George Knowles, in his book A World to Love, tells about a party of explorers who found themselves perplexed by something they found in a remote African jungle. In a clearing they discovered 35 carefully laid fires that had never been lit. They had the appearance of 35 little tepees, with dry leaves surrounded by small, dry twigs, and larger pieces of wood arranged in good Boy Scout fashion.
Who built the fires? Why had not even one been lit? The mystery cleared up when the explorers saw dozens of chimpanzees watching from the trees. The chimps had watched campers and copied the art of fire building, but they had no fire.
Shouldn't we ask ourselves, "Do we have the Pentecostal Fire, or do we just have the trappings?"
Along with Elijah, we laugh and mock Jezebel's foolish prophets of Baal who were unable to produce fire from heaven. Let's not be hasty to join with Elijah in the mockery. Paul warned his readers that the last days would produce a people who would have a form of godliness that is void of the power.
Wouldn't it be cool if Apostolic representatives could meet with Muslim representatives for a showdown on the mountain and say, "the God that answereth by fire, let him be God" (1 Kings 18:24). I wouldn't be worried about the Muslims producing fire but could the Apostolic brethren produce the fire?
Leonard Sweet recently said, “The church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. In fact, Christianity is still the fastest growing religion in the world. But it’s growing not in the North and West, but in the South and East. Why the difference? Why is Christianity surging in the South and East and not in North America and Europe? Because where the body of Christ is growing the people aren’t trying to do church. They’re doing Pentecost. Maybe it’s time for us as a church to stop relying on our own powers and programs, blueprints, and boilerplates, and start doing what these early disciples did: trust the Spirit and do Pentecost.”
The word Pentecostal can be an noun (person, place, or thing) or it can be an adjective (a word describing a person, place, or thing). Are you a Pentecostal in name only, or in your actions?
A few more quotes from Leonard Sweet: "When we do church, we’re concerned about decency and order. When we do Pentecost, we’re concerned about fire and glory. When we do church, we want God to leave us alone. When we do Pentecost, we want God to order us around. When we do church, we wear out our lives maintaining an institution. When we do Pentecost, we set ourselves on fire, blow up evil, and our lives are spent setting off the gospel dynamite of spirit and fire.”
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