People were talking like evangelicals at the United Methodist Church
that I attended this morning. More than one person talked about God
speaking to them and being led by the Holy Spirit. Someone else was
claiming Hebrews 13:2, which talks about entertaining strangers and
angels unaware. The man’s son was recently in an accident, and he was
talking about how angels were helping him and his wife on their journey
to their son. You usually hear people claiming Bible verses in
charismatic Christianity!
I actually like these displays of energetic, enthusiastic faith. Of
course, a lot of my reaction depends on the context. If people are
talking about the times that they believe that God has helped them, how
they think God has guided them towards positive and righteous decisions
and outlooks, and their sense of wonder when people at church are
getting along in love, harmony, and purpose, then my reaction is rather
favorable. If people use “God told me” to rubber-stamp their peculiar
ideas or opinions, to try to control me or others, to aggrandize
themselves, or to force conformity, then I tend to recoil from that.
What I saw at church this morning was the former.
Of course, am I really that surprised that people at a liberal
mainline Protestant church see God as a real, active person? The pastor
is a fan of Christian mysticism! Maybe the church is liberal on social
justice, and it does not necessarily embrace an inerrantist view of the
Bible. Still, it sees God as real—-as one with whom people can have a
relationship.