Grow Up Already! Pre-Pentecostal Or Post-Pentecostal?

Yesterday we read Psalm 104: 1-9, 24, 35c; Job 38: 1-7, 34-41; Mark 10: 35-45; and Hebrews 5 & 6 from the New Living Translation.

Yesterday was Laity Sunday. What did God have to say to the laity of Warren Plains United Methodist Church? A lot. And a lot to me, too. I spent the first 40 years of my life in the pew before God started moving me to the other side of the pulpit. Whenever Jesus talks with the Pharisees, I pay attention. When Jesus talks to the disciples, I pay attention. When there's a word for the larger church, I pay attention. I cannot separate myself, nor should I. But laity need special encouragement to grow spiritually. Spiritual growth isn't just the job of the preacher. Pity the church where that's the belief!

The writer of Hebrews wants his readers, people in the early church, to grow up! They aren't teaching...they still need to be taught. They're still on the very basics of the faith and aren't moving on into the deeper things of faith. To be post-Pentecostal, they are acting very pre-Pentecostal.

We have those times. Before we come to Christ, before we accept the infilling of the Holy Spirit and walk in His power, we are in our own personal "pre-Pentecostal" time. The Holy Spirit hasn't set us ablaze; we aren't sporting a tongue of fire over our heads. The world and our viewpoint is still "me-centered" instead of Christ-centered. After we are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, we still aren't perfect, but we're moving towards it. We start seeing the world more and more as God sees it. Our viewpoint becomes more and more Christ-centered and less and less "me-centered."

When the church is filled with pre-Pentecostal people we have trouble. If each person in a congregation is at the center of their own universe...watch out world because that's not good. However, when more and more become post-Pentecostal, then everyone else is more important than me. That's when the world really needs to watch out because transformation is coming!

In our reading from Mark, Jesus is dealing with pre-Pentecostal disciples; Pentecost has not happened, historically or personally, and James and John are being immature and very human. They are playing something of a modern day game of "king of the hill." I'm important and I want everybody to know it! I want honor and special recognition because this is all about me.

Jesus looks at them, and at us modern day disciples, and asks, "Oh really now? Have you got what it takes to grow up and really follow me and do this my way and the way I'm going to do it? Can you drink from the cup of suffering? Pick it up and drain it dry? That's a willful act. Can you choose to do that? And can you submit to suffering and be immersed in it? Huh? Are you able?"

Can we understand the deeper things of faith and go beneath doctrine and put our faith talk into a brisk faith walk? Can we eat a balanced diet of milk and meat? We do need both. Milk is never discredited in Hebrews...the writer says we need more in our spiritual diet, though, if we're to be strong in the faith. We've got to have meat. The commercial asks, "Got milk?" Hebrews asks, "Got meat?"

Understand about repenting of our sins and evil ways, place our faith in God and God alone, be baptized and know what it really means, practice the laying on of hands, believe in the resurrection of the dead, and know there will be a final and eternal judgment. But don't stop there! Don't be satisfied with placing faith in God and talking about having faith...show that faith to the world and live that faith you claim to have! Let God stretch your faith and show you what He's made of! Don't be satisfied with thinking you've got your ticket to Heaven stamped and ready for when you need it. This is more than about eternal life, it's about life right now and our relationship with God.

It's about working for God now, showing our love for Him now by how we love other believers and other people. We are to grow spiritually now and keep growing as long as we shall live. A lot of people who claim to be believers are not growing, nor are they actually showing love to their fellow man. We can often forget that we are all examples. Somebody, somewhere is watching us and looking to see how we live, how our faith talk and faith walk match up...if at all. Are we pre-Pentecostal or post-Pentecostal? Me-centered, we-centered, Christ-centered, what or who is at the center of our universe? We are all examples of something!

Jesus challenges us, like He did the earliest disciples, to be examples of being servants and slaves to others because that will be following His example. The disciples wanted to be leaders and to be recognized as such. That's how the world models leadership and that's the example they wanted to follow. Jesus says we aren't to be like leaders of the world. We aren't to strive for recognition and that "king of the hill" title. We're to serve. Period. Remember that cup and baptism of suffering? Being that servant to all isn't a cushy job. If we are pre-Pentecostal on a personal level, we want it the world's way. If we are post-Pentecostal on a personal level, Jesus' way is exciting, challenging, and the best way to go.

And when we go that way we find the anchor for our souls holds. We find Him to be trustworthy and true. We find our hope is confident and strong.

But folks, we've got to take the anchor out of the box and throw it in the water to find that the anchor does hold. We've got to grow up. We've got to incorporate meat into our diets. We've got to put our feet to walking our faith and not just paying it lip service.


Lip service is for babies just learning to talk. Who need nothing but milk. Who have a tough time standing much less walking.

Grow up already!

You'll never know what your Anchor is made of until you do.