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What are Pentecostalism's strengths?

Grady: If you look at churches that have broken through in being interracial, it is charismatic and Pentecostal churches that have made the greatest strides. No question. But we're painfully aware of where we still need to go. There's also the issue of women. In the early Pentecostal movement, you had women ordained, preaching, going out as missionaries, evangelizing, doing crusades. Where do you find the most ground taken by women ministers today? Charismatic and Pentecostal churches, no question. But it's the same thing. We've gone backwards. [Encouraging women in ministry] is a strength, but it's also still a weakness.

Hutchins: Okay, what is it that's negative [about Pentecostalism]? It usually boils down to individual vessels and their imperfections and their inability to match word with practice. Whether we're talking about racial issues, integrity in the appropriation and application of funds, or the exorbitant lifestyles of the rich and famous among us. But the light of the gospel and the message itself is always pure. When I get to heaven, I've got to ask God why he used imperfect people to do his perfect will. I suspect his answer will be he could find no other [people].

How has Pentecostalism affected the church as a whole in a positive way?

Grady: What happened at Azusa came back around in the '60s and '70s and hit mainline churches. The benefit of that was untold. The number of ministries birthed in that period, the number of ministers who experienced personal renewal—so therefore their churches grew and reached more people—that's historic.

Spittler: One of the visible influences of Pentecostal tradition is in worship style. I have clear memories of people raising their hands in chapel at Fuller Seminary. A lot of Pentecostal music has its origins in African American tradition, so there's been a cross-fertilization, it seems to me.

Grady: I feel like the charismatic/Pentecostal movement has also forced the death of cessationism. It used to be entrenched. It used to be a very commonly held view that God doesn't do miracles anymore. But with the advent of Pentecostalism and then with mainline Christians experiencing things like healing, there are only a couple of institutions that still teach cessationism religiously.

As a Pentecostal, what do you most want to say to non-charismatic Christians?

Grady: Pentecostals and charismatics struggle with a mentality that we're ostracized. We're the stepchild or the strange cousin. When my Southern Baptist mother found out I had become a Pentecostal, her first question was, "Do you speak in tongues and go to those strange meetings where people roll in sawdust?" There's a need, I believe, for some relational healing in the body of Christ. It would be wonderful if evangelicals could reach out to charismatics and Pentecostals.

Bill Bright was a neat example of a leader who decided not to look at labels. Early on with Campus Crusade for Christ, he had a statement that said you couldn't speak in tongues and be in his ministry. Later, he set that aside. He became good friends with Pentecostal/charismatic leaders. Also, R. T. Kendall had a charismatic experience while he was a preacher at Westminster Chapel in London. Today, he says that he feels we are coming into another period of revival that's going to require the evangelical camp and the charismatic camp to come together. That's when we're going to see another Azusa.

Hutchins: To increase our impact, we need to unite. Our greatest challenge [worldwide] is coming from Islam—and that is your challenge and my challenge as Christians. We have something that we need to come together around, and that is the evangelization of the lost.

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April 2006, Vol. 50, No. 4