ITS TIME TO CONFRONT AND BE CLEANSED
A year of humiliation has brought us to a moment of truth.
By David Cannistraci
In the timetable of God, 2008 is slated to be a year of new beginnings and resurrection in the church. We’re due for a season of renewal! The Lord is bringing us joy in proportion to our former pain. He is replacing our years of hardship with years of blessing, and preparing us to prosper in places that have difficult in the past (See Psalm 90:15-17, New Living Translation). Wonderful times are ahead, but I can’t shake the feeling that something important needs to happen first: It’s time for some confrontation and cleansing.
It’s tough to admit, but 2007 was a year of embarrassing defeats for charismatics. We began the year steeped in the news of fallen leadership. Late night comedians made jokes about ministers, gay prostitutes and drugs, but it wasn’t funny to us. As summer came, things got worse: allegations of molestation and secret affairs in a well-known Atlanta-area ministry resurfaced with more explosive revelations. Then a well known prophetess reported being beaten in a parking lot by her charismatic bishop-husband. As fall approached, we were staggered by more mega-ministry marriage breakups, and then the allegations of ethical misconduct in a leading charismatic university. It’s been a brutal year—but if we’ll listen to what the Spirit is saying and act, God can turn it around.
I believe the life of David contains a message for the charismatic church in this hour. David was a man after God’s heart, but his family was wracked with the kind of scandals that are all-too familiar today. After his own moral failure, God honored David’s repentant heart and blessed him. But David’s sons were disappointing: Amnon was a rapist (2 Samuel 13), Absalom became a traitor (2 Samuel 18), Adonijah was a self-promoter (1 Kings 1) and Solomon, though wise, was self-indulgent and excessive. How could such a great leader produce such dysfunctional sons? David was charismatic, but he struggled with confrontation (1 Kings 1:6).
The charismatic church is a lot like David. We’re passionate about worship and prayer. We love God’s power, but we have a dangerous blind spot: like David, we’re too slow to confront our own. We just don’t challenge each other when things get out of hand. A lack of true spiritual fathering has produced dysfunction and outrageous scandals.
I love the charismatic church, but we’ve got issues, and the world is noticing. Our sexual sins, self-promotion and self-indulgence need to be addressed. If we don’t get it together, we may lose our ability to influence the lost.
Confrontation is uncomfortable, but it’s essential. Jesus constantly confronted His disciples. Paul scolded the Corinthians for failing to confront a man who was sleeping with his stepmother (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). He confronted Peter for his hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11) and commanded us to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). We need the spirit of the eighty brave priests who confronted King Uzziah with his sin. They could have kept silent for fear of his authority, but their passion for God and His house required them to speak the truth and stop his madness (see 2 Chronicles 26:16-18).
Right now, God is exposing what we have failed to face up to, and unless we clean house, things won’t get easier. Any structure that celebrates charisma but is soft on truth and character is a house of cards. It’s time to challenge the root issues that are rotting the charismatic family tree. We can’t have the power of Pentecost unless we are immersed in holiness and cleansed by the fear of the Lord.
Our hope lies in another son of David who stands ready to cleanse us and restore us. Jesus loves the church and invested His life for a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:26-27). He’s ready to remove our shame and cleanse us in this season. If we’ll respond, the renewal we need will come: “…A fountain will be opened to the house of David…to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zechariah 13:1).
Many are prophesying that 2008 will be better than 2007, and I’m convinced they’re right on—if we’ll get tough on sin and start telling each other the truth.
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David Cannistraci pastors GateWay City Church in San Jose, California and ministers internationally. He is a frequent contributor to Charisma and Ministries Today and has written Apostles and the Emerging Apostolic Movementand God’s Vision for Your Church. To learn more, visit davidcannistraci.org
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