'Hold on! Let go!'

The bizarre world of Pentecostal contradiction

I once heard an ex-Pentecostal recount a humorous story of a pray-through at the altar during his Pentecostal days. He said, "A guy was standing on my right side yelling, 'LET GO!' and over on my left, another guy was screaming into my ear, 'HOLD ON!' So what was I supposed to do--hold on or let go?"

Although this story was told mostly for a laugh, it illustrates a bizarre aspect of Pentecostalism: contradiction. Pentecostalism does not have any sort of systematic theology, and, since people are left to their own imaginations and their 'personal Holy Ghost' for their revelation, contradiction is a matter of routine. It is rarely challenged, partly due to the anti-intellectual nature of Pentecostalism, and partly due to its usefulness. When completely contradictory ideas and explanations are set forth simultaneously and both believed, Pentecostal ideology is nearly impossible to challenge. For example, I once spoke to my grandmother about a 'revival' in Korea that I doubted was genuine. She told me that it surely must be a 'real move of God' because so many people were being saved and healed and the leaders were so righteous and 'on fire for God'. When, a few months later, scandal broke out as one of the revival leaders was found to be adulterous and people began to leave the church in droves, my grandmother remarked that it was clear that it must be a 'real move of God', because Satan had come against it so strongly. In other words, no matter what happened, my grandmother would conclude that the revival was genuine--whether it was popular or unpopular, whether the leaders were righteous or unrighteous.

There are numerous common examples of this odd Pentecostal habit. Pentecostals are usually told that the church is powerful and Satan is already defeated, and yet also told that Satan is powerful and that the church is largely defeated. Pentecostals are told that a great revival is coming and also that a great falling-away is coming, and so no matter what happens, it appears to be fulfillment of prophetic insight. Pentecostals are told that it does not matter what man does because God is all powerful, and also that God can do nothing without our fasting, praying, and believing.

Contradictions are frequently used to introduce a double standard for the church leaders and the congregation. While regular congregants are subjected to constant scrutiny and criticism, pastors and other church leaders are often excused even for heinous sin. Parishioners may be told that God is holy and expects perfection of them. They may be terrorized with threats of hell for the smallest sins. "The Holy Spirit will not inhabit an unclean vessel," they are told. But criticism of a leader's adulterous relationships or embezzlement of church funds finds a very different attitude--God is loving and forgiving, and nobody is perfect. "Look to God, not to man," they are told. "God sometimes chooses people that we would never imagine to be vessels of His power, but if you spend all your time criticizing, then you will miss your blessing."

Perhaps the most disturbing element of Pentecostal contradiction is the wide authority it yields to abusive church leaders to 'discipline' their flock. In the most extreme Pentecostal churches, it is virtually impossible to keep oneself out of trouble. In some UPCI churches, for example, women are routinely called out for dressing too nicely and thus accused of vanity and trying to draw male attention. And yet women are also called out for dressing too drab and thus presenting a bad image to the outside world. People are berated for showing too little enthusiasm for worship (they are 'quenching the Spirit') and also for showing too much enthusiasm (they are showing off). Children may be disciplined for getting bad grades in school (they are lazy and a bad example to nonbelievers) and also for getting good grades in school (they have let intellectual pursuits become an idol). People are often placed under heavy condemnation for reading the Bible too little, and yet those who read it often are said to have a 'religious spirit' and may even be subjected to exorcism. And so on it goes. Since most of these concepts are subjective anyway (what constitutes dressing too nicely or too drab?), there is some source of criticism all the time. Thus, an abusive leader has a free hand to rebuke and even excommunicate anyone at his whim. No one is safe, but rather everyone's standing in the church depends entirely upon remaining in the good graces of the leader.

The result of all of this is devastating. Many Pentecostals have no ability to evaluate anything objectively. Their theology has been reduced to a collection of contradictory slogans that cover just about any situation. The fear introduced by the constant instability and confusion is paralyzing. Especially in the more extreme and abusive churches, people eventually are terrified to do much of anything without consulting their pastor, always afraid that their own decisions will prove to be 'wrong', since anything that they do seems open to rebuke. And church leaders are given free rein and immunity to criticism.

Ex-Pentecostals still suffer the effects of such madness for years. They often do not trust what even non-Pentecostal pastors say, for they expect that the very next day might yield a completely contradictory statement. They second-guess every decision, and they struggle to formulate consistent theological views. Those who have experienced extreme Pentecostal abuse tend to be nervous in churches, always waiting for the ax to fall, and never really feeling safe from excommunication no matter what they do.

Living in Pentecostalism is like living in a carnival funhouse where the walls all seem tilted and hallways of mirrors bewilder and distort. Reality becomes skewed in the mind until one scarcely knows which way to go. It may be entertaining for a time, but when trapped there, it becomes a house of horrors. Logic and common sense are rendered meaningless, and paranoia runs rampant as things that appeared to be ordinary doorways and halls turn out to be illusions and dead ends. Ex-Pentecostals take great comfort in finding logical meaning to life again outside of Pentecostalism and in rediscovering sane theology. The predictability and order of churches that before they would have considered 'dead' suddenly appear to be the most wonderful thing they have ever experienced. When finally let out of the 'funhouse', there is great joy in things that are real and meaningful and consistent.

And yet for those left behind in Pentecostalism, the nature of the self-contradictory theology is a trap that is hard to escape. Reason is rendered meaningless. Even Scripture means nothing to them, for while they rant about non-Pentecostal churches and claim that only Pentecostals believe and practice the whole Bible, yet when faced with their own errors and beliefs that are in opposition to Scripture, they inevitably chirp, "Well, the Bible was written a long time ago. God is doing a new thing! Don't put God in a box!", without even realizing the contradiction.

It is a deep and insidious deception. We should be amazed at God's grace in delivering so many of us from it. And for those who remain deceived, we must always pray.