Judgement in Proportion
Judgement in Proportion
"In 1859 a great revival wave visited our country (the USA), sweeping a half million souls into the fountain of salvation. Immediately the terrible carnage of 1861-65 (the American Civil War) followed. And so, as we anticipate the coming revival, which is already assuming rapidly worldwide proportions, we wonder if judgement will follow mercy, as at other times. And judgement in proportion to the mercy extended."
Here is a "theology" which today we usually consider the territory and preserve of "nutters" and those who seem to be so much more eager to see God destroy, rather than save. Be that as it may, these are the words and the convictions of a leader of, and widely-respected commentator upon, the 1906 Azusa Street (Los Angeles) Revival, Frank Bartleman. What are we to do with this un-pinned hand grenade of a declaration? Bustle past in embarrassment? Verbally machine-gun it to smithereens? I believe that such "different" and "difficult" perspectives deserve to be heard. Their words (strange though they may sound to us) merit pondering, until we've sucked all the marrow from the bones...and then spat the splinters out!
In this instance, Frank Bartleman is trying to make sense of something genuinely wonderful (a revival) being rapidly succeeded by something terrible (a civil war), by viewing it through the lens of God's law of consequences:
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6.7-9)
He is clearly making the case, that if the American Church and State had overwhelmingly embraced the 1859 Great Awakening, the causes of the American Civil War could have been amended through repentance, prayer, and holiness of life...rather than armies, bullets, and fratricide. Many of Frank Bartleman's confreres - that first generation of modern Pentecostals - later came to understand the Great 1914-18 War in the same light; a judgement or chastening consequence of Europe's failure to receive and appropriate the contemporary restoration of the fullness of the Person and power of the Holy Spirit to the Church.
(It is depressingly necessary to recall that in Germany in 1908, Evangelical leaders from throughout that nation signed the "Berlin Accord", thereby collectively opposing and rejecting the 1904-05 Welsh Revival, Azusa Street, and the infant Pentecostal Movement.)
Too often today Christians by-pass any kind of sober consideration of the "judgement of God", because it seems to propose a view and an idea of the Lord as lashing out against sinners with arbitrary punishment...even unto death! (I say "arbitrary", because all to often preachers who are loud along these lines, usually have in their gun-sights - not themselves or their favoured disciples - but their opponents, whom they have already judged deserving of anger and punishment.)
This kind of angle or perspective when propounded is non-biblical, infantile, and self-absorbed; it takes into account not at all the Person and nature and action of the holy Lamb of God:
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3.17)
"He is the one who turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins, and not only ours but also the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2.2)
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away our sins." (1 John 4.10)
The august Reformer, John Calvin (Geneva, 16th C) insisted that the Old Testament could only ever be understood by Christians when observed and studied through the lens of our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself suffering on the Cross to redeem us sinners. Therefore, every text of the Jewish Scriptures (no matter how apparently full of the destruction of the ungodly!) can now only ever be explained and set forth correctly and sanely, in the context of the over-arching mercy of the Lamb of God.
"He was led like a lamb to the slaughter...the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53.7&5)
"Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.' And the Lord said, 'I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.' " (Exodus 33.18-19)
"My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgements come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26.9)
Clearly it is in our own best interests for the judgements of God to be on the earth. Therein lies our hope and health, for by them we may learn to do what is right. But His exertions along these lines are not to "whack" people, or to "take them out". He's not gunning for our destruction, as some seem enthusiastically to believe and also long for. He is constantly seeking to save us...and if not with the carrot of grace, then with the stick of correction.
"God's kindness leads you to repentance". (Romans 2.4)
"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12.10-11)
God's way and method of instruction and formation via judgement, is for us to reap the unpleasant consequences of our rebellious or foolish actions...and likewise to harvest the pleasant fruit of obedient and wise deeds. (I do affirm, that timely repentance and just reparation can kill those seeds of destruction, rebelliously or foolishly sown!)
So, to return to the beginning of this peroration. Bad deeds have bad consequences; good deeds good...and try as they might, the religious spin-doctors cannot foil this principle any more than they can resist gravity!
In spite of a general "conspiracy" to downplay, belittle or even explain away The 90s Revival, it really was a global awakening which, can quite easily be argued, exceeded in many respects the 1904-05 Welsh Revival. It was a distinct and unique, historical Move of the Spirit. It was to some extent (here in New Zealand) widely welcomed for a season. But that reception was by no means universal. Eventually a majority dropped off the pace...the scene-sters got bored or freaked out when their "bill" arrived, leaders fell to squabbling over who was bigger than who in the revival "zoo", and as the flood-tide slackened, the "pharisees" swarmed off their fences to covertly "knife" isolated and exhausted revivalists. (Not a pretty picture. No wonder no one wants to talk about it. Stalinist-like religious amnesia is indeed a force to be reckoned with. But you will never make history, if you refuse to honour history!)
So...what meaneth this? Well, if Brother Frank Bartleman is talking through a hole in his head...then it meaneth absolutely nothing. But if he is accurately applying the unmistakable principle and law of sowing and reaping, then do we really yet see, acknowledge and receive our own present education through God's judgement? For very many Christians it seems to be "business as usual"...doing church in line with where the crowds seem to be, and where the power-brokers have raised their flags. For others it's "give me more, Lord"...the hard-core spiritual, party-animals still at the "bar", convinced that the good times must go on forever because someone else has already paid, and that they are beating the law of consequences!
The following are areas of current New Zealand life where I believe it is probable that our Nation and Church are currently "enjoying" God's "judgement in proportion to the mercy extended":
1) Murders are increasing, to the point of almost becoming commonplace. Homicide is the destruction of the Image of God, which is present in every human being...either fragmented or in the process of restoration. As John of the Cross has pointed out, "God sustains and is present in every soul, even that of the worst sinner." Thus, when a human being's life is taken, it is in fact an attack on God's Being and existence in our society.
2) Nihilism and self-destruction amongst too many of our beloved young people, who are part of one of the most privileged generations in the history of civilisation.
3) Financial collapse and corruption, caused by the "loss" of millions of dollars in savings of ordinary, everyday New Zealanders. Those usually implicated masquerade as bankers, financial advisers, and property developers.
4) Chaotic Church life...growth by transfer and not conversion; the breakdown of affectionate honour for leadership; leadership brutality and totalitarianism; an "I'll do as I please and stuff you!" attitude to local church membership.
"In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions." (1 Samuel 3.1)
"We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, nor is there any among us who knows how long." (Psalm 74.9)
"Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars he has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord." (Lamentations 2.9)
"Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumour upon rumour. They will try to get a vision from the prophet; the teaching of the law by the priests will be lost, as will the counsel of the elders." (Ezekiel 7.26)
" 'You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.' Jesus then left them and went away." (Matthew 16.3-4)
Do we see our signs?
