I received an email a couple of days ago from Examiner.com
suggesting that articles about Pentecost were being encouraged and were
eligible for special promotion. What a coincidence. I had felt a compulsion to
write such an article a few days before. The guidelines, much to my surprise
and chagrin, indicated listing various ways of celebrating Pentecost,
especially in the Catholic Church. I have to admit that I was never involved in
a Pentecost party in any church, including the Catholic Church in my youth.
One of the slogans I hear bandied about frequently these
days is "Christianity is not religion but relationship". At first that phrase agitated my eardrums
like fingernails across a chalkboard. My presumption was that people who don't
like to keep God's commandments rationalize that shortcoming by coming up with
a higher path. Instead of obeying God, some people find it much more convenient
to just claim a relationship with the Almighty. Some misguided individuals
possess the idea that relationship consists of God loving me and me letting
Him. I certainly won't deny God's love for us, but I caution against unwarranted
familiarity with the Creator of the universe.
Scholars might point out that under the new covenant of the
blood shed by Jesus Christ, all individual believers have the right to enter
the Holy of Holies, not just the priests (not to be confused with Catholic
clergy). This seems to be sound doctrine, but a caveat is judicious here. In
order to enter the Holy of Holies, the priests had to be obedient and follow specified
protocol. Thus in my vocabulary, a relationship, especially this one, involves
built-in rules. So if by religion, we
refer to God made rules, then my advice to you is that we need both religion
and relationship. However if religion is interpreted in the typical human
scope, the main elements comprising religion are human inspired. Some might
refer to this as man trying to reach up to God. The bottom line is that I don't
believe that God is interested in "human" rules. Check out the
reaction of Jesus to Pharisaical teaching featuring stringent laws that God had
not applied to burden mankind.
Celebrating Pentecost with food and ritualistic traditions
should not be our focus. The goal is not to celebrate Pentecost but rather to live
it. The tongues of fire descending upon those gathered in the upper room
provided the impetus for transforming frightened disciples of the Nazarene into
bold witnesses, motivated to travel through all the known world to relay the
message of a Savior/Messiah to virgin ears. Today, most people on earth have already
heard of Jesus Christ. Their resistance levels are so high at this point that
testifying of Christ requires the baptism with fire to endow believers with the
boldness to speak out in the shadow of persecution or ridicule and the courage
to stand up for their faith. Unfortunately, many denominations consider the
power of the Holy Spirit that descended upon the upper room to be expired. They
don't realize that without the power of Pentecost, Christians don't have a
chance in an increasingly hostile world.
People are turning away from the church because it doesn't demonstrate
the power of God. It's time we quit worshipping our traditions and get plugged
into the power supply of the universe, so that we might be like the Apostles.
Note that many, if not most, of the people gathered in the upper room died as
martyrs for the gospel. If they had fled after the death of Christ, they might
have survived many more years on this planet, but their lives would have been
bereft of the honor and glory which God will bestow upon them for their
faithfulness. It's your turn on earth. Are you going to flee to personal safety
or let the Lord infuse you with supernatural Pentecost power to go forth and be
His ambassador in a dangerous world?
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