. The emerging bodies did, however, play into holiness movement thinking, and thus even those Pentecostal churches which did not spring from holiness movement roots have often grown from both of these traditions.
On the other hand, the term charismatic carries more generic connotations. Its use has come into vogue more recently, removing the stigma of Pentecostalism from charismatics. In charismatic churches there is a wider variety of understandings regarding the gifts of the Spirit. Charismatics may not be as dogmatic as classical Pentecostals about the need for particular manifestations of these gifts (i.e., tongues) as signs that a person has truly received the Holy Spirit. Emphasis on the spiritual gifts and their use is even more broadly based than with Pentecostals. Thus we can say that all Pentecostals are charismatic but not all charismatics are Pentecostal. Whereas the classical Pentecostal movement has provided Pentecostals with their own churches—even their own denomination—charismatics tend more often to remain in their original denominational churches unless their congregation is antagonistic to their presence.
Can there be such a thing as a theology of charismatic worship? Given the pluralistic profile of faith among charismatic worshipers, what is the starting point or central theme for a consistent theology of charismatic worship? Once discovered is this theology, going to be very different from liturgical theologies developed by Christians in the past? And finally, if we can develop a viable theology of charismatic worship then what sorts of changes in thinking, behavior, public orders of worship, and overall lifestyle would it suggest? The starting place for a theology of charismatic worship should be the common ground of charismatic experience, moving from there to a theology of Christ and the Holy Spirit.
From Experience to Exegesis
The Latin maxim lex orandi lex credendi applies to the development of a charismatic theology of worship. This phrase enunciates the conviction that liturgical experience precedes theology in most cases and that therefore our creeds or beliefs grow more out of our prayer and worship life than the other way around. In reality, of course, experience and belief are continually honing one another, and constants such as the Scriptures provide norms. But because experience is so important to human existence, the way in which worship is conducted can reinforce, shape, or challenge a person’s beliefs.
Charismatics are charismatics because they have had a specific experience. This experience is a vital encounter with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Although it is necessary to maintain that all Christians must have contact with the Holy Spirit in order to be Christians, the vitality of charismatic experience, whether sporadic or ongoing, affects lives deeply. We should not be too quick to say that this experience is a dimension added to the relationship with God shared by all Christians. Rather, we would suggest it is a fuller experience of normative Christian existence—one charismatics believe is available to all. Theologically this fullness has far-reaching implications for the gathered worshiping community.
The unfortunate term “full gospel” has been used by Pentecostals and charismatics for years as a way of describing what they believe they have received in their experience, but this term implies that those Christians who rely on the written Word of God alone are somehow missing the mark—that they do not have the whole gospel. We must respect the fact that many charismatics and Pentecostals genuinely feel that those who do not share their experience of God are missing out on something good. We also must respect the fact that their experiences are not invalid. At the same time, we must also emphasize that exclusivity is not of the Holy Spirit—that just as the spiritual gifts themselves differ, so do perceptions and God-given experiences and that it is only by the work of the Holy Spirit in peoples’ lives that they are drawn to a relationship with God in Jesus Christ in the first place. The gentleness, humility, and unity which are characteristic of the Holy Spirit imply that terms like “full gospel,” while well-intended, are inappropriate.
What characteristics of the charismatic experience are shared by all, to one degree or another? These generally cross denominational lines, and most are not unique to charismatics.
First, the Word of God is central to any lasting encounter with God as a Christian, for Christ is the Word of God. The Scriptures are our most reliable reference to this Word today. Charismatics typically have a highly developed personal devotional life that centers on the Word of God and prayer, though these devotions may take on various styles in different church traditions.
Second, openness to the prompting and moving of the Holy Spirit both in oneself and in others is also essential. Scriptural statements like “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things” (John 14:26), and “the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him” (1 John 2:27), are taken very seriously. While their implications must be nuanced, the point is that charismatics often feel directives from the Holy Spirit which they believe are consistent with the Word of God.
Third, evangelism, a strong desire to reach others with the gospel message on the love of Christ, and a concern for their own personal holiness is characteristic of charismatics.
Fourth, charismatics also see the need for and legitimacy of exercising the power and authority of Christ and his name in intercession, whether in prayer, healing, exorcisms, evangelism, or general Christian concern. These qualities of charismatic life will find their corresponding expression in public charismatic worship. By means of Lex orandi lex credendi charismatics interpret the Scriptures, the world, their Lord, and each other through the experience of the Holy Spirit with which they have been blessed by God.
In Christ, in the Spirit
“Spirit Christology” aptly describes the practical ecclesiology of a charismatic community at worship. Many consider Christology and ecclesiology to be fields of thought that are essentially separate and distinct from one another, but the unity of Christ and the church is one issue that resounds in charismatic thinking and practice. It also calls for some radical rethinking of ministry in charismatic communities. But this will be discussed later. Foregoing any discussion of “high or low Christology,” we simply affirm what seems evident in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism that Christ was dependent upon the Holy Spirit to empower him to live out his ministry on earth as God and man. But there is a very important connection to the church here, for Christ made it clear that he must return to the Father so that the Holy Spirit—the Helper, the Paraclete—could come and fill those who were to continue his ministry here on earth.
Theologically speaking, the incarnation is ongoing today. The church is a continuation of Christ, his body in the world, filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is Word-become-flesh just as he is. Just as Mary’s simple openness to the Holy Spirit allowed for the conception and birth of Jesus Christ, so the church when she is receptive to the Holy Spirit conceives and brings forth Christ in the world today. There is one difference that is quite obvious to all: But while the church differs radically from Jesus Christ in its lack of perfect obedience and submission to the triune God, it is also radically the same. Its members are members of Christ. Christ himself has made them so. They are new creations conceived, if you will, by the Holy Spirit. These Christlike lives continue only because of the ongoing presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Charismatics are typically very much in tune with the idea of their total and complete dependence on the person of the Holy Spirit. Just as Christ was and is the “anointed one,” so the body of Christ continues in this same anointing. One cannot truly be in Christ without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. What this means, and what implications derive from such a statement, are items for discussion among charismatics. One struggle for charismatics, particularly those with “holiness” backgrounds, is the attempt to strike a balance between being and becoming. That is, it is the question of how sanctification relates to salvation and ministry and how much of the human response to God’s initiative can be indulged without lapses into legalism and human traditions which go beyond the Scriptures in an effort to maintain the new law of love. By faith Christians must affirm that they have been made members of Christ as grace is freely bestowed upon us by God, not because of anything they are or do or have done. However, we seldom live the lives we claim we have been given in Christ. Much of the reason for this must relate to the human will and the need daily to live out the death of our baptisms in order to become fully regenerate.
But this too is only made possible by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Too often Christians with “holiness” backgrounds interpret the gift of the Holy Spirit as something which makes us holy by giving us the power to keep the commandments. This idea takes a giant leap backward from the reality of Christ’s fulfillment of the law and the prophets. It is also a brand of holiness that very selfishly focuses on one’s personal acquisition of holiness rather than the purpose for which holiness has been given. This purpose is ministry—reaching a lost world with the love and healing of Christ. Instead of separating God’s people from the world to a point where interaction with non-Christians is tainted with suspicion and antagonism, true holiness frees us from the bondage that prevents us from ministering to others as Christ did. The goal of holiness is not one we consciously aim for, but one we are given. Now we spend our lives growing into the fullness and the reality of this gift, all the while as we are ministering as Christ in the world. The Spirit-filled life is a dichotomy. Christians are becoming what they already are, and they already are what they are still becoming. The Holy Spirit is what makes both realities possible in peoples’ lives. God freely gives to humans the holiness he demands of us, and our responses to God’s love are as much a part of his initiative as the Incarnation—in fact, they are Incarnation.
More specifically, in the setting of public charismatic worship, Christ’s presence is felt and made manifest. Some have even summed up the phenomenon of charismatic worship with the term “manifest presence.” Presence is clearly an issue in charismatic worship. Even in large crowds of worshipers, intimacy with the person of Christ is made evident as people worship in the Spirit.
People, too, must be present in worship. This does not mean simply that people have to be there physically, in the room; it means they must be making themselves fully present to God even as he is making himself really and fully present to them. In short, people must be honest in order to experience true worship. Part of worshiping in spirit and in truth is being truthful with God and ourselves about our own fallenness. One of the functions of God’s Word is to confront us with God himself, to humble us by comparison with God’s holiness, continually to keep our fallenness before us so that we may throw ourselves upon the mercy of God’s grace realizing, like Paul, that no matter how much good we think we are doing, we are still no better than the chief among sinners. Worshiping in spirit and in truth also means that people must make themselves really and fully present to one another, for it is precisely through people that Christ ministers to our needs. This is one way of walking in the light. Christ in others can often illuminate dark portions of our lives that are hidden even to ourselves. Living the light of Christ lovingly in community is an encouragement to everyone to grow in the Lord and keep the body growing. In this way, Christ’s presence may be felt as profoundly in the kiss of peace as in the Eucharist, and inroads to healing can be made in down-to-earth ways.
Although things are slowly changing, liturgical traditions have historically thought of the culmination of Christ’s presence in the worshiping community in terms of epiklēsis, the “calling down” of the Holy Spirit during the eucharistic prayer to make Christ present in the Eucharist—in the elements of bread and wine and in the gathered community of worshipers. This understanding has, however, the potential of limiting the idea of the real presence of Christ in worship to a kind of Sunday-morning-eucharistic piety. A similar concept, and just as limiting in its own way, is the Pentecostal tradition of a sort of implicit epiklēsis of the Word. At some point in the reading of Scripture, or preaching the speaker (or pastor) reaches a level of anointing where the Word is considered almost to speak for itself; the speaker often becomes very animated, and congregational response is heightened to include uninhibited praise and thanksgiving accompanied in many cases by shouting, clapping, and dancing. Here Christ is felt to have made himself manifest in the spoken Word, and an effort is made by the pastor to discover what is the specific “word” God has for his people that day.
Another practice that is prevalent in many Pentecostal and holiness traditions is the altar call. This, too, is a point of culmination in terms of presence and the anointing of the Spirit. The practice stems from revival and evangelistic meetings where the goal was to bring into the fold of the church the unbelieving and “backsliders.” In Pentecostal and charismatic churches, however, this altar call is often still performed even though there may be few if any unbelievers present. Its purpose has been shifted to the bestowing of the “baptism in the Holy Spirit” (which is seen as a form of Christian initiation) and to ministering to those who wish to rededicate their lives to the Lord.
All three of these practices are, in their proper contexts, fitting and can be positive experiences for the churches in which they occur. But if the presence of Christ or the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the worship of Christians is limited to these three—epiklēsis in Eucharist, “epiklēsis of the Word,” or the altar call—then the full power of Christ’s presence in his people is shackled.
For the charismatic, the idea that the Lord inhabits the praises of his people says much. This is because for those who truly are charismatic all of life has become Eucharist; all of life has become a praise response to God’s initiative of love. The gathered praises of God’s people voiced on Sunday mornings are only symptomatic of a lifelong reality of praise, for by the power of the Holy Spirit every day has become the Lord’s day, every day a day of death and resurrection, every day a day of healing and restoration. Charismatic communities can be thought of as “epicletic communities,” for the lives of people have become instruments for constantly calling upon the Holy Spirit to come and transform into new creation everything that the believer is, says, does, and touches.
Praise, Power and Mission
Epiklēsis leads naturally to intercession. With intercession, we touch on two distinct practices associated with charismatic worship. One is the traditional intercessory prayer time. This may be conducted differently in various churches, but most Christian traditions have in their public worship a time of intercessory prayer. For liturgical charismatics intercession occurs in the prayers of the people prior to Eucharist; for Assembly of God, Pentecostal, or other similar traditions there is typically a time when the pastor leads in intercession for prayer requests that have been made known to him or her, or when people may voice concerns and be prayed for immediately.
The second type of intercession is affected by the praises of God’s people. This concept derives both from a theology of liturgical prayer in Christ and from Old Testament models of warfare conducted by giving praise to God. The essence of Christ is God’s intercession on behalf of his creation, and the same thing may be said of the nation of Israel in Old Testament times. In ancient Israel and in Christ, God intercedes on behalf of humankind. Both Israel and Christ embodied God’s saving presence in the world. This can also be said of the church today. As the Lord inhabits the praises of his people and as human lives become lives of worship and response to God in praise and obedience, intercession takes place. By virtue of their openness to the Holy Spirit, charismatics feel compelled to bring the rest of their life into harmony with their prayer life. God often calls upon his people to bring about the changes he desires. Far from being mere abandonment to the spiritual “high” of the moment, worship calls forth responsibility.
The praises of God’s people have an intercessory impact on the cosmic level as well. As people respond to God in obedience and open themselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the powers of evil in the world are exorcised and put on the defensive. Obedience to God is the most powerful weapon the Christian is given, for Satan is the personification of disobedience. Christ in contrast was and is obedience. We who are members of Christ, who daily die to sin and the old order that we may be found in him, have been caught up in Christ’s obedience as well. This is not because of what we can do as humans, but it is a gift lovingly bestowed upon us by God, who wishes to make us his children once more. Because Christ is obedience, and because Christ is intercession incarnate, the praises of those who constitute his body in the world are intercessory in nature. More than one Old Testament story relates how the praises of Israel offered to God in obedience resulted in military victory against insurmountable human odds. This is the same power and authority which Christ uses in the lives of his people to transform the world. The enemies faced by those who obey God through their participation in Christ may be conquered by his praises. Malignant spiritual forces that empower disobedient lives are overwhelmed by the opposing forces acting in obedience to God.
Sadly, for many people who call themselves charismatic, power has become an end in itself, and much of the rhetoric of power heard from preachers is little more than self-indulgent emotionalism designed to whip congregations into feeling powerful and then release them into the world to do nothing at all for the kingdom of God.
The whole point of empowerment by the Holy Spirit is it given for the sake of mission. If the worship of the charismatic is the daily life in which Christ is revealed and realized, then evangelism, social action, healing, and spiritual warfare are also going to be daily occurrences. Too often “mission” is depicted as a very limited concept where the emphasis is on verbal evangelism or going to a remote part of the world to reach people for Christ. Unfortunately, when our idea of mission is this small, people are reached with a message, but not necessarily with Christ. The mission of bringing Christ to the world is more than merely speaking the message of the gospel to those who have not heard it before; it is bringing Christ himself to others by touching them as he would touch them. If the only thing the lost are receiving from us in the name of Christ is a message, then they are not really getting the message at all. For charismatics, Christ is all and in all. Worship and mission are one.
The Gifts and the Body
Again, the point of empowerment by the Holy Spirit is mission. This idea must be applied to the gifts of the Spirit as well. The point of spiritual gifts is ministry to and edification of the body so that it can do its job. Spiritual gifts are not given as rewards for having achieved a level of holiness, rather they are bestowed by God in order to help the body move toward the complete holiness to which it is called in Christ. This is why Paul stresses that the gift of tongues, must be made understandable by all, so that all may benefit. Gifts are given for the body, and not just to it.
Unity is an issue in this context as well as in the context of ministry. The uniqueness of the various gifts of the Spirit often overshadows the implied unity which is needed to give them meaning and maximum effect. Often churches in which spiritual gifts are expressed are also plagued by disagreements, divisiveness, and infighting. But such division in the body only means that the gifts are being improperly applied, to the body as a whole. In Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4 Paul talks about both the gifts of the Spirit and the unity of the body. The gifts make unity necessary in order for maturity to result. Diversity and unity must go together. In fact, our God-given uniqueness should automatically draw us together as we realize that each of us needs what the others in the body have been given by God and that others need what we have been given. It is only pride that declares that one gift is more important than others, and Paul speaks to this problem as well.
It seems curious, then, that anyone should ever have claimed that one particular gift of the Spirit must be manifested in order to prove that a Christian has received the Holy Spirit. In Romans 12 Paul states “as in one body, we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them” (vv. 4–6, rsv). It is never implied that all should have any one of the gifts, but rather that grace is given to each person differently. This is even more explicit with Paul’s list of rhetorical questions in 1 Corinthians 12, where he asks, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” (vv. 29–30, rsv).
With the emphasis on the plurality of the gifts and the need for all of them for the upbuilding of the body of Christ, there also seems to be a gross inconsistency in most charismatic churches regarding ministry. The position of “pastor,” as it is expressed in today’s churches, is more a historical phenomenon than a biblical one. The gift of pastoring or shepherding people may or may not occur in a person who is also able to preach or teach or heal, and so on. Likewise, it should be recognized that good teachers are not always good counselors or evangelists. Nevertheless, today’s pastors in many churches are required to perform all these functions. The assumption seems to be that if one is “anointed enough” to be a pastor, then God will supply all the gifts as they are needed in the ministry. The problem is that the calling of a pastor does not result from an amount of anointing, but from a specific kind of anointing like that experienced by every other member of the body.
Today’s charismatic churches suffer greatly from the American phenomena of individualism, self-sufficiency, and lack of commitment beyond lip-service. Many Christians think like Americans before they are inclined to think as Christians. “Freedom” is drummed into us from birth. No one can make us do anything we don’t want to, because we are Americans. People can believe whatever they want to believe. Unfortunately for God’s work in the world, charismatics are no exception. The result is that we often think that the most important thing about being a Christian is what a person believes. Even conversion to Christianity has become for many merely a decision that has to be made, instead of an entire change of life and orientation which affects everything we do and everyone to whom we relate.
Ministry is the work of the whole body of Christ, not just that of the pastor. People may enter the body of Christ—become Christians—because they are needy, but ultimately there will be work to which these people are called. It is ironic that pastors of charismatic churches end up doing more of everything singlehandedly than pastors of most churches, for here it should be most obvious to people that the whole body needs to minister. Perhaps there is a need for greater organization in ministry. For example, ministry teams could be established in which people with different gifts would lead the worship and administer the various ministries of the churches in a more balanced manner. There is no place in the body of Christ for the personality cults that many charismatic or Pentecostal churches have become.
What is perhaps the biggest puzzle, however, is the exclusivity with which many charismatics look upon Christians of denominations or leanings different from their own. Some even go as far as to assume that Christians of other “non-charismatic” denominations are not Christians at all. It is commonplace in churches of this type, to hear on a missions emphasis Sunday that an entire nation has only a handful of Christians, even though the country is 95 percent Roman Catholic.
“There is one body and one Spirit … one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4–6). Why then are we not more eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? If members of Christ are truly united with their head, Christ himself, then they must be at peace with one another, walking in love, imitating Christ who gave himself. This is not true simply of the local church body, but of the body of Christ in the entire world. It is no mistake that there is a marked symmetry between the story in Genesis regarding the tower of Babel, the beginning of different languages and the division in humankind, and the story of the day of Pentecost. At Babel, languages were imposed to divide, to keep sinful humans from becoming like God. At Pentecost, languages were given to reuniting what had been divided for too long, to restore sinful humans not only to the unity with God that was intended from the beginning but also to each other. The point is that as long as Christians are divided, they are violating the spirit of prayer displayed in John 17. There Christ links the Holy Spirit directly to unity among all who believe in him when he says, “As you, Father are in me, and I in you, so also may they be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, may they be perfectly one. Then the world will know that you have sent me and that you loved them as you loved me (vv. 21–23, New English Bible).
Unity in the Body of Christ may declare to the world more effectively that Christ is who he says he is than any sermon. Disunity has no place among those who claim to be charismatic Christians, for the Holy Spirit desires that we be like Christ in our daily dying to ourselves. We who want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death have no place judging others.
Conclusion
For the charismatic Christian, all of life is worship. Because of Christ’s gift of redemption and the Holy Spirit who allows us to participate in God himself, we are caught up in a mystery and are empowered to convey this mystery in ministry just as Jesus Christ did in the flesh. He conveys this mystery in our flesh by the Holy Spirit.
Charismatics look forward to the day when all will stand in God’s presence and together with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven sing, “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!”
Our calling here, however, is to remain steadfast, living in this world and declaring that someday is now, that heaven is here, that we are blessed to be in Christ, who is one with the Father. God’s presence is where we are already standing.