Parody of the Pentecostal church
So far so good! But how do we process the last parody of Jesus' parable, which relates directly to us as a Pentecostal church? According to the biblical scenario, small oil lamps on a stick were carried at the wedding. Everyone had another jar of oil with them, knowing that the wedding could last the entire night. Nobody would have ever gone out without additional oil. That would have been similar to someone setting off on a holiday night trip to Spain in a new Mercedes with a caravan without checking and refilling the fuel and oil. But the impossible happens. The oil is running out. New oil is missing. Oil represents anointing. It therefore points to the importance of the Holy Spirit. Half of the wedding attendees didn't have any additional oil with them. Even though special anointings and gifts should certainly never be presented as necessary for salvation, it is still shocking that today only 30% of Pentecostals are gift bearers.
What should we do?
We need a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We need new oil. Stale oil is bad. For successful church work, being equipped with the Holy Spirit is essential. Even our own church history makes this clear. The Mülheim Pentecostal movement, which numbered tens of thousands of believers in Germany after the early Pentecostal awakenings, never represented the classical Pentecostal doctrine of spiritual baptism. Free church Pentecostal communities soon formed which, like Pastor Jonathan Paul, did not want to “drive with the handbrake on”. These free churches have always emphasized the importance of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. After 100 years of history of the German Pentecostal movement, the Mülheim Association today has around 3,000 members in Germany, and the classic strand of the Pentecostal movement has around 100,000 members, although some of these communities, such as the BFP, only consolidated organizationally after the Second World War.
The “comforter” plays another important role in the area of communication and pastoral care. If it is still difficult for some of us to live a life of love and forgiveness, then this is only proof that the Paraclete is not supporting us enough. Especially in these end times, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can lead a life characterized by the fruit and gifts of the Spirit.
Author: Dr. Paul Schmidgall
Pictures: https://pixabay.com/de/
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