Monday, October 27, 2008
What is Pentecostal Leadership?
I just completed one of my papers for my D.MIN. class. It feels so nice to get my first paper done. This paper dealt with Pentecostal Spirituality. There were 3 parts; What is Pentecostalism?, What is Christian Leadership?, and then what is Pentecostal Leadership? It was a reflective assignment. The thing that took the longest was defining and describing Pentecostalism. There are so many issues with the word - Pentecostalism. I am looking for some comments on how you view Pentecostalism. So, please post away.
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4 comments:
John, I can see why you've run into difficulty defining pentecostalism...lots of terms can be involved, including "renewalism" and "spirit filled" movements...I noticed that, from a secular standpoint, the movement has swept through middle and lower class America first, and during the civil rights era, it served as a sort of social revolt (too strong a word, but you get the idea) against the established discrimination and "sinful" practices tolerated by some mainstream religions...Latin America and Africa seem to offer similar conditions, which might provide indications as to the strong spread of pentecostalism there.
From a spiritual perspective, I'd like to think pentecostalism is the belief that God actively participates in the lives of believers through the development of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and the continued outpouring of His Spirit as evidenced by the operation of all the gifts of the Spirit for the edification of the body of Christ. Certainly, there's a large variation in the particular doctrinal applications in the churches that fall under the banner of pentecostalism, so it follows that my difinition will not necessarily fit in every case.
Thank you for your thoughts. I look forward to more interactions from others as this blog gets out there.
John, I'm curious to read your definition of leadership. I subscribe to a leadership newsletter from a fellow named Jeff Myers. He focuses his ministry (if you want to call it that...I think it fits) on developing leadership in the next generation and improving the leadership in the current one. And of course, I have spent much of my career working to draw out the leadership skillset in young men and women, even if they are reluctant. I find our current state of affairs in the church somewhat similar. We have a great need for leadership, and there's lots of untapped potential, I think...the development and releasing of that potential has to be a priority, no? Certainly leadership rarely happens by accident. Even Gideon was just selected by God and then left to his own devices...so where do we come in, and what do we do?
I meant to say Gideon wasn't selected by God and then left to his own devices...
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