I have been reading Frank Macchia’s 2006
book Baptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology and find it to
be a significant and helpful book, perhaps especially to Pentecostals, but also
to all Christians deeply interested in the work of the Holy Spirit in our time.
I was fortunate that Frank served on faculty with me at Southeastern University
for several years in mid-1990s, and I was able to learn much from him. One
observation that he makes is that while Spirit baptism is deeply personal, it
is not individualistic. It gives rise to the church (155) and calls us into the
church to share and gives witness to Trinitarian love. To live this kind of
life in genuineness requires a “de-centered self,” Frank says, drawing on the
work of Miraslov Volf. “The Christian proposal of a de-centered self locates
the trust for self-realization essential to solitude in a relationship with Christ
in the Spirit” (173). The successful practice of this approach frees us from
the domination of the individual ego and enables us to awaken to a sense of
“self-in-relation-to-God through Jesus Christ” (175). This new sense of self does not result from
the abolishment of its former humanity but rather from its transformation and
fulfillment. “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). I am
grateful to be part of a network of spiritual friends seeking to live these
words out in reality.
--Rickey
2 comments:
Rickey,
Thanks so much for sharing from Frank's book. I particularly liked three points:
1) "While Spirit baptism is deeply personal, it is not individualistic. It gives rise to the church (155) and calls us into the church to share..."
2) "The new sense of self does not result from the abolishment of its former humanity but rather from its transformation and fulfillment. 'I no longer live, but Christ lives in me' (Gal. 2:20)."
3) That together we are "part of a network of spiritual friends seeking to live these words out in reality."
Amen! Thanks again for this post.
--Anna
Rickey, I appreciate you sharing Macchia's insights, especially the distinction of self-realization in the Trinity. I, too, am grateful for our network of spiritual friends encouraging one another and doing our best to live these words.
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