ection>Not Ashamed of the Gospel
Confessions of a Liberal Charismatic
by
Henry E. Neufeld
Energion Publications
P. O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
Energion Publications
P. O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
Scripture quotations marked CEV are taken from the Contemporary English Version, Copyright © 1995 American Bible Society
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version.
Unmarked translations are by the author. I have used my own translations in almost all cases due to the personal nature of this book. I recommend using more than one modern translation for your personal study.
Cover design by Carol Everhart Roper,
PhotoMD (www.photomd.net)
Copyright © 2005, Henry E. Neufeld
Electronic Edition ISBN13: 978-1-63199-270-4
Print ISBN: 1-893729-37-0
Preface
I’m certain this little book is going to bring on at least two questions: First, what is a liberal charismatic and second, how can one be both liberal and charismatic?
The answer is that I’m not sure what a liberal charismatic is, and I’m not sure that I’m liberal, though the title doesn’t scare me as it does some people. The title “liberal charismatic” was given to me by an opponent in online discussion. I’ve mentioned it to audiences several times since when I have spoken, and some of them say there may be a point to it. In addition, I use it precisely because people will ask questions. Some will even be turned off about this book before they open the cover because of the dreaded ‘L’ word.
So why do some people say it is appropriate as a label for me, and why do I embrace (or at least “sort of” embrace) this title that was given to me as an accusation?
First, it is somewhat appropriate. I believe in a Christian faith that is to a large extent driven by experience, and that is not limited very much by doctrines. It is defined at its center by the command of Jesus to love God will all my heart and my neighbor as myself. To those who would say Christianity is really defined by the incarnation I would say that the incarnation embodies those two principles in a way that nothing else could. I make it a principle both of life and of Biblical interpretation to try to hang everything off of those commands, just as Jesus said that the whole law and the prophets could be hung there. Because of this, I embrace many people who would seem doctrinally incompatible as brothers and sisters in the faith. I welcome dialogue, friendship, and cooperation with people who share with me only the love of one’s fellow human beings. This could be regarded as liberal. But you’ll find while reading these pages that I also hold some doctrinal positions that are not generally regarded as liberal, and some that are regarded as very conservative.
Second, I believe in Christian unity. By this I do not mean the unification of Christianity under one banner that I select. I don’t ask to define what “true” Christianity is. You get to define that, hopefully in your own dialogue with God. I mean working in unity in whatever we can agree on, and not judging one another, and not setting our own agendas for other people.
Christian unity in this sense does not mean an end of denominations and congregations, but it does mean an end to the stranglehold of organizations on Christian faith and Christian fellowship. I call on the individual to walk with God and to find a community with which they can walk with God, no matter how that community is defined. Find the fellowship with which you can work and serve.
Right now there are movements trying to unite charismatic and evangelical believers, and many movements for uniting groups of mainline and liberal believers, but there is a barrier between the evangelicals and charismatics on the one hand and liberal Christians on the other. I think I scare people on both sides of the line when I embrace believers from all of these streams, including the many variations within them. From revivalist to traditionalist, from liberal to fundamentalist, from charismatic to cessationist, we all have something to learn from one another, and we all have something to teach.
Unfortunately, we very often cut ourselves off from communication with one stream or another simply because we assume they are past the limits. There are some who cut themselves off from communication. I find myself hard pressed to find a reason to talk to and listen to some groups. But if we can listen to the broadest possible range of people, and let others be the ones who cut ties and build walls, I believe that would show the practice of God’s love within the Christian community.
But let me go one step further. Let’s not unite as Christians in order to combat all those of other religions or people of no religion. Let’s unite as a witness. Let’s unite to show what God’s love can do when it is displayed through a group of people who care more about loving one another than they do about whether their theology is in perfect order, or whether their beliefs are perfectly correct, or whether they are socially acceptable to us. Let’s not be embarrassed over who we associate with any more than Jesus was.
There are some who will ask whether this book is intended as evangelistic. In one sense, I will say yes. I have gained great peace through my relationship to God through Jesus Christ, and I value my experiences. I’m sharing that in this book. If you don’t want to read what I have to share, don’t read the book. I say that seriously and without offense. You can tell me directly that you’re not interested if you like. It’s not a problem. I firmly believe your relationship to God, if any, is strictly your business and God’s.
But there is another sense of evangelism, which is commonly called proselytizing. I’m not doing that. You will find here no impassioned plea from me asking you to accept Jesus Christ as your savior. I am telling you that I have done so. I’m sharing my experiences and my understanding of those experiences. I’d like you to come alongside and try to understand me and dialogue with me through the words of this book.
But I view this sharing much as I view the way God shared with humanity through Jesus. He is infinite, or something so close to that we can’t tell the difference, and we are finite. In Jesus God crossed that gap—by definition as wide a gap as is possible—and asked us to share with him. I’m speaking across a much narrower gap, infinitely narrower, and I’m asking you to share with me.
God is not the God of the gaps—the one who fills in the spaces where we don’t understand. He is the God who crosses gaps, and invites us to cross them with
