A Prophetic Prescription For the Future: Returning to Word and Spirit

Last updated on: December 11, 2015 at 5:49 pm by Brandon Mark Showalter

A Prophetic Prescription For the Future: Returning to Word and Spirit 2015-12-11T17:49:17-04:00 Brandon Mark Showalter

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In a thoughtful piece last week about the future of Evangelicalism, Derek Rishmawy dismissed the idea that he was a prophet or the son of one, but as I read it I was stirred by its prophetic tone. Maybe that is because I believe in the continuation of the gifts of the Spirit and have observed that God sometimes speaks through people prophetically whether they are aware of it or not. Although I have not met Derek personally, I have appreciated his writing over the years and if his eloquence in any way indicates the strength of his pastoral anointing, the university students and young adults at his church in Orange County, CA are under the care of a very wise shepherd. Particularly prescient in his post was this line: “Without an understanding of who God is as well as his works of creation and redemption through Jesus Christ, our moral imperatives and communal life will lose coherence and any semblance of plausibility to our people.”

Hear, hear!

Prophets possess incredible foresight but they are characterized by calling the people of God back to Him, to an understanding of Him as he truly is. Deeply grieved by the profane sin of Israel, God said through Jeremiah to “stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls” (Jer. 6:16). We hear the LORD pleading through Malachi (3:7) and Zechariah (1:3) for his children to forsake their evil ways and deeds that they might return to Him and He would then return to them. Hosea, who not only spoke but lived prophetically, gave voice to the crushed heart of God, who desired to speak tenderly to his bride despite her multiple adulterous affairs. These men whom God raised up to speak to his people uttered many warnings about impending judgment because of their many transgressions, but appearing throughout the messages of the prophets a clear emphasis emerges, one illuminating the goodness of God. Israel’s rebellion against him was rooted in a gross misunderstanding of his nature. Because of their calloused hearts, dull ears, and blind eyes, the Israelites could not perceive God accurately, for if they did they would “turn and be healed” (Isaiah 6:10). Jehovah-Rapha (God who Heals) was not merely one of God’s attributes, but one of his names and, therefore, central to his identity.

Such gross misunderstanding about the nature of God continues to manifest itself to this day and I, too, am dismayed at the illiteracy many Christian young people exhibit with respect to the basics of the faith. Troubling are the pernicious distortions and moral chaos they are embracing from universalism to revisionist ethics to consumerist Christianity. Equally distressing is their willingness to live with blatant theological contradictions and the feelings-based interpretive hermeneutics that almost always accompany such errors. Pulpits where expository preaching of the Word once occurred that have morphed into therapeutic methods of instruction do indeed contribute to this unfortunate trend. If the deception is to ever be curtailed evangelicals must do a much better job catechizing the next generation and new disciples, especially on such important matters like the doctrine of God, his holiness, and his redemptive work in the world through his Son.

As for Derek’s prescription, what I would offer in addition to his astute call for solid, orthodox theology is a remarriage of the ministry of the Word and the ministry of the Spirit, for there was never meant to be any division between them. Just a few months ago, Roger Olson penned an excellent essay about evangelical embarrassment of the supernatural (to which I responded a few weeks later) that highlighted the divide that exists here in the West but is not so in most of the rest of the world. No doubt that many of those American evangelical churches about which Olson wrote espouse an otherwise solidly orthodox, Christo-centric theology but, however unwittingly, end up quenching the Holy Spirit. Supernatural power ought not be associated only with doctrine-lite charis-maniacs and their excesses; it is the inheritance of all who acknowledge Christ Jesus as Lord.

Furthermore, the apostle Paul was one of the best preachers of the Word and, as a former member of the Sanhedrin, probably had most if not all of the Old Testament memorized. Yet he prioritized demonstrating the power of the Spirit over wise and persuasive speech (1 Cor. 2:4) while simultaneously valuing the preaching of the truth and guarding against false teaching. He exhorted Titus to preach “what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1) and warned the church at Colosse about the dangers of being captivated by “deceptive and hollow philosophy that depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world and not on Christ” (Col. 2:8). He also counseled his spiritual son Timothy to “watch [his] life and doctrine closely,” (1 Tim 4:16) and later cautioned him regarding people who would not put up with the truth and would instead “gather around them a great number of teachers who would proclaim what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim 4:3). These noble charges need not be mutually exclusive with elders laying hands on the sick, laymen casting evil spirits out of the demonized, and ministers creating space in public services for the sign gifts to operate so that those who do not yet know the Lord might believe (1 Cor 14:22). I for one would love to see a lot more of those things in American evangelicalism in the future, and I have a strong sense that we will.

All this to say, we desperately need both Word and Spirit. As evangelicals rightly continue to fix their eyes on Him and voraciously study and meditate on the Word of God, we should all pray that the vibrant orthodoxy we cherish yield a more vibrant, supernatural orthopraxy. The real power of the Holy Ghost demands a verdict and as more people encounter the goodness and manifest presence of the living God they are going to hunger for the spiritual milk and solid food found in the Bible, which I am sure Derek Rishmawy, Roger Olson, and many others will be proclaiming with great skill and passion.
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