Are We Pentecostals? (pt 1)

Recently I was asked by a person in our church if we are Pentecostals? That question prompted this post and probably a few more to come.

In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost there were people in Jerusalem the followers of Jesus were all together in one place. While they were all together a sound filled the entire place that was comparable to a violent wind. They saw what looked like tongues made of fire that would separate from one another and rest on the people sitting in the house. Everyone there was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages (tongues).

There were people in Jerusalem from every area of the Roman Empire. When the masses heard the wind-like sound in the house they crowded around it. The people from various places heard wonderful things about God being spoken in their own languages by the followers of Jesus.

Some mocked the followers of Jesus and accused them of being drunk.

Peter then stood with the other 11 disciples and addressed the crowd. I presume he did that in either aramaic or hebrew. Approximately 3000 people accepted his message of Jesus being the Jewish Messiah.

The label Pentecostal is used for people or religious groups that affiliate their beliefs and practices with the people and the events mentioned above.

I have two questions:

What message is generally intended when a group calls themselves Pentecostals?

What images and ideas should be evoked by the term Pentecostal?

I ask those questions because I feel like the word Pentecostal has become synonymous with speaking in tongues in the minds of many, both in side and outside Pentecostalism. In fact, in my younger years I ignorantly thought all tongues speakers were Pentecostals and all Pentecostals spoke in tongues.

Roberts Liardon, in his book on the Azusa Street revival, poses the question "Who are the Pentecostals?" and answers by saying, "The emphasis on the Holy Spirit is essential to Pentecostal reality, and almost all Pentecostal denominations believe that the 'initial evidence' of Spirit baptism is the manifestation of glossolalia or what s commonly referred to as speaking in tongues...Pentecostal worship is characterized by praying in tongues, prophesying, healings, hand clapping, and dynamic preaching, which are all enjoyed with great zeal and fervency. This worship style divides Pentecostals from other mainline Christian denominations. Pentecostals believe in a separate experience known as the baptism of the Spirit. This experience is evidenced by speaking in tongues and a renewed experience of power in their life."

Liardon's description of Pentecostals feels too narrow. As I look at the details of what happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 I am perplexed by the emphasis (mine included) on tongues at the advent of the New Testament church. It feels disproportionate when viewed both historically and biblically (see 1 Corinthians 12-14).

If speaking in tongues is not appropriate to be the definitive and distinctive characteristic of Pentecostalism, then what should define and distinguish Pentecostals?

Coming Next: part 2




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