Rather than simply answer in the comments section to Dan’s post about “What Keeps You In Your Church Tradition?,” I have decided to reply via a post and offer it as my own personal answer (because I have in fact been asked this very question at other times). I decided three was a rather Biblical sounding number…so that should make this a very spiritual response.
First, I remain in my fellowship/tradition (the Assemblies of God) because it is where my deepest roots and greatest familiarity lay. By that, I mean to say, I am most fully aware of the church structures and practices of this particular tradition. I am well integrated into this tradition as well as being heavily networked with other A/G churches, ministries and ministers. There is something to be said about the knowability factor. Were I to join another tradition it would mean moving into unknown waters. This may seem a rather pragmatic approach, but, hey, this is reality.
Second, I am kept in my tradition by its Pentecostal confession and practice. I am unabashedly Pentecostal. I believe God desires to empower His Church via the rich outpouring of Christ’s Spirit. I believe in the continuing demonstration of the ministry of the Spirit in and through the communion of saints. I remain because the A/G emphasizes this desire and passion for God’s Spirit to glorify Christ in and among us (even if at times we have not followed through either as genuine practitioners of the life of the Spirit or have simply gone wacko and blamed it on the Spirit). I still fully believe God’s Spirit is at work in the wider Church and see the A/G as playing (hopefully) a pivotal role in seeing the Spirit poured out in greater measure on all varieties of congregations and traditions. I have told Baptists, Presbyterians, Anglicans and Catholics…pentecostal experience of the Spirit is no respecter of denominational boundaries.
Third, and finally, I remain in the Assemblies because of missions. This tradition stated from its inception that we are committed to “the greatest evangelization the world has ever seen”. We remain committed to this and have continued to demonstrate it through our unprecedented mission program. I am thrilled to be a part of a fellowship and tradition that makes its aim to reach the lost with the good news of the Kingdom.
So, how is that for my answer to the question Dan posed? What are your thoughts on this?
I couldn’t have said it better for my own reasons as to why I stay with the Assemblies as well. I am richer for the other traditions I have around me, and I pray I am faithful to add to their lives as well.
I think we are quite fortunate to belong to a fellowship that despite our particular idiosyncrasies still allows us the freedom to be integratively enriched by other traditions. This might be true of other fellowships, but we are somewhat of a hodgepodge fellowship (which I think goes with the territory of being “Pentecostal”) with certain tendencies, but typically no hard-and-fast rules about much of anything (even when we have “fundamental truths” we are fairly lax on enforcement of any sort…what can I say…we tend to be more pragmatically oriented than tyrannically “orthodox” head hunters).
I like the motto “All the Gospel” (AG) that appeared on Assembly of God church signs decades ago. I often tell students that the Assemblies of God has a breadth beyond its reputation. There’s room for a variety of emphases, in addition to the common Pentecostal themes. My hope is that many of my students will take advantage of this breadth and develop ministries that are able to break some of the stereotypical patterns.
One reason I love the Assemblies as well is our being a “voluntary cooperative fellowship” which allows for a rather wide range of ideas and practices. Most of the issues we are concerned about being restrictive are rather self-imposed than anything else. Thanks for the comment Ken. Actually the motto we use for our congregation is “The Whole Gospel for the Whole World” (it doesn’t fit the A.G. acronym, but I like it
).
Another reason for staying within the AG tradition might include its fealty to biblical theology. We don’t rely on a person who started a movement (i.e., Lutheranism or Calvinism), but rather on the Bible and its Author. We continue to refine our theology using the Bible as our basis, rather than the latest cultural fad or pressure.
I pray that is so Bill. It is certainly our claim (which is a great start). Lacking a figure-head for founding certainly has the advantage of not idolizing an individual. And we don’t change our theological bases easily as if fads should drive such. But, on the other hand, we seem to embrace and advance almost every fad coming down the pike in our ministers events (and I’m not so much speaking about our own district). The advantage of an unchanging theological basis while a tendency to fadishness in practice is that at least we don’t seem to wander as far from the center in our attempts to be relevant. The danger is that our fadish practices may (more often than we wish) be indicative of our failure to fully appreciate and appropriate our theological grounding.
And I’m certainly glad you are a part of our fellowship Bill! You are a great brother!