Pentecostalism and Ecumenism: Past, Present, and Future (Part 2 of 5) by Amos Yong
It is here that the wide variety within Christendom needs to be appreciated. Some churches, like the Orthodox, think of theology and doctrines in its literal sense as orthodoxa—right worship, right liturgy, right contemplation and meditation, and so on. Other, more conservative Protestant churches, think of theology and doctrines as simple biblically derived or grounded propositional restatements, without concern for right interpretation. The Catholic church, on the other hand, thinks of theology and doctrines always in terms of the conjunction between Scripture and tradition. Without making further distinctions, it should be clear that the doctrinal statement of the WCC needs not be understood as a minimalist device designed to gain widespread acceptability. Rather, it should be seen as the fundamental essence of the gospel to which all Christians should adhere and from which all Christians should theologize. In this case, Christian ecumenism now becomes the arena where all of those who call Jesus Christ as their Lord celebrate their diversity and bless each other and the world with their gifts. This is a far cry from the rhetoric that castigates ecumenism as a deceitful subterfuge of the enemy focused on eroding the truth of the gospel.
Objection 3: The apostasy of the church in the last days
There is, however, one more related and frequently heard objection that Pentecostals have leveled against the ecumenical movement: the concern that ecumenical churches are spiritually dead, representing the last days apostasy predicted in Scripture (cf. Matt. 24:10-12 and 2 Thess. 2:3). This is related, of course, to the apocalyptic mentality that was pervasive among early Pentecostals. First generation Pentecostal pioneers were imbued with the missionary spirit and viewed taking the gospel to the farthest reaches of the earth as the final opportunity for the heathen to convert before the coming of the Lord (Matt. 24:14). The established church was certainly in no position to be used of the Lord for this final mission, having abandoned doctrinal truth, spiritual fervor, and missionary empowerment. In fact, as the church of the last days, the established churches were, like the Laodiceans, about to be spewed out of the mouth of the Lord because of their lukewarmness (cf. Rev. 3:14-22). It is for this reason that God had to raise up an obedient remnant through the pentecostal outpouring of the latter rain—so that the gospel could be taken where it had previously failed to go.
Category: Ministry, Pneuma Review, Spring 2001
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