Pentecostalism and Ecumenism: Past, Present, and Future (Part 1 of 5) by Amos Yong
The cumulative fruit of the Spirit’s outpouring on the Day of Pentecost finds its fulfillment in the eschatological consummation of God’s saving work. We are told in the revelation to the seer on the isle of Patmos that those gathered before the throne of God and the Lamb are ‘from every tribe and language and people and nation’ (Rev. 5:9; cf. 7:9). This is in part because the gospel is being sent ‘to every nation, tribe, language and people’ (14:6). On that final day, the great multitude representing such a staggering diversity of persons will lift up one great voice to the Lord God Almighty as they celebrate the great wedding feast joining together once for all the Lamb and his bride (19:6-9). The one body of those who are saved, as this picture and that depicted at Pentecost show, knows no boundaries, whether such is conceived politically, socially, linguistically, racially or ethnically, or otherwise.
To summarize, then, a biblically conceived ecumenism begins with the one work of God represented during the New Testament era as and through the Church of Jesus Christ. The unity of this body is—or should be—a reflection of the unity between the Father and the Son. Put another way, this unity is demonstrated in the love that members of this body have for each other, in the same way that the Father loves the Son and vice versa. It is therefore appropriate to consider this love as ‘the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace’ (Eph. 4:3), begun at Pentecost and to be completed on that great and final Day of the Lord.
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Read also:
Pentecostalism and Ecumenism: Past, Present, and Future (Part 2 of 5)
Pentecostalism and Ecumenism: Past, Present, and Future (Part 3 of 5)
Pentecostalism and Ecumenism: Past, Present, and Future (Part 4 of 5)
Pentecostalism and Ecumenism: Past, Present, and Future (Part 5 of 5)
Category: Ministry, Pneuma Review, Winter 2001
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