This last week I had the opportunity to attend the Candidates Conference. One of the sessions dealt with a new label being applied to some, 'Reformed Charismatic'.
Now, I want to understand this label, I want to understand whether it is worth pursuing, not that I want to be labelled, but if it is going to help me understand God better maybe it's worth looking into.
I suppose I should share first of all my own background. I grew up going, infrequently, to an Anglican Church, Presbyterian before that. I remember in this time I didn't really want to be known as a Christian and would hide the fact I went to church. At the end of Primary school my mum took me and my sister along to a Charismatic church. It was an interesting experience. I loved the excitement that was present there, people were not ashamed to be called Christians, they were confident and excited about God. Worship was central to the church meeting. Sermons were long and engaging. At the same time I didn't really feel like I fit in, I didn't have any friends there.
Part way through high school a mate invited me to his youth group. It was at that Anglican Church. Over time I started going to this church on Sunday's as well. There was not the same excitement but over time I grew in my ability to handle the Bible as more than just a proof text. I constantly found myself frustrated with the lack of enthusiasm and seemingly quiet nature of these people. But there was something in the longevity, there were many more older people, there were genuine people who related well to outsiders. And the Bible was taught faithfully.
So, in my past you can see two elements. 1. Reformed; 2. Charismatic. I love the Reformed teaching, the way of seriously looking at God and what he has said in his word and remaining faithful to his word. The Charismatic still has a hold on me from the point of view of focussing on God, on making him the centre of what happens and showing emotions in this. Yes, I know these are huge generalisations, I'm just trying to summarise for simplicities sake.
I feel like I'm coming around more lately to being more sympathetic to the Charismatic side of things. There is no way I want to move from the gospel I have heard and believed. But I don't want it to be dry and academic, I want it to be real and lively. God's word is of course living, I know it is our sinfulness that often gets in the way of this and want to be careful not just to manipulate emotions just to feel like I am closer to God, that is a poor way to go!
How am I seeing this work in practice? The Psalms jump out to me as significant in answering this question. The Psalms are so theologically thought out and yet contain the emotion that seems more real to who we are created to be. But I don't just want to read the Psalms, to analyse the text and work out what it is saying. There is also a level where I want them to wash over me, to affect me emotionally.
One way I've found to do this is to prepare to read the Psalms in church. It is easy to read a passage a few times and get some emphasis in the right place. But reading a passage, going back over for a number of hours has a profound impact. The work of preparing a sermon has taught me this. It is amazing to see the gravity things are dealt with in the Psalms and the way they refocus us on God and being in Christ.
Where is this blog going? I don't know, I feel like I've wandered a little from where I started. (Almost a bit like those engaging sermons, I never knew what they were really saying, just I was kept interested in what was being said:)) Needless to say, I'm happy to be Reformed and keen to explore the idea of being charismatic (with a small 'c'). I want God to be the centre and he reveals himself in his word primarily. At the same time His Word, for example the Psalms, will have a profound impact on us.
No matter where I go, may I remain faithful to God, growing in Christ, not moved from the gospel and looking forward to his return. And I haven't even dealt with the Holy Spirit, maybe another time...
Jez
- Reformed Charismatic?
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jezzaclark- July 7th, 14:35
calm
Psalms
2009-07-07 07:21 am (UTC)
one thing I've found handy with the Psalms is to try memorising them (or at least some of them).
The memorisation process necessarily involves going over them again and again, and you can find extra nuance while doing that, as well as having them pop in to mind at odd times, showing connections you may not have found just by reading once or twice.
- Ian Tyrrell
Re: Psalms
2009-07-07 08:43 am (UTC)
Interestingly this last week I found myself needing to sing some songs off by heart. It was a wonderful experience, refreshing to the soul as you can't just go through the motions, you have to remember what comes next. The logic of these songs were so encouraging.
Jez
Woah there!
(Anonymous)
2009-07-08 02:48 pm (UTC)
The term Charismatic in itself implies Reformed! The term became popular in the UK in the 1960s and 70s to describe a new movement among reformed anglicans (many of whom had become christians and were leading figures within the big reformed evangelical churches and organisations) who experienced something of the more noticeable gifts of the Spirit as well as emotional experiences of God that they had previously linked with the Pentecostal movement. They didn't become Pentecostals because they wanted to stay firmly routed in the evangelical anglican church and find evangelical explanations for their experiences.
This isn't that modern a dilemma Jonathan Edwards writing his Revival apologetic is dealing with experiences that many would call Charismatic today.
The UK charismatic church is still largely reformed. The difficulty has come with second generation charismatics who don't have the history or links with reformed evangelicals. Coupled with this churches like Hillsong who have engaged with UK charismatic song writers have adopted the label charismatic instead of Pentecostal (which they clearly are).
In much of the UK or US the only noncharismatic churches are nonevagnelical ones and it's quite difficult for us to hear people talk about being Reformed charismatic as if we're not already reformed... I understand that in Sydney maybe it's best just to invent a new word if there's so much baggage with "charismatic"... but it would be such a shame if this also means you don't have contact with Bible loving reformed charismatics across the world and throughout history.
Re: Woah there!
2009-07-12 05:30 am (UTC)
I've thought about what you've said and appreciate the importance of clarity in terminology. One thought is that in Australia we don't tend to have much of a distinction between Charismatic and Pentecostal. Even as I have gone back to my notes from the conference I was on I see that we started talking about the waves of Pentecostalism from 1906 and following and somehow ended with those who would fit a 'Reformed Charismatic' camp as I've explained above.
To understand the term 'Reformed Charismatic', one website that I was referred to:
"The best way to explain what it is to be ‘Reformed Charismatic’ is this: a Christian with the desire to fully and Biblically live out the phrase ‘worship in Spirit and Truth’, and to chase what both of those mean to their Biblical ends in all areas. That means teaching the Biblical truths that may be unsettling or unpopular to modern ears, especially in some charismatic circles, & practicing gifts in a way that lines up with Biblical guidelines – being ‘charismatic’ Christians in a way that is fully God-centered." ( http://heatlight.wordpress.com/2007/0
One thought that has occured to me is that I don't really understand the UK church experience very well. I'd be interested to know what the emotional experiences that those in the UK had? For me using the word 'experience' implies being slain the in Spirit, etc, which do have for me a strong, let's say, Pentecostal association. So, what were these experiences? The next question that may flow is how were these experiences then understood evangelically?
Jez