We have a crisis in the current Pentecostal Movement today. The crisis is that the Pentecostal Movement today has lost its heritage. Look around: are we as holy as we used to be?
Take for example the sacraments. Traditionally the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) has recognized three ordinances/or sacraments; namely, (1) baptism, (2) the Lord's Supper, and (3) footwashing. In a study done by the Center for Pastoral Leadership and Care they found that nearly 38 percent of all Churches of God (Cleveland, TN) are not practicing footwashing as an ongoing part of their worship services. How sad!
Granted, there is a HUGE divide between Pentecostalism of "yesteryear" and that of today.
Pentecostals, unlike Catholic and Reformed traditions tend to emphasize worship at the alter rather than worship through the Eucharist (Catholics), or worship through the anointed word (Baptists). Pentecostal worship is interactive and emotional and it is very much centered one's personal experience and encounter with God at the alter. It is because we are so used to experiencing God through worship music and anointed alter services that we tend to lose the other roots that comprise a total Pentecostal faith: footwashing being one of those roots.
You see, in Pentecost today, footwashing and the other sacraments are widely considered too liturgical, too stiff and formal for exciting, upbeat, experiential, and emotional Pentecostal worship. Therefore, the sacraments are not being practiced today in our churches. However, what you have when you leave the sacraments out of worship is ecstatic worship and not much else. We have to mix in a little bit of the sacraments and the preached word along with anointed alter worship in order to bring about a full BALANCED worship experience. Is this not what we are seeing today? Christians who have been fed an unbalanced meal (what I would compare to eating a ton of sugar) and we are now fat on experience and praise and worship music without much else.
Remember that the sacraments were given by Christ in order that they be carried on throughout the life of the church until he returns. Often we think of the sacraments as something that we do for God when really when we practice the sacraments it is a way for God to do something for us and in us. The sacraments are a way that God can express his grace to his believers, and in so doing, we may understand a little more about God and his grace.
I would urge Pastors and leaders to incorporate footwashing into the daily lives of your church members. Footwashing, according to the work by Dr. John Christopher Thomas, was continued in the Johannine community as a means to remove post-baptismal sins. Think about that! Of course footwashing in-and-of-itself can never take away sins, but it is a symbol of Christ's all sufficent power to do so. When we wash feet we are reenacting the passion of Christ.
I am looking for people who have (1) any comment about footwashing, and (2) more especially personal testimonies from individuals who have had significant footwashing experiences. For example, have you been healed during a footwashing experience? Were you filled with the Holy Ghost during a footwashing? Were you delivered from a bondage of some sort during a footwashing? Do you have a creative story to tell? If so I would love to hear about them here. I would also like to use them to publish in a book that I am writing on footwashing. Any help that you can give would be great.
Blessings,
Derrick Harmon
1 comment:
Derrick,
I am ordained in the Church of God (Anderson), and I'm sure you know we have common roots. You probably know that William Seymour was a member of our movement. It is unfortunate that we couldn't have learned to honor one another rather than separate over a different understanding of a spiritual gift.
We also practice footwashing, probably not as often as we should, and some of our churches don't practice it at all. For those of us who do, it is normally only a once a year practice on Maundy Thursday.
I have been participating in footwashing since I was a child, and my children share the experience with me now. I remember one of the first times I participated in a footwashing service. I asked my dad how I would know whose feet I was supposed to wash. He suggested I search my heart and see if there was anyone present I felt uncomfortable with, or that I had negative feelings toward, and that was the person. I have made it a life-habit to ask the Holy Spirit whose feet I should wash, and it always comes clear.
In exploring what Jesus was teaching his disciples through the footwashing experience, I think it is a given that he was teaching them about being servants. In his comments to Peter, I believe he was saying that in walking around in the world we pick up dirt (temptations, attitudes, discouragement, sin). We don't need re-baptized, but we do need to wash those things off before they stick and hinder our relationship with him. For that reason I believe, that along with all the other things that footwashing expresses, it also is symbolic of daily confession and repentance - keeping our spiritual feet clean every day.
Thank you for your insightful blog post.
Blessings,
Tim
Post a Comment