How Pentecostal Churches Took Over the World

Martin Mittelstadt is a New Testament professor at Evangel University in Missouri, and president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. He describes Pentecostalism as a "renewal" or "restoration" movement within Christianity. Such movements have sprung up now and again when Christians feel like something important about Christ's original teachings and church has been lost and needs to be recovered.

In the case of Pentecostals, what was lost were the impressive spiritual powers and prophetic callings bestowed upon Christ's 11 remaining apostles in the New Testament book of Acts, says Mittelstadt. After Jesus was crucified and resurrected, he appeared to his disciples and told them to wait in Jerusalem "until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). That power arrived during the Jewish festival of Shavuot, known in Greek as Pentecost ("fiftieth") because it takes place 50 days after Passover.

While the apostles and more than 100 other early Christians were gathered together for the Pentecost feast, "there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting," reports Acts 2. "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Pentecostal pioneer William Seymour and others came to understand this original biblical Pentecost experience as an example of "baptism in the Holy Spirit," or "Spirit baptism." Such a Spirit baptism occurs after someone has already converted to Christianity in their hearts by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior (also known as being "saved"), and is separate from a water baptism. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit is to be baptized "with the Holy Ghost and with fire," as promised by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11.

Pentecostals believe that the same transformative spiritual baptism experienced by the original 11 apostles is available to all and is necessary to align your life and personal mission with that of Jesus Christ.

"The goal is to reenact 1st-century Christianity," says Mittelstadt. "They want to relive the book of Acts. And the events on the Day of Pentecost are central to the character of the Pentecostal worldview."

At the heart of this worldview is the belief that Jesus Christ's return is imminent. In Acts 2, the apostle Peter explains the disciples' strange behavior on the Pentecost as a sign that the Second Coming is nigh. He cites the Old Testament prophet Joel, who prophesied that "in the last days... [God] will pour out of [His] Spirit upon all flesh."

The early Pentecostals saw what was happening on Azusa Street and elsewhere as the long-awaited arrival of the "latter rain," fulfilling the prophecy that the Holy Spirit would pour down on this last generation before the triumphant return of Christ.

Speaking in tongues seems truly bizarre to many non-Pentecostals. Even the onlookers who witnessed the first Pentecost thought the apostles were day drunk when they spontaneously began to blabber in foreign languages. But speaking in tongues fulfills a very important role for Pentecostals.

Pentecostal pioneer Charles Fox Parham was one of the earliest to preach what is now one of the fundamental truths of Pentecostalism, which is that speaking in tongues is physical evidence of having been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Spontaneous speech, either in an untaught foreign language (xenoglossia) or through nonsensical divine utterances (glossolalia), is seen by Pentecostals as "proof" that someone has been filled with the Holy Spirit.

For early Pentecostal believers, receiving the gift of tongues had a functional purpose, too. Once baptized in the Holy Spirit, adherents would often to travel abroad to preach the word as Pentecostal missionaries.

But Mittelstadt wants to emphasize that speaking in tongues was never seen strictly in a utilitarian light. "These experiences were profoundly spiritual for these folks," he says. "They were also symbolic or metaphoric of a deep and intimate encounter with God."

Speaking in tongues remains controversial, and is a sticking point between Pentecostals and members of other Protestant churches who don't practice this. (They point out that other Bible verses say speaking in tongues should only be done in public if someone is there to interpret the message for the rest of the audience.)

In the early Pentecostal movement, Mittelstadt says that church services used to run for four or five hours straight and include a lot of singing and space for spontaneous expressions of praise through dancing, clapping, shouting and speaking in tongues. Leaders may also ask people to come to the front of the church for healing, where they might anoint them with oil and pray over them.

"One of the great contributions of Pentecostals was this new emphasis on praise, on worship, spontaneity and freedom," says Mittelstadt. "The service is not taking place in front of you, but you are full participants within it."

Many Pentecostal practices have found their way into other Christian denominations, in what is referred to as the charismatic movement. There are charismatic Catholic, Methodist and evangelical churches.

Modern Pentecostal worship services in larger congregations aren't quite as spontaneous and ecstatic as their predecessors, says Mittelstadt, who laments the "performance element" that has taken over.

The Pulitzer Center's Atlas of Pentecostalism estimates that 35,000 people convert to Pentecostalism every day, and some of the largest churches in the world are Pentecostal. The Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos, Nigeria claims to have 5 million members in Nigeria alone. And the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, claims 800,000 members.

Mittlelstadt cites several reasons for Pentecostalism's explosive growth in the Global South. For starters, even non-Christians are accustomed to highly experiential forms of religious worship and practice.

"You're talking about people that are already living in a spiritual dynamic that believes in the supernatural," says Mittelstadt. "The idea of 'God versus the powers' is an everyday reality for these folks."

A second reason for Pentecostalism's rapid spread in the Global South is related to what's often derogatorily called "the prosperity gospel," the belief that living a certain kind of Christian life will not only bring spiritual blessings, but monetary reward. Mittelstadt doesn't agree that all Pentecostals in the Global South want to buy a new BMW, but he recognizes that Holy Spirit baptism often brings with it a noticeable "lift."

"You have this profound spiritual experience and all of a sudden fidelity to your spouse becomes important, education becomes important, you give up alcohol, you hold down a job, your family winds up being transformed and your communities are transformed," says Mittelstadt. "There's a social lift that comes with the Pentecostal experience."