Not Nearly Enough

By Gene Edward Veith

I have had a lot of friends from different Christian traditions. As a Lutheran, I find that I can relate to them all, in a frustrated kind of way. I appreciate my evangelical friends for their zeal for the Gospel. I share with my charismatic friends the desire for a direct, personal, experiential contact with God. And yet, it seems to me they are not nearly evangelical or charismatic enough.

My evangelical friends can remember the minute when they first received Jesus Christ into their hearts. Some of them have dramatic conversion stories and can tell hair-raising tales of the depths of sin they were wallowing in until they accepted Christ as their Savior. I thank God for bringing them to faith. But while they lift high the Gospel (the very word “evangelical” coming from the Greek word for “gospel”), for them, it was only a one-time affair, something that happened to them once, a long time ago. Now, many of them feel they are under the law. Now that they are saved, they are obliged to be good all the time, sometimes feeling tormented when they are not.

As a Lutheran, though, I am converted every time I confess my sins and receive absolution. I “receive Christ” not just once, but every Sunday when I receive Him in His very body and blood. The Gospel is a constant, something I keep hearing from every sermon, and something I keep coming back to. It began with my Baptism (the equivalent of that one moment the evangelicals keep referring back to, usually a genuine encounter with the saving Word of God), but it keeps going.

The word “charismatic” comes from the Greek word for “gifts,” and my charismatic friends are big on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They want miracles. They want a supernatural experience. They want emotion. But the “gifts” they settle for seem to be poor things.

For all of their emphasis on spiritual gifts, charismatics often neglect the actual gifts of God. The true voice of the Holy Spirit is not unintelligible syllables, but the Word of God, which in utter clarity convicts us of our sins and not only reveals, but conveys the grace and the work of Jesus Christ. God’s Word is His great gift to the Church. And this Word is more miraculous, more directly supernatural, more of a sign and wonder, than any of the human experiences cultivated by the charismatics.

God does give us gifts that bring direct contact with Him, miraculous works of power, supernatural reality we can experience directly. These gifts of signs and wonders are called Sacraments. Can there be a more tangible manifestation of the supernatural than what comes in water, bread, and wine? Is there a greater miracle than the spiritual rebirth given in Baptism? Or the risen Christ giving Himself to us, in the most personal, intimate way, not abstractly, but in His body and blood? Here is healing. Here is a personal connection to Christ. Here is an experience as vivid as tasting.

Evangelicals are not nearly evangelical enough. Charismatics are not nearly charismatic enough. Unfortunately, sometimes we are not nearly Lutheran enough.

Dr. Gene Edward Veith is the cultural editor for WORLD magazine, and is the Director of the Cranach Institute. He is also an editorial associate with Higher Things.