On Sunday night I had the opportunity to visit Grace Vineyard in Christchurch. I went along to their CPIT Campus in the city, which is Pastored by my friend, Rocky Stocks (he’s in the middle of the above picture). I enjoyed it. Another good friend, Sam Harvey (in the front of the picture… and clearly that’s not me in the back), Pastors their Beach Campus in New Brighton. Sam and that campus were a big part of the response to people’s needs in the area following the Christchurch earthquakes. They fed people and helped as they could. They were a real testament to what a local church can be in a crisis.

Chatting with Rocky yesterday I was reflecting on why and how Sam has been good for me.

Because of distance Sam and I have never been able to spend as much time together as I would like (he could very well be thankful for that 😉 ), but nonetheless his impact on my life and my approach to faith has been significant. I can’t recall if I’ve ever properly explained it to him, but I did with Rocky yesterday and I’m catching up with both Rocky and Sam for lunch today so now is as good a time as any to publicly honour a very good friend.

Because of early life circumstances around expressions of the Christian faith that I think amounted to what was dangerous psychological abuse of someone close to me (though I think the intentions of those who perpetrated it were good – they were just naive and really poorly thought out) I developed a real aversion to Pentecostal expressions of the Christian faith – the pursuit of signs and wonders and expressions of a set of overt spiritual gifts. I’ve spent time in churches for whom that is their expression but I’ve never been truly comfortable with it though I have a deep love for the friends I’ve come to know, who have given so much and have influenced me along that part of my journey.

Over the last decade I’ve had the opportunity to test a number of well known, high flying, Pentecostal evangelists who draw much attention. I’ve done some of that publicly as in the case of the Florida revival that took place a number of years ago, but much of it I’ve done privately. I’ve been able to look behind the curtain so to speak and what I’ve found has been shocking and really saddened me. I won’t name people but I truly believe that many of the well known, international, wealthy Christian evangelists who engage in ‘signs and wonders’ are charlatans… and I don’t use that term lightly. The ones I’ve researched and had contact with are blatant liars about the miracles they purport to be involved in and that angers the part of me that desires redemption and justice for the vulnerable.

I struggle with the ‘show’ and ‘performance’ side of much Pentecostal expression. I abhor the health and wealth prosperity doctrine that often accompanies it and the unquestioning adulation of (mostly) men who are ultimately no different from you and me – except they’re people living luxurious lives off the backs of faithful givers; many of whom are struggling themselves. I’ve also seen many others trying to blatantly pursue that status, celebrity and wealth. Too often I hear them twist scripture to justify it and convince not only their followers, but themselves. I think about such things and my heart starts pounding – at the core of the problem for me is a real justice issue and anger because I think it blatantly misrepresents the Jesus I know, see and want others to know.

All that to say – at worst the Pentecostal expression makes me angry and at best it makes me nervous and extremely cautious. My default is to critique it.

Into that steps Sam Harvey. Sam speaks much of the same language as me. His heart is for justice. He abhors and critiques the same things. If I were to mention specific churches that I have problems with, I know he’d agree and for the same reasons. He nods when I have a go at the excesses of the Pentecostal movement. He gives his life to helping people and he does it better, more openly and with more love than me. He speaks of the same things about God’s story of redemption, reconciliation and making all things right. He’s into Tom Wright and is theologically grounded, aware and nuanced. We connect on so many levels… and he practices the spiritual gifts as understood throughout the Pentecostal movement, has a really expressive approach to public worship and encourages others towards the same. That mix caused some dissonance for me when I first encountered it through him. It didn’t fit. But I’ve come to find real value in it and that’s where Sam, probably unknowingly, has really challenged me.

You see, for Sam, the movement and embrace of the Spirit in the way he sees it happens to fuel all that other stuff we agree on. It’s the fuel for the people of God acting out His story of justice for His creation – it’s part of the in-breaking of the Kingdom and with this in mind it’s approached with enthusiasm and gusto. That blew apart the poor stereotypes and preconceptions I had built. In Sam I found a brother after the same stuff but getting there in a different way and couldn’t push that away or place it in a box that I could conveniently ignore.

What’s funny is that I think the journey I’ve been on over the last couple of years having had my faith really shaken, embracing the contemplative approach and the move of the Spirit through that (it’s amusing hearing myself using such a phrase), has brought us even closer to the same place – I just approach it in a way that better suits my temperament and wildly introverted personality, but I think our language may be starting to converge even around the stuff that fuels our reaching for that goal of justice that we both long for. Ironically, alongside that, research is showing that the faith tradition I am a part of, blatantly following in the footsteps of John Wesley, and the Pentecostal/charismatic movements both ultimately trace their roots back to Wesley. We come from the same place.

I don’t know if there’s much more that I can add. I just want to say a public thanks to a real friend who I feel deserves to be honoured. He has been valuable in my life simply by being who he is. Without trying to he’s forced me to keep the doors open to a faith expression I would probably otherwise close off and keep at a real distance.

The work of justice needs people like Sam passionately pursuing closeness to the Spirit and allowing God to move through them to truly redeem His world. The world needs more Sam Harveys.

Sam Harvey, thank you.