Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

When Bishops Replace Prophets

After some time our discussion ended. Marvin and I separated and went our ways, each to fight the growing menace as best he could. There is a law of religion that seems as settled and proven as the nat ural law of gravity: A religious order that begins with an experience of the Holy Spirit, enthusiasm, sincere love, a burning message, effervescent vitality and crusading leaders will evolve, with the passing of time, into a settled organization with established rules and tenets of faith, main taining its onward momentum more by its structure and set message than by the inspirational experience of its founders. Usually this sociologically predisposed evolution occurs within about 25 years in a local church and involves several generations. With the pas sage of time the children and grandchildren of the founding families attempt to perform the impossible: perpetuate the message and belief sys tem of their grandparents without the spiritual experience and dynamic that characterized the original movement. As things and people change, as society advances, social evolution can not but help affect the Christian community. Clifford Hill, a trained soci ologist and minister, summarizes the process like this: "The first genera tion in any new movement is always the creative period, the second generation is the time of consolidation, whereas the third generation moves into a period of accommodation, ie conformity with prevailing norms and the establishment of harmonious relationships with other institutions that increase credibility." 4 Societal influences and the inevitable inner dynam ics of a developing Christian community usually change the church from a Spirit-controlled and -inspired organism to a man-controlled, predictable organization. No divine decree, however, says that restriction of form has to replace freedom of the Spirit. Christopher Forbes, who gives a good review of this subject, concludes, "There is nothing that can demonstrate a priori that prophecy is incompatible with growing institutionalism." 5 Robeck suggests an ideal balance: "Ecclesiastical position or office without the accompanying charisma would seem to bring lifeless organ ization to the fore. On the other extreme, gifts exercised without proper ecclesiastical structure or order often lead to bedlam. The two, properly balanced, bring stability and growth to the Church as a whole." 6

The Process of Aging

David Moberg identifies five stages in a church's development, which I have incorporated into the following outline: 7 245.