Charismatic Stories: Francis, Paul & Seymour

By Scotty Sawyer

If you had to name one figure from church history who most embodies the charismatic stream of faith, you might be inclined to go with the guy who:

* couldn’t stop dancing from joy, even in meetings with world leaders – and won them over;
* healed a girl of blindness and a man of a foot-long tumor;
* spoke about God so profoundly that all within earshot were enraptured with a palpable
sense of the divine;
* led a church so filled with God’s Spirit it literally glowed, causing a panic among townspeople
who thought it was on fire;
* refused his family’s inheritance in order to rely solely on God to provide every expense for
food and shelter.

Who was this charismatic figure that so embodied the Pentecostal example? You guessed it – Francis of Assisi!

That’s right – the man we think of as a twelfth-century Fogelberg singing to woodland animals was a bona fide – and bold – charismatic by any era’s standard. Francis didn’t just preach to ground squirrels, he supernaturally tamed a renowned killer wolf. He didn’t just quietly take a vow of poverty, but, Jeremiah-like, stripped naked before a bishop to demonstrate his commitment to give up every possession.

Richard Foster does us the favor of contemporizing Francis’ charismatic experiences, in his book Streams of Living Water. In doing so, he connects Francis backward in history to the unequivocally charismatic Apostle Paul, and forward to perhaps the most overlooked charismatic leader of the 20th century, William Seymour. Seymour was the catalyst of the Azusa Street Revival, a spiritual movement that began in Los Angeles in 1906 among poor and working class Christians of many races, and which ran continuously for three years. Indeed, it was the non-stop prayers of Seymour – a humble, poor, African-American pastor – over three days’ time (and years of prayer before that) which ultimately gave birth to the modern Pentecostal church, whose worldwide adherents in 2000 were estimated at 115 million and skyrocketing.

Talk about “the scandal of the gospel” – these three figures lived it. And they shared these common characteristics, among others: familiarity with poverty, accusations of lunacy, a dedication to holy living, gospel messages that were direct and (apart from Paul) unstudied. Most amazingly, the movements they led cut sharply, consistently, and genuinely across lines of race, gender and class, humbly recognizing the Holy Spirit as the sole giver of true power.
Long considered the backwoods cousin of mainstream Christianity, the charismatic reach is visible today not only in Pentecostal churches but also in pockets within virtually every mainline and evangelical denomination, including Catholicism, and theological scholarship abounds. How has something long seen as essentially irrational now moved to the center of a “reasonable faith”?

According to Richard Foster, we might well ask of ourselves: when has our rationality and reasonableness ever fully defined God? He advises, “The ecstatic gifts are given to show us that God is present where we assume he is not…. [At Azusa Street,] God freely chose the insignificant, the unimpressive, the foolish to show forth his glory…. (It) was a supernatural work, a Spirit-empowered work, a charismatic work.”

Foster posits the following four strengths of the charismatic tradition:
“It offers an ongoing correction to our impulse to domesticate God. Jesus reminds us, ‘The Spirit blows where it wills’ (John 3:8)….
“It offers a constant rebuke to our anemic practice. How easily we become satisfied with religious talk….
“It offers a continuing challenge toward spiritual growth and development. It is ‘by the Spirit that we defeat the works of the flesh’ and develop holy habits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control….
“It offers a life of gifting and empowering for witness and service. Supernatural gifts are all part of our walk in the Spirit, offering (1) a witness to nonbelievers and (2) an affirmation of hope to believers….”

Inevitably questions continue regarding the long-term value of the charismatic tradition: What about the value of unity, and the divisive nature of charismatic groups, leading to church splits? (Invariably, in the early days of the Pentecostal movement, it was the established church that gave charismatics the boot.) What good are the demonstrative gifts? Doesn’t Paul say we should “covet the better gifts”? (Seymour and other humble leaders at Azusa coveted the charismatic gifts, for power to witness, evangelize and lead holy lives.)

Ultimately, Foster offers a suggestion for all who would reflect on the “Spirit-empowered life” of the charismatic stream:
“Regularly test your leadings and experiences in the Spirit with those you trust. Allow their spiritual discernment to encourage, correct, and refine you. And you them. In this way we will fulfill the words of the great Apostle of the Spirit: ‘Since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church’ (1 Corinthians 14:12).”

Sources:
Richard Foster, Streams of Living Water.
Richard M. Riss, A Survey of 20th Century Revival Movements in North America.
Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity.
Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language.