Pentecost… it’s a Jewish feast day that took place fifty days after the Passover.  Pentecost was a harvest thanksgiving festival.  The Lord chose that day to pour out His Holy Spirit upon the Christian Church.  Pentecost became an event on the church calendar that therefore focused our attention especially on missions and evangelism – the harvest ingathering of God’s people into the church of Jesus Christ had begun.

More recently Pentecost Sunday also came to focus on ecumenicity – the bond that exists between different Christian churches.  In several places around Australia it’s a time when different churches from similar backgrounds have held joint worship services.  In one location where I once served, the Minister’s Association had an ecumenical worship service on the evening of Pentecost Sunday – most churches in town participated.  There could hardly be a more appropriate time for that than Pentecost Sunday, because according to Acts chapter 2 Pentecost is not only the story of 3000 added to the church in one day.  It is also the story of Parthians, Medes and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia… all hearing declared in their own language the wonders of God.  Furthermore Acts chapter 2 also tells us that “all believers were together and had everything in common.”

Today the Christian church in our Western culture is falling more and more into the trap of “niche marketing”.  That’s often done with the goal of meeting the ‘felt needs’ of the people in the community that it wants to reach.  But unfortunately it often also generates a competitive spirit that seeks to woo the sheep from other flocks into one’s own paddock – where the grass will appear (for a little while at least) a richer shade of green.

I once lived where the local (free) newspaper always had a special Easter edition.  One page was devoted to Easter Church Notices.  A ‘community’ church once bought a large amount of advertising space.  (Why are the size of church adverts usually in inverse proportion to the size of the church?)  In this advertisement a prominent headline screamed out: “Community Church – Discover the Difference!”  Advertising one’s worship services is one thing – but does it have to be done with the same kind of competitiveness with which we market four wheel drives and toilet tissues?

It is not my intention to spell out a fully-fledged doctrine of ecumenicity.  There are complexities to that which would need far more time than we have available.

However, it seems to me that it’s an area where Christian churches often tread a very fine line.  On the one hand there’s the importance of recognising that our own church has a unique contribution to make.  We have a rich heritage that has served us well and that we treasure.  On the other hand we share a common gospel and the same Saviour with all those who look to Christ alone for their salvation.  We are together part of the one, holy, universal church.

So we need to avoid two extremes.

We need to beware that we just throw in our lot with any group or church that claims to be even remotely Christian.  And let’s beware of defining ‘Christian’ in terms of experience rather than belief.  I recall a Ministers Association meeting some years ago where a new member was introduced and was asked to tell a little about himself.  Afterwards a colleague whispered to me, “At least you can’t fault his theology… he hasn’t got any!”

At the other extreme is a retreat back into some sort of church ghetto.  We have had difficulty enough in the past in some places to escape from that.  Yet today there are still some Christian groups that are very exclusive and see themselves as the only true church.  They refuse to have too much to do with other brothers and sisters in Christ in other churches.

Pentecost highlights our unity in Christ.  The same Holy Spirit who indwells me also indwells my Presbyterian, Baptist, Anglican and other fellow Christians.  In Ephesians 4 Paul says that there is “one body and one Spirit”.  In fact he urges us to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit…!”

On the cross Jesus broke down the barriers that divide and now that unifying work of our Saviour is applied to us through the Spirit of Pentecost.  Today we still need to strive for a true Spirit-united ecumenism – a Spirit-given unity in the saving work of Jesus.

John Westendorp