As Charismatics, What Do We Do When The Prayer Isn't Answered?

Apologies for the long delay since my last post, folks. I have had an incredibly busy summer and start to the fall. But I'm back in blogging action now. I originally wrote this blog post when Claire and I were in Northern Ireland for her cousin's wedding, the above picture is us at said wedding!

            As charismatics were tend to be very focused on praying for and seeking God's 'in-breaking kingdom' whereby he saves, heals and delivers people from their sicknesses, crises and sins. Many of us know first-hand the feeling of elation when God does indeed thunder from heaven and save his children in powerful ways. But a foreboding question looms behind all of this like a shadowy spectre - how should we respond when God doesn't break-in with his saving power? In the Vineyard we are used to tacking this challenging question through the lens of the 'now-and-the-now-yet' - God's kingdom has not come on earth as fully as it will at the Parousia (Christ's second coming). But in this blog post I want to mine the Reformed tradition for some other angles on this most difficult of questions. Although the charismatic and Reformed worlds don't often cross over in the life of the church (not many charismatics are Reformed, and vice versa), I think they are a potent mix. How would/should we respond to God if and when the worst happens? Below are some of my thoughts on this in relation to the contemporary charismatic movement. 

            In charismatic Christianity we tend to place great emphasis on God’s goodness and desire to heal, save and restore humanity. One of the reasons I love the charismatic movement is that I think this central emphasis is exceptionally biblical. Jesus is the centre of our faith, and his three-year ministry on earth when he was physically present with us was centrally characterized by setting people free from the suffering caused by physical illness, mental illness, spiritual poverty, sin-captivity and demon possession. To me it seems to be a no-brainer that Christians should seek to emulate this holistic salvific character of Jesus’ earthly ministry. I find those Christian theologies that fail to place this front-and-centre hard to reconcile with the gospel narratives and their prominence in the Christian canon of Scripture.

            Having said that, I have found that much charismatic theology takes this absolutely appropriate, even essential emphasis and twists it into a kind of theological/spiritual entitlement. We forget that the Christian church, over its two-thousand-year history of theological contemplation, has frequently emphasized another critical truth alongside God’s absolute goodness: his absolute freedom and the gratuity of his grace. What do I mean by ‘God’s absolute freedom’? In Psalm 115 the psalmist is worshipping God and contrasting him against foolish and worthless idols. He mocks the idols and those who worship them by saying in verses 4-8 (NRSV) “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats. Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them.” In contrast to this, he worships the Lord by means of this magisterial sentence in verse 3 (NRSV) “Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.” I think that charismatic Christians, especially leaders, need to ensure that their theology of God’s goodness and salvific mission to heal, deliver and bless all of humanity through Christ needs to be combined with a joyful and solemn remembering of the fact that God owes us absolutely nothing, and everything good that we have comes from his gratuitous graciousness, not any deservedness on our part.

            Many non-Christians struggle to come to God through Christ because they cannot reconcile the vast scale and severity of human suffering with a good, merciful and sovereign God. Others struggle with the message that all of humanity, down to the last person, is guilty of and captive to sin and in a dire spiritual state apart from Christ. Most people in the modern, post-Christian West believe that they are reasonably good people and deserve good things (how many advertisements have you heard that include the phrase ‘you deserve this or that’). Simultaneously with all of this, a record number of people in the Western world are suffering from depression and anxiety and even secular psychology is emphasizing the benefits of gratitude. What would it do to our charismatic theology, our theodicy (that is, our ability to still believe in God’s goodness despite the presence of evil and suffering in the world), our ability to live lives of repentance and our mental wellbeing if we decided to go in the depths of our hearts where the Bible goes from the get-go: The problem is not on God’s end. The suffering and evil in this world has its origin in the disobedience of created beings, both angelic and mortal, we are enemies of God apart from Christ who have willfully rebelled against our good and gracious creator, and, correspondingly, the only reasonable response to our lives is absolute gratitude. In my opinion, charismatics need to continue to emphasize the healing, saving and delivering-from-suffering which is one of the central features of Jesus’ ministry which he began himself on earth and continues to this day by his Spirit through his Church. But we cannot continue to cross the line into a spiritual/theological entitlement or sense of privilege. God’s overall will for humanity is salvation, healing, deliverance and blessing, but at the very same time he does not owe us a single thing and is entirely free within himself - he does as he pleases and does not need to request permission/forgiveness from/to anyone for anything at any time.

            At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old Scotsman (even though I actually am a grumpy old Scotsman!), I am not a fan of some of the charismatic rhetoric around ‘breakthrough.’ Some charismatic teachers have made it seem that the whole gospel is contained within the idea that God is going to give you a ‘breakthrough’ in your health, finances, career, without placing any emphasis on God’s total freedom and the gratuity of his grace (I call this 'breakthrough-pseudo-theology'). When this happens, our churches quickly devolve into self-serving self-help clubs for those seeking wealth, health, happiness and power. I think a good example of this kind of spiritual-entitlement-theology is the popular worship song ‘Praise before my breakthrough’ by Bryan and Katie Torwalt. I love much contemporary worship music, including the stuff from Pentecostal/charismatic churches (I am a Vineyard guy after all!). But the well-known criticism that this kind of worship music sometimes lacks theological integrity is true in this case. The ‘breakthrough’ is not ours. It is never ours. Psalm 3:8a (ESV) “Salvation belongs to the LORD.” God does not owe us a breakthrough of any kind, and we do not deserve anything good we receive from him. It is all sheer gift, sheer grace. Titus 3:3-8a (NRSV) “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure.”

            I am utterly confounded by God’s goodness that he has continually shown in my life. But, in light of the above taste of Reformed theology, in my future times of suffering I want to see the world through gratitude-tinted glasses rather than I-deserve-more-tinted glasses. God was not obligated to save me, and yet he did. Thanks be to God.