Pneuma Review Interviews Charisma editor Lee Grady

Interview with Charisma editor, J. Lee Grady: Special to the Pneuma Review

Pneuma Review: Many in the Pentecostal/charismatic movement have said that the church is experiencing renewal. Do you agree, and if so, how has it touched you?

Lee Grady: There is no question that the charismatic church has experienced a level of renewal since the early 1990s. I think history will show that this movement began in or around 1993, culminating in two significant explosions in Toronto in 1994 and in Pensacola, Florida, in 1995.

Were these movements revivals? So many people want to quibble over the terms, and some argue that Toronto and Pensacola did not bring widespread evangelism. But it is still too early to determine that. I meet people all the time who experienced some kind of spiritual refueling in one of those movements, and today they are doing significant things in ministry. Many people who had become dry and “barren” spiritually found a fresh touch of God’s presence in either Toronto, Pensacola or in one of the many spin-off movements that were triggered by those two moves of God.

As far as my own personal experience, I was touched by the Lord in 1996 when I went to Pensacola. For me it was simply a fresh impartation of grace and a renewal of faith that God will indeed visit the United States in revival. I had a deeply moving encounter with God while in Pensacola in which the Lord dealt with my own cynicism. I came back from my three days there a changed man.

PR: In your 1994 book What Happened to the Fire? (Chosen), you listed several key issues that must be addressed before revival could sweep the church. Included in that list were heavy-handed leadership and spiritual abuse. How do you feel the church has dealt with these issues?

Grady: The charismatic church is still dealing with authoritarianism. I see it everywhere in independent churches where leaders either do not have the proper accountability structures, or they are too young and spiritually immature to know that they need such accountability.

Three years ago we ran an article in Charisma about the signs of an unhealthy church, and we focused on manipulative, authoritarian leadership as a major sign of problems. The response we received from that article was incredible. So many people wrote us to tell about their horror stories. This made me realize even more how much of a problem this is in our movement.

PR: While one magazine could never completely represent a movement so vast as the Pentecostal/charismatic movement, how well do you feel Charisma represents its diversity?

Grady: We have made a concerted effort to build bridges and cross barriers. I think we have succeeded on some fronts, particularly in reaching out to various racial groups. For more than five years we have focused a great deal of attention on the African American segment of the Pentecostal movement—which is rapidly growing. Black churches today recognize Charisma as a leading voice that speaks to both black and white Christians. We have made the same kind of strides with the Hispanic segment, and we have our own Spanish-language magazine, Vida Cristiana, which is now recognized as a leader in that field.

Of course we have a long way to go. When I first became editor I had high hopes of bridging the Catholic-Protestant divide. I wanted Charisma to be a leader in reporting on the Catholic charismatic renewal. However there is so much that still needs to be healed and addressed before we can do that. Our Protestant readers (the majority of our readers) are not yet that open to embracing Catholics because they are skeptical of their doctrines—particularly the Roman Catholic focus on the Virgin Mary. And Catholic readers do not view Charisma as their own because we do not tow the Vatican line.

I also have had aspirations to heal the divide between Oneness and Trinitarian Pentecostals. But the debate over the “Jesus only” doctrine—a feud which began in 1916—is still very much a serious hindrance to unity in the church. We have attempted to bring the issue to the table for discussion, and I suppose we have been successful to some degree in getting people to talk about it. But we are really not that much closer to healing the rift.

In the long-run, I am satisfied that we have made great strides in creating a magazine that reflects the diversity of our movement.

PR: Are there any changes in store for readers of Charisma?

Grady: Absolutely. For the past year or more we have made evangelism a more prominent focus of our magazine. I am not pleased with the fact that our movement—at least in the United States—can often seem self-absorbed and focused on “what God can do for me.” The Holy Spirit was not poured out on the day of Pentecost so that we could splash around in the river of God’s anointing and just have a party. We were given the anointing so we could be empowered to be witnesses.

I want to see our movement move beyond the “bless me club” stage so we can transition into serious evangelism that transforms society. I want to see charismatic churches winning the lost, feeding the hungry, and transforming nations through prayer and aggressive missionary strategy. That is God’s ultimate call for us.

That’s why we have done so many articles in the past year on reaching the lost. I have sent Christian reporters to interview gay people, punk rockers, the homeless, Mardi Gras revelers, New Age psychics and even UFO enthusiasts. I want our reports on these people to inspire our readers to get out of their comfort zones and reach those who would never visit a church.

You will see much more of this kind of journalism in Charisma in the next few years.

PR: Where do you see the Pentecostal/charismatic movement headed in the future?

Grady: There is no question in my mind that we will witness a global religious awakening in our lifetime. It has already begun in so many parts of the world, and it is increasing in intensity. I am hopeful that we will see this awakening stir this country, and result in mass conversions on the scale of the Great Awakening of the 1700s.

I think this awakening will be most obvious in Asia—particularly in China—and in Latin America in the next few years. But we will see great stirrings in Europe as well—a region that has really been the darkest in terms of spiritual vibrancy. I also think that as the American church is revived, we will see a release of missionary activity as well as mercy ministry aimed at social transformation—helping the poor, caring for the orphan, solving social problems, etc.

So I have a lot of hope for the future. Yes there are serious problems, and most assuredly we have a leadership crisis in the American church. So much of what we see now will most likely not stand the test of time. Many visible leaders in the church today are in place because of a love of position and prominence, or they are motivated by greed. I do not believe that the ministries that are based on money or ego will stand much longer. They have been a blight on the church, and have greatly hindered our witness. When revival intensifies, the holiness of God will surely require us to humble ourselves. Those who refuse to adjust to God’s agenda will be moved out of the way.

PR