The following is from LOGIA, Volume 19, No.4, 54-55. The portions removed were directed to Lutherans, while the rest of the piece is applicable to any church body.
One of the recent hip and trendy tent-meeting/auditorium innovations that will undoubtedly be copied (if it isn’t already) by anxious pastors and transforming-the-church-and-world institutional types . . . is the “Holy Ghost Hokey Pokey.” Seriously! They dance the Hokey Pokey. Youtube it if you want. Comes complete with healing for a lucky few who participate, according to the pastor who leads the dance. So every congregation should adopt this, right? After all, it “works” (supposedly creating critical events of conversion) as well as many of the other revivalist practices that have already been adopted . . . . What “works” may just transform your congregation. Who knows? There may be loads of success that you can measure with your eyes, graph on charts, and deposit into bank accounts. Numbers that might even make Texans jealous!
Perhaps we should think outside of the box and learn from the Reformation. That’s right, I said it! Wouldn’t that be new and innovative? Who’s trying that these days? Gerhard Ebeling in his Luther: An Introduction to His Thought wondered why Luther’s reform became a Reformation not only in word but also in deed so that it planted deep roots in western Europe and helped reshape the world. He concluded quite simply and rather scandalously that Dr. Luther put his trust and confidence only in God’s word and not in the performance of people. Yes, indeed! You read that correctly. News flash everyone! Dr. Luther trusted God’s word!
And why not? After all, God’s word is not just informative but performative. It does and gives what it says. “Let there be light and there was light.” “My words are Spirit and they are life,” Word-in-the-Flesh Jesus promises (Jn 6). “Just speak the word,” the centurion confessed to Jesus, “and my servant will be fine” (Mt 8).
We’ve been given to cling to the Lord’s word. To trust in his promises of mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life, against all that we see, hear, measure, and experience to the contrary. Catch the Lord in his promises. He’s absolutely thrilled with that. “You have great faith!” (Mt 15:28) he proclaimed to the Canaanite woman. And to you too who believe only in Jesus. Faith is great because Jesus and his word, especially his word of forgiveness, are enough and sufficient. We do not despair.
One of the recent hip and trendy tent-meeting/auditorium innovations that will undoubtedly be copied (if it isn’t already) by anxious pastors and transforming-the-church-and-world institutional types . . . is the “Holy Ghost Hokey Pokey.” Seriously! They dance the Hokey Pokey. Youtube it if you want. Comes complete with healing for a lucky few who participate, according to the pastor who leads the dance. So every congregation should adopt this, right? After all, it “works” (supposedly creating critical events of conversion) as well as many of the other revivalist practices that have already been adopted . . . . What “works” may just transform your congregation. Who knows? There may be loads of success that you can measure with your eyes, graph on charts, and deposit into bank accounts. Numbers that might even make Texans jealous!
Perhaps we should think outside of the box and learn from the Reformation. That’s right, I said it! Wouldn’t that be new and innovative? Who’s trying that these days? Gerhard Ebeling in his Luther: An Introduction to His Thought wondered why Luther’s reform became a Reformation not only in word but also in deed so that it planted deep roots in western Europe and helped reshape the world. He concluded quite simply and rather scandalously that Dr. Luther put his trust and confidence only in God’s word and not in the performance of people. Yes, indeed! You read that correctly. News flash everyone! Dr. Luther trusted God’s word!
And why not? After all, God’s word is not just informative but performative. It does and gives what it says. “Let there be light and there was light.” “My words are Spirit and they are life,” Word-in-the-Flesh Jesus promises (Jn 6). “Just speak the word,” the centurion confessed to Jesus, “and my servant will be fine” (Mt 8).
. . .
We’ve been given to cling to the Lord’s word. To trust in his promises of mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life, against all that we see, hear, measure, and experience to the contrary. Catch the Lord in his promises. He’s absolutely thrilled with that. “You have great faith!” (Mt 15:28) he proclaimed to the Canaanite woman. And to you too who believe only in Jesus. Faith is great because Jesus and his word, especially his word of forgiveness, are enough and sufficient. We do not despair.
—BWK
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