EMQ » January–March 2021 » Volume 57 Issue 1
By Jason Morrison
Since officially being recognized as a legal church on January 25, 1989, the Czech Pentecostal movement as represented by the Apoštolská církev (AC) has grown from a handful of members to fifty-six churches, fifty-four mission stations and seventy diasporas.[1] However recent generational tensions and slowing growth among many congregations have revealed the need for theological-methodological examination.
The historic influence of pietism with its emphasis on personal prayer and holiness has led the older generation to insist upon additional prayer and sanctification as the keys to church growth, while the influence of western ministry models and exposure to charismatic mega-churches has led the younger generation to reject what they view as withdrawal from the world into isolation. They instead lobby for more engaging, attractional models of ministry. They also exhibit strong negative reactions to calls for more prayer and personal holiness, both of which the older generation hold as core values of the Czech Pentecostal movement.
Peter Kuzmic’s description of Christians who have lived under repressive political systems echoes the criticisms the younger generation of Pentecostals wield against the older generation, which lived under communism. He writes: “… they have adopted a high degree of legalism and insulation that prevents them from having a positive “salt and light” influence on their society; and they foster a pietistic subculture with its own patterns of behavior, language, and dress code… This internal withdrawal leads to a loss of relevance, denies the mission of the church and undermines the Christian impact on the society.”[2]
The goal of this article is to demonstrate the value of using a missional hermeneutic to help bridge cultural and generational differences in understanding of scripture. Although a missional hermeneutic approach is not specifically “Pentecostal,” it should, in any case, resonate with the Pentecostal church. “If the Spirit empowers us especially for mission, it should not surprise us if a Spirit-led reading of Scripture should highlight the theme of mission.”[3] I believe this approach also offers broader application in other denominational, cross-generational and cross-cultural contexts beyond the Czech Pentecostal church.
This article will chart a course to bridge the gap between the historic holiness influence of pietism and the emerging Czech Pentecostal identity. I intend to apply a missional hermeneutic to demonstrate how pietistic holiness can provide the basis for Spirit-empowered mission. I will examine parts of the Gospel of John to show the missional aspects of prayer, sanctification and the work of the Holy Spirit. The reinterpretation of these themes afforded by a missional hermeneutic offers a new way forward, which simultaneously honors the positive influence of pietism while also leading to a fully Pentecostal understanding of these themes.
In the interest of clarity, I am using the term Pentecostal in a broad sense. I acknowledge that numerous doctrinal differences exist among classical Pentecostals, charismatics and third-wave Pentecostals. However, the central thrust of the broader Pentecostal narrative has been the role of the Holy Spirit to empower Christ-followers in mission. Among Pentecostals, no aspect of the purpose of Spirit baptism has received more attention than world evangelism.[4] This is the theme that most unites world Pentecostals.
The Historical Context
The first records of Spirit baptism and the beginning of Czech Pentecostalism come in 1904 among believers in the Evangelická Církev of Tešín two years before the famous 1906 Azusa street revival in the United States.[5] Much like their western counterparts, early Czech Pentecostals placed a strong emphasis on holiness; however, whereas American Pentecostalism was influenced by Wesleyan holiness, the holiness roots of Czech Pentecostalism were found in pietism.
While it is true that German pietism had the strongest influence on the early Czech Pentecostal movement, I have chosen to draw from the writings of an earlier figure, Jan Amos Komenský[6] due to his continued prominent influence on the contemporary church and culture. As a testament to his importance, in 2020 the entire Czech nation plans to commemorate the 350th anniversary of his death.
Komenský (1592–1670) was both a progenitor of pietism and a historical figure who still influences Czech culture today. His wide-ranging program places him among the pioneers of mission work. In contrast to this, is his obvious focus on personal godliness, where we would traditionally expect the Brethren Church’s emphasis on the importance of the life within the church community. This emphasis is of course a reaction to the neglect of the interest in the spiritual life of the individual. Immediately after Komensky’s death Jan Arndt led the charge of German pietism into this area. Komensky was unequivocally among those who planted the seeds of pietism.[7]
His book Labyrint Světa a Ráj Srdce[8] for example is still required reading in most Czech schools. The Pentecostal Bible School, Vyšší Odborná Škola Misijní a Teologická, has also drawn inspiration from his work Praxis Pietatis[9] for its program of spiritual formation.
Komenský himself projected a forward-thinking missionary vision for the church. He proposed translating the Bible into all languages, distributing Bibles among unbelievers, and creating a world council of churches with delegates from among the peoples of all continents.[10] However, he did not directly connect personal piety to the mission of God. He writes, “…You must reform yourself according to God’s good pleasure and with His help, so that angels and pious men are able, as it were, to read on your forehead the inscription: ‘HERE IS A SPLENDID IMAGE OF GOD.’”[11] His goal of holiness is personal edification rather than mission.[12]
Biblical Response
In the following section I suggest a missional hermeneutic to enrich the understanding of select themes of prayer, sanctification and the work of the Holy Spirit found in Komenský’s Praxis Pietatis.[13]I will approach the text of Jesus’s high-priestly prayer in John 17 with a pre-understanding that the story of scripture is the story of mission, i.e. God’s desire to bring all humanity into relationship with himself through repentance and faith in Christ.[14] A missional hermeneutic also asks the question, “How did this particular text continue the formation of witnessing communities then and how does it do that today?”[15]
The Theme of Prayer
Komenský writes that prayer pleases God, ensures God’s grace, prepares the path for thought and sanctifies all things and us.
“Modlitba připravuje cestu přemýšlení, které je silou a podstatou modlitby. Modlitba posvěcuje všechny věci, i nás…” (My translation: Prayer prepares the path of thinking, which is the strength and substance of prayer. Prayer sanctifies all things and us…)[16].
A missional reading of scripture affirms the role of prayer but adds the recognition that the theme of prayer stretches throughout the Bible, undergirding God’s mission in the life of his people and sometimes even becoming a dimension of their mission.[17]
Jesus’ prayer in John 17:1–26 can offer insights to the missional dimension of prayer. Jesus’ prayer serves as a model as it widens from the personal level to include eventually all those future generations who would believe and those in the world.[18] In verses 1–5 Jesus prays for himself, in verses 6–19 he prays for his current disciples, and in verses 20–24 he prays for future believers. His prayer does not stop with prayers for personal glorification (verse 1) or sanctification (verse 19), rather it continues toward alignment with the Father’s mission. This fits the larger pattern of Jesus praying before important decisions or events in his ministry and mission.[19] His prayer shaped his disciples by reinforcing God’s mission both by its content (praying for the mission) and by its pattern (moving from personal to broadly intercessional prayer).
The Theme of Sanctification
I have already noted the goal of Komenský’s personal sanctification was to be pleasing to God. He argued the cumulative effect of individual holiness would eventually cause Zion to break through on earth.[20] However, because he and his church were living in exile and fighting for survival amid persecution from Roman Catholicism, his main concern was focused on renewing the church. His version of personal holiness called for separation from the world (sanctification) without further explicit connection to mission.[21]
Jesus’ prayer in John 17:17 is also a prayer for his disciples to be sanctified; however, Jesus ties sanctification directly back to mission. “In this sense there is a parallel between Jesus and his disciples, for just as Jesus was sent from outside the world into the world (John 1:1,9), so also his followers are sent (back) into the world after having been called out of it.”[22] Jesus’ prayer shapes his disciples, reminding us of the link between holiness and God’s mission, a link that can be traced all through the Old and New Testaments (2 Peter 2:9).
The Work of the Holy Spirit
Komenský says that the Holy Spirit sanctifies, “confirms our sonship,” intercedes for us, motivates us to prayer, ensures answers to prayer, and gives us joy greater than the joys of the world.[23] His definition of the work of the Holy Spirit focuses on personal edification of the believer yet omits the missional work of the Spirit.
Jesus’s prayer in John 17 does not explicitly pray for the Father to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples; however, Jesus repeatedly emphasizes in verses 11, 13, and 15 that he is leaving the world while his followers are to remain. Since Jesus had already promised his disciples on multiple occasions that he would send the Holy Spirit and not leave them alone, we view the coming of the Holy Spirit as an understood concomitant of Jesus’ departure.
Jesus repeats the promise of the Holy Spirit three times in the Gospel of John. Each time he emphasizes a missional role of the Holy Spirit. In John 14:26–27 the Holy Spirit will teach and bring to remembrance all that Jesus said. This ties into the missional teaching role of the followers of Christ who are to obey and pass on Christ’s teaching to others. In John 15:26–27 the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth that will testify about Jesus and help believers also to testify. Then in John 16:8–11 the Holy Spirit is the Helper. He will come to assist believers in their missional task, and will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgement.
In all three instances where Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, he also ties it in some way to his mission, a mission passed on to his followers both then and in the future. Disciples of Christ both past and present can look at Jesus’s promise of the Spirit as a promise of God’s continuing presence with them with the purpose of empowering them to continue to do the same works as Jesus did during his earthly ministry.”[24]
Implications
A missional reading of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 reveals a path forward to bridge the generational gap in the Czech Pentecostal church. While affirming the value of personal prayer, it reinterprets the meaning of prayer from personal to missional. The church needs to move beyond personal, petitioned prayer toward intercessory prayer. It also needs to recognize Jesus’ pattern of following prayer with action.
A missional reading of Jesus’ prayer also breaths fresh meaning into personal holiness and sanctification. It affirms Jesus’ desire for a sanctified church. However, a missional reading also helps reinterpret sanctification from being purely personal and perhaps legalistic, to being missional and life-giving. We see holiness no longer as the end goal, but rather as a means to help accomplish God’s mission as the royal priesthood of all believers.
Finally, a missional reading of Jesus’ repeated promises to send the Holy Spirit point to the Spirit’s missional role in the world. Instead of limiting the Holy Spirit’s work to personal edification, the church can recognize the Spirit’s role in mission. “The continued presence and work of the Holy Spirit constitute the praxis of Christ’s resurrection.”[25] This recognition is especially important for the Czech Pentecostal church, which places great emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit. The church needs to move beyond seeing Spirit baptism as an infusion of joy and enthusiasm to recognizing that Pentecost is the manifestation of Christ’s incarnational mission.[26]
Conclusion
The story of scripture is the story of God’s mission to bring humanity back into relationship with himself. By reading scripture anew with this thought in mind, the church can rediscover the value and meaning of her doctrines. A missional hermeneutic to key passages in John’s Gospel, demonstrates how holiness and sanctification can provide the basis for empowered mission as long as the ultimate goal aligns with God’s mission. Holiness solely for the sake of personal edification or holiness out of fear is akin to the attitude of the Pharisees, placing the focus on the believer rather than on Christ.
For Pentecostals, a missional reading of Jesus’ promise of the Spirit throughout John’s Gospel reinforces the idea that the church should be by nature a witnessing community, because the Holy Spirit is a witnessing Spirit (John 15:26).[27] “… the central thrust of the Pentecost narrative is empowerment for mission, so reading from this standpoint invites us to read scripture missionally: sensitive to the work that God has for us to do, not just work that believers might want God to do for them.”[28]
Reading scripture in the light of God’s mission also has broad application for missionaries and ministers in various cross-cultural situations. This approach should inspire humility when we re-examine our own culturally or generationally entrenched understandings of scripture. One may always question how a specific understanding of a passage of scripture contributes to the reconciliation of the world with God. How does it fit in with the scripture’s missional narrative? If we are unable to answer that question, it may be a signal to re-assess the value of our position.
Jason Morrison holds an MA in Christian Ministries from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. He and his wife have served as world missionaries to the Czech Republic since 2000. Their mission is to accelerate the spread of the Gospel in the Czech Republic by partnering with the Czech Pentecostal church and enabling them to fulfill the vision which God has given them for their nation.
[1] “Sbory AC: O Nás” Apoštolská církev. (Accessed December 2, 2019), https://apostolskacirkev.cz/o-nas/sbory-ac/.
[2] Petr Kuzmic, “Pentecostals Respond to Marxism” in Called and Empowered: Global Mission in Pentecostal Perspective, eds, Murray W. Dempster, Byron D. Klaus, and Douglas Peterson (Baker Academic, 2015), 150.
[3] Craig S. Keener, Spirit Hermeneutics: Reading Scripture in Light of Pentecost (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 43.
[4] Anthony Palma, The Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Perspective (Springfield, MO: Logion, 2008) 164.
[5] Rudolf Bubik, ed., Historie Letničního Hnutí: I. Autentické Dokumenty, vol. 1, 6 vols. (Albrachtice, Czechia: Křesťanský Život, 2005), 5.
[6] Komenský is known elsewhere as Johann Amos Comenius. He was exiled from Moravia in 1628.
[7] Rudolf Říčan, Jan Amos Komenský: Muž Víry, Lásky a Naděje. (Prague, Czechoslovakia: Kalich, 1970), 74.
[8] The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (1623) traces the journey of Pilgrim as he travels the labyrinth of the city and searches for the meaning of life.
[9] Jan Amos Komenský, Praxis Pietatis čili jak se cvičit v pravé zbožnosti, ed. Ladislav Kopecký (Prague, Czechia: Kalich, 1992), 19.
[10] Jan Amos Komenský, Panorthosia or Universal Reform, Chapters 19–26, trans. A.M.O Dobbie (Sheffield England: JSTOT, 1993) 142–149 (Accessed July 18, 2019), https://0-web-a-ebscohost-com.swan.searchmobius.org/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzIyNjk3Nl9fQU41?sid=840690a9-acb3-4350-a8b5-23459ffa56a6@sdc-v-sessmgr02&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1.
[11] Komenský, Panorthosia, 142–149.
[12] Štěpán Šoltész, Dějiny Křesťanské Církve (Prague, Czechoslovakia: Kalich, 1990), 112.
I do not want to understate the contribution of pietism to mission. Under the influence of God’s word, pietism brought new spiritual passion into the church and revival of Christian ministries. Derek Cooper (Cooper 2016, 148) also notes the contributions of pietist writers like Jacob Arndt, Philipp Jakob Spener, August Francke and Nicolaus Zinzendorf. Under Zinzendorf’s leadership Moravians (who had fled to Zinzendorf from the Czech/Moravian lands) launched the first wide-scale mission endeavor of Protestantism. However: “The Pietists underestimated theological thought and in later years withdrew from the world instead of feeling responsible for it.”
[13] The book Practice of Piety by Anglican bishop Lewis Bayly was widely translated and distributed among protestants and was used for developing personal godliness. To this book was added a second volume by Josef Hall called The Art of Divine Meditation. Komenský became acquainted with the German-reformed version of these two books. He later drew heavily from them to write Praxis Pietatis (1631).
[14] David J Hesselgrave, “A Missionary Hermeneutic: Understanding Scripture in the Light of World Mission” in International Journal of Frontier Missions 10, no. 1 (January 1993), 17–20.
[15] Darrell Guder, “Missional Hermeneutics: The Missional Authority of Scripture,” ed. Walter Sawatsky, in Mission Focus: Annual Review 2007 Volume 15 (2007), 106–121, 108.
[16] Komenský, Praxis Pietatis, 19.
[17] Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission, Biblical Theology for Life (Zondervan, 2010), 261.
[18] Frederick Dale Bruner, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2012) ,1007.
[19] Andreas J. Köstenberger, A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters in Biblical Theology of the New Testament (Zondervan, 2009), 246.
[20] Komenský, Praxis Pietatis, 15.
[21] Šoltész, Dějiny Křesťanské Církve, 107.
Komenský is known as the educator of nations and worked to renew Christendom. He believed the goal of all education or spiritual training is true godliness. Training should be offered to everyone without discrimination. In his book Informatorium Školy Mateřské, he showed that training must begin from the earliest ages of childhood. He wrote many textbooks and was invited to many countries (1641 to England, 1646 to Sweden 1650 to Hungary).
[22] Köstenberger, Theology of John’s Gospel, 246.
[23] Komenský, Praxis Pietatis, 19.
[24] Andreas Hoeck, “The Johannine Paraclete – Herald of the Eschaton” in Journal of Biblical & Pneumatological Research 4, (Fall 2012), 23–37, 27.
[25] Ray S. Anderson, Ministry on the Fireline: A Practical Theology for an Empowered Church (Pasadena, CA: Fuller Seminary Press, 1993), 30.
[26] Anderson, Fireline, 26.
[27] Paul A. Pomerville, The Third Force in Missions: A Pentecostal Contribution to Contemporary Mission Theology (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2016), 118.
[28] Craig S. Keener, Spirit Hermeneutics: Reading Scripture in Light of Pentecost (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 39.
EMQ, Volume 57, Issue 1. Copyright © 2021 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
