A New Kind of Charismatic
Chris Backert
Oct 16, 2023
There are many things that are hard to predict about the future of the church in North America, but one thing is clear: the future church is more charismatic.
I’m not sure how that statement strikes you, but consider the growth of the church around the world – most of it has a Spirit-filled underpinning. This growth, once primarily happening outside Western contexts, is now steadily increasing in places like the UK, Australia, and especially the United States. At the same time, the non-charismatic parts of the church are shrinking, especially in the Western world.
We all know that the mainline church (UMC, PCUSA, Episcopal) is by and large a generation away from the edge of extinction. But what is most striking in the data is that while the evangelical church is holding steady, the families of churches that hold to some practice of “the charismatic life” are growing. Even evangelical churches and communities that once would have been found lacking in their charismatic orientation now have clear, regular examples and bodies of teaching around the Spirit-filled life. Whether it is the Anglican Church, the Reformed Calvinist movement, Spirit-Oriented Mennonites, former United Methodists, or more multi-denominational groupings like Exponential, there is hardly any corner of the church that is not MORE charismatic than it was in previous generations.
One has to step back and wonder, “ Why might this be? ” This is certainly not something that aligns well with the values of our broader culture as so many changes tend to be. Instead, we ought to think that perhaps this wave of the Spirit is something that God himself has initiated for this time. If God himself has initiated this, then we might ask ourselves, “ How do all of us take steps into what God is doing? ” After all, you need not consider yourself charismatic to take a step forward into the life of the Spirit.
You need not consider yourself charismatic to take a step forward into the life of the Spirit.
In my own journey, I have often described myself as a “British charismatic.” Mainly, what I have intended to mean is that I have a “subdued” expression of life in the Spirit. I am still uncomfortable in contexts where the “full gifts of the Spirit” are displayed. Yet, I have found that learning to hear God, to give and receive prophetic words, and to discern the action of the Spirit in a setting, have been indispensable to my life and leadership. I’ve also been fortunate to be part of just a few “miraculous” circumstances. I always hope for more of those, but it doesn’t phase me when less of them happen. There are more than enough reasonable, theologically informed, reasons why we don’t see more miracles than we do.
What resides in my heart for my fellow Ecclesia leaders is that you would not miss what God is doing in this moment, either because of any past or present experiences with those who are “Pentecostal or Charismatic” or that you would regard your own personality and way of being in life to be at odds with what we generally experience to be a more “expressive” version of the Christian faith. If we miss what God is doing in this season, I believe there are at least three profound things we will miss.
First, you could miss a more dynamic and faith-filled personal life of faith. Second, you may miss the longing expectation for the surprising work of God that accompanies the vast majority of where the church is growing in witness and maturity around the globe and ALSO in Western nations that have left a concern for authentic, orthodox Christian witness. Third, and perhaps most importantly because it serves as the foundation of the first two, you will miss out on living and leading with the authority and boldness that accompanies the call of a Christ-follower and is necessary as part of your profession in a time when the winds of society are most certainly blowing against you.
As I look across all my experiences with planting, pastoring, multiplying leaders, building networks, and working with various denominations across the continuum of the church in North America, one thing I know for sure is that the only wind that can withstand the winds of our current secular, increasingly antagonistic context to authentic Christianity on the one hand, and the current nationalistic, increasingly antagonistic context to authentic Christianity on other is the wind of the Spirit. We must have the confidence that God is with us, in the power of the Spirit, to have the courage to face these twin headwinds coming against all of us for the foreseeable future.
So, how do we take a step into this moment?
First, I would recommend to any leader three books that I believe create a pathway for anyone to incrementally grow in their life in the Spirit – Surprised by the Power of the Spiri t and Surprised by the Voice of God , both by Jack Deere, and Hearing God by Dallas Willard. You might have read Hearing God in a previous season in life, but I would invite you to read it through the lens of the “charismatic life” and see how it hits you differently.
Second, I would recommend that you simply ask God to continuously reveal the person and work of the Spirit that Jesus sent to accompany and empower you. There is more to be said for sure, but I don’t know of any circumstance where someone has genuinely asked God to reveal the Spirit to them and God has not in due course answered. The question for us is “Do we want more of the Spirit?” It surely seems like it would be wise to say “yes.”
One of the main tricks in life, I believe, is not to extrapolate current conditions and circumstances off into the future. However, that’s exactly the tendency we have as humans, and especially, I’ve discovered, as ministry leaders. We look at things now and think they will always be that way. We long to see landmarks in the road, mileposts that tell us either we have now reached the pinnacle, the place we always dreamed of being (even if that place is only “stability”), or conversely, the bottom has fallen out and now is the time to bail out. But the mileposts are merely markers on the journey, telling us where we are now, promising nothing of the journey ahead. And so, when things are good, we see nothing but success and good times stretching out in front of us. In the depths of despair, during the most challenging times of life and ministry we feel as though the darkness has become the new normal. The reality is much more complex: there are always better times ahead, and worse ones as well. During those dark times, when ministry becomes more of a weight than a joy, I tell myself, “whatever is happening now will not keep happening forever.” Those words have kept me through relational breaks in our staff that seemed unfixable, through budget woes when we didn’t think we were going to meet payroll, even a time when our community lost a third of its members because we had let a beloved pastor go. In this way I have found hope. In the same way, during the successful times when we were growing, budget was bigger than ever, and when new people were engaging with the church seemingly every week I continued to tell myself, “what is happening now will not keep happening forever.” In this way I have found a measure of humility. There’s another way to read this mantra as well, one that encourages us not to miss what is happening right now as we overly focus on where we’d like to be or what we’d like to see happen. The challenge of ministry, like the challenge of life in general, is to be present to what’s happening now . Too many single people miss the joys of singleness longing to be married. Too many young married couples miss the joys of the early years without children because they long to be parents. Too many parents of young children miss the joys of the infant years, longing for the days when their children are more independent, less dependent on them for everything. And on it goes. In the same way we in ministry can miss the joys of a small, close community by looking at larger communities and wishing we had their resources and influence. We can miss the inherent learning and even joy of being shoulder to shoulder in community with others through challenging times because the difficulties and pain we are experiencing mask the ways in which we are being brought together, the ways in which we are being formed and the invaluable things we are learning. In life, and in ministry, remember: How it is now is not how it will always be. Learn to appreciate how things are now, but also take comfort in the fact that if things are difficult, there are better days ahead. Stay humble because no success is forever. Stay hopeful because, in Christ, no failure is permanent.
I’m writing to share some exciting and important news with you that we believe will be significant for Ecclesia in the days ahead! For the last few years, I have been engaged with other church and network leaders across the US and Canada about forming a new “connection” for the church in North America. The heart of the effort is around unifying, amplifying, and multiplying the kind of Christian witness that Ecclesia represents, for the sake of the gospel, over the next few decades. This new effort is called The Ascent Movement, and within the last 12 months, its momentum has picked up increasing speed. A few months ago, I was asked by the council of Ascent if I would help spearhead the development of the network in its next phase. I agreed to accept that task. One of the core goals of Ascent is to connect, coordinate, and collaborate with groups like Ecclesia so that we can do more together than we could in isolation. In many ways, it will function as a “network of networks” like Ecclesia functions as a “network of churches”. In addition to ministries like Ecclesia, there are also seminaries, mission agencies, and other ministry support organizations that are joining Ascent in these early days. For the last several months the Ecclesia board has been discerning whether or not Ecclesia would officially enter into a partnership affiliation with Ascent. We unanimously affirmed that decision at our recent board meeting. Since Ascent is in its early phases of formation, more information on the benefits and opportunities of this new partnership will be ongoing. However, we are happy to share some of the aspects of this new affiliation that we find compelling and will not only bless Ecclesia, but also all of the churches within Ecclesia. First, given the size of Ecclesia, there have always been areas of ministry that we believe are important, but toward which we have not had the scale to accomplish or contribute. Among these are concrete efforts around - increasing the witness of the Hispanic church in North America - supporting mission expansion to less-resourced parts of North America - increasing opportunities for disaster relief and response - and mobilizing prayer networks. Further, there are also specific and tangible benefits that are made possible through this partnership for any Ecclesia Churches. Some of these include things like - discounted tuition costs to Truett Seminary for any Ecclesia leader or member serving an Ecclesia Church. - discounted rate in utilizing the services of Chemistry Staffing for future hiring - access to a church-based missionary sending ministry for those Ecclesia Churches engaged globally, and more! Lastly, there is a specific aspect to this partnership affiliation that is particularly helpful to Ecclesia. Ascent has agreed to partner with Ecclesia over the next year to expand our church planting and multiplication reach in a way that benefits both Ecclesia and Ascent. Practically, this looks like Ascent investing a little over $1,000/month into Ecclesia over this next year and together working toward a set of mutually beneficial goals. As I think about this opportunity within the current moment of our network, it seems right for multiple reasons beyond the purely practical. At our Ecclesia board meeting in late 2022, we established a path for individual affiliation within Ecclesia to make concrete space for leaders who are outside ministry contexts that allow for our core congregational affiliation. The heart of this decision was a desire to increase the kinds of relationships that Ecclesia has within our scope of ministry. The decision to affiliate with Ascent is similar. Also, as I shared at our Ecclesia Gathering in January, this decision fits within the Core DNA of Ecclesia. When I look back at the founding of our network, three aspects were central then and have carried forward. First, our desire to extend the gospel to increasingly post-Christian, or more challenging, settings and groups of people. Second, a desire to exemplify a Christian witness aligned with the theological and missiological direction of affirmations like the Capetown Commitment. Third, our desire to provide a relationally rich journey of friendship for the churches and leaders who are part of our family. When I consider the affiliation with Ascent, we share in common those first two Core DNA. As for the 3rd foundational aspect of our network, I believe the time has come where Ecclesia itself needs “friends for the journey” in the same way that Ecclesia has provided a context of friendship for those within our community. On the other side of COVID, it’s clear that ministry in the days ahead is more exciting, while also more challenging and complex. We believe we need a greater community to be the most faithful to the gospel that we can. You can go to www.ascentmovement.org to get a quick glimpse of its vision. The current website is a placeholder for a more thorough site coming later this Spring. Ecclesia, of course, will have a seat at the table in its formation. We have also provided a one-page overview of Ascent on the attached document. We will keep you updated on this exciting development. Please feel free to reach out with any questions. - Chris
