Search Not
A Very Small Poem About The Very Big Need For The Correct Ordering Of Priorities In Charismatic Worship
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Let’s get it right: I love the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit! I am someone who believes wholeheartedly in the Holy Trinity, not the Holy Duo! Time and again, I am amazed by the blissful beauty, mesmerising mystery, and kinetic kindness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (albeit my bliss fluctuates on Mondays).
My whole life is a testimony to the amazing grace and goodness of God and I have seen and experienced the kinds of miracles, signs and wonders likely to perplex or even annoy (no bad thing) many an ivory tower academic.
And yet, as someone who has grown up in and is very much at home within charismatic Christianity (although perhaps less so than ever before), I am growing increasingly fatigued (and troubled) by the apparent need for our gatherings and expressions of worship to be of a noisy, lively, dramatic, exciting, wacky, unpredictable or wonderful nature all of the time.
I think there is a real and present danger in the Church that we are discipling people into believing and following a chaotic Christ who brings and causes chaos wherever he goes and whenever his Spirit is at work.
But Christ, whilst no stranger to chaos, is fundamentally not chaotic. And God is a god of order, not chaos. He is both powerful and gentle in equal measure but it’s almost certainly the former of these 2 qualities that you will hear preachers in the charismatic tradition emphasise.
Scripture talks of the peace of God passing understanding and yet I have met a large number of charismatic Christians who appear to have let peace and understanding pass them by altogether!
My experience of attending countless charismatic gatherings and conferences over the years has left me coming away with a growing sense of dread about the frequent and noticeable lack of well–reasoned and sound biblical engagement and exegesis at these events.
This can often result in a wide range of charismatic leaders, teachers and preachers advocating and prescribing the kind of theology which, rather than being underpinned by Scripture, is undermined by it. Such an approach also risks opening the door to all kinds of unwelcome pastoral insensitivity, manipulation, hype–mongering and scandal (and the Church has not been shy of these of late).
I believe that Paul’s rallying cry in 1 Corinthians 14 for good order and decency in worship whenever believers gather together is not intended to nullify the spiritual gifts but to encourage them and to provide the right kind of environment for them to flourish in.
Rather than viewing good order as that which negates spiritual gifts and vice versa, I want to suggest that a better interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14 is to embrace good order and spiritual gifts as mutual nurturers and nourishers of one another!
As dramatic and exciting as Luke’s account of the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost in Acts 2 undoubtedly is, I fear that charismatic Christians are prone to concluding that we too must always be seen to be worshipping and responding to God in such a way that we leave ourselves open to constant accusations of drunkenness. However, to insist on this kind of approach alone is to completely dismiss the richness, wonder and beauty of various other Christian traditions and practices such as liturgical worship or contemplative prayer.
Furthermore, such a one–tracked approach risks obscuring—maybe even completely missing—the main dramatic and exciting revelation from Luke’s account of Pentecost in Acts. Specifically, the mind–blowing and life–altering revelation that the Spirit of God not only rests upon but fills the people of God and enables them to speak in other tongues or languages! This is the actual exciting and dramatic crux of the story!
Please forgive me if what I’m sharing sounds in any way cynical. I have no interest whatsoever in being yet another armchair critic. There are plenty of these at large in the world already, excelling in their ire and in their idleness.
Rather, I share this as someone who is trying to faithfully pastor and lead a local church into the life and hope of that great kingdom which is forcefully advancing (with all of its thrills, spills and peace).
I share this as someone who loves and cares deeply for his church community and wants to shepherd them into the kind of honest and dependent intimacy with God in which all 3 persons of the Trinity are loved, revered and relied upon in equal measure.
I share this as someone who worries that the people of God are being deceived by persuasive personalities into thinking that they are somehow unworthy, unloved, overlooked or not good enough just because they haven’t been healed yet or don’t speak in tongues, when all the while their loving heavenly Father would run to them, embrace them, and show them that his grace is enough by welcoming them home.
I share this as someone who is absolutely committed to celebrating the life and joy of the Spirit as well as his peace and self–control.
I share this as someone who is questioning whether the charismatic need and compulsion for a life of faith to be an excitement–filled adventure 24/7 has made us lose sight of the fact that following Jesus demands, as Eugene Peterson so rightly observed, “a long obedience in the same direction.”
And finally, I share this as someone who sees and who senses inordinate amounts of God’s presence, wonder and grace in the mundane as well as in the miraculous.
To save us from becoming a “gifts obsessed” people, I would like to humbly suggest that part of the solution lies in us resolving to be a “fruit observant” people. We must be the kind of people who are quick to notice the benefits and fruitfulness in ourselves and in others of being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful and self–controlled as we continue to pray daily for the ongoing in–filling and in–dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s poem was inspired by a beautiful poem and hymn I discovered recently called “Immanuel’s Land,” written by Anne Ross Cousin in 1854. I pray that my words speak to you and help all of us remember to prioritise fruitfulness above giftedness, and the Giver above the gifts.
Search Not
Search not for dispensed treasures,
Treasure the Dispenser;
The lure of lively pleasures
No match for His allure—
Drink not of man’s charisma,
Be not disarmed by charm:
In seeking first the Kingdom,
Find rest in the King’s arms.
This poem was generated by the author’s human mind with zero AI / LLM involvement.
What do you think of this? I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment below:
If you missed the last offering on Idle and Blessed Poetry, you can read “Pentecost” via the link below:
Matthew White is an Anglican priest, poet and songwriter based in West Sussex in the United Kingdom. His work has been published in The Way Back 2 Ourselves and Paddler Press. Matthew’s debut poetry collection, “Propelled Into Wonder,” which explores themes of beauty, faith, leadership, and loss, was published in September 2024 to wide acclaim. Matthew is married to Sarah and they have 3 children. You can connect with Matthew by visiting his website and joining the mailing list. You can also follow him on Instagram and can subscribe to “Idle and Blessed Poetry” on Substack to receive new and original poems from Matthew direct to your inbox each week.
You're not a cynical, brother! You are a skeptic. Which is something drilled into us as a team by Pete. Deep wisdom, and an aid in moments like this where we sense something amiss.
I think we'd have plenty to talk about this over a pint. But in short, I'm with you. Even in the best of charismatic churches, I still feel like a fish out of water sometimes, ashamed of not being physically hyped. I want to seek God's presence, but I do wonder whether the charismatic church's love of "leaning in", can neglect the need to retreat in worship, too (particularly when what you're bringing is a heavy burden). Isn't it enough to come as you are, with the faith of a mustard seed?
A Very Small Poem About Starting Big.