Speed vs. Wisdom
On Wednesday of this week, the GH15 post addressed one of the weaknesses of the Charismatic/Jesus People movements. This weakness was ministry born of personal ambition and gifts, rather than of God’s heart. I brought the teaching, not to critique those movements, but to help us learn from the past so we don’t repeat its mistakes. I received a lot of positive feedback regarding that post, which I appreciate. Today, I want to mention another of our weaknesses in those revivals, and will probably share a few more in the coming days. Again, I share these so we can learn and grow.
On Wednesday, I used the biblical account of a very gifted runner, a messenger named Ahimaaz, from 2 Samuel 18; he was very fast but ran for his own pleasure and fulfillment, not with a pure heart to serve the king. Today, I’m going to mention another speedster by the name of Asahel.
In 2 Samuel 2, David was made king over Judah. He had been anointed by the prophet Samuel to be king over all of Israel, but this had not yet occurred. When King Saul died, his son, Ishbosheth, took over the throne of Israel; David, at this point, ruled only Judah, doing so from Hebron. This, of course, meant there was a great breach in Israel, with one tribe following David, the other 11 following Saul’s son.
Tensions between the two factions were high, and war broke out, with friends and acquaintances now pitted against one another. David’s army was led by a general named Joab; Ishbosheth’s (Israel’s) military leader was Abner. David’s army prevailed:
“That day the battle was very severe, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David” (2 Samuel 2:17 NASB). As Abner’s army scattered, a young soldier serving in David’s army - who was actually a younger brother to David’s general - decided to pursue Ishbosheth’s seasoned general and kill him. It didn’t go well for the young man. Here is a portion of the passage:
“Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was as swift-footed as one of the gazelles that is in the field. Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn to the right or to the left from following Abner.
“Then Abner looked behind himself and said, ‘Is that you, Asahel?’
“And he said, ‘It is I!’
“So Abner said to him, ‘Turn aside for your own good to your right or to your left, and take hold of one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his spoils.’
“But Asahel was unwilling to turn aside from following him.
“Then Abner repeated again to Asahel, ‘Turn aside for your own good from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I show my face to your brother, Joab?’
“However, he refused to turn aside; so Abner struck him in the belly with the butt end of the spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died on the spot. And it happened that all who came thereafter to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.” (2 Samuel 2:18-23 NASB)
Whereas Ahimaaz (in Wednesday’s post) represents running with wrong motives, Asahel’s weakness speaks to our maturity level: training, preparation, wisdom, and understanding. So far as we know, Asahel’s motives weren’t the problem. He simply didn’t have the necessary wisdom for the battle. Ahimaaz ran for the wrong reasons; Asahel ran prematurely. His lack of wisdom and, ironically, his speed, got him killed.
In running the spiritual race of life, zeal and speed are not enough, nor are good intentions - it’s not just the thought that counts. Contrary to popular belief, ignorance is not bliss. A great vision, talent, gifts, abilities, speed - none are sufficient for promotion and high levels of leadership.
The charismatic movement, despite its strengths and blessings, in many ways glorified the wrong requirements for our running. Much of the error was directly related to impatience - “now-ism.” Speed and gifting, not wisdom and character, were the measuring criteria for success. The following tendencies manifested themselves in the movement:
Knowledge was glorified over wisdom.
Revelation was exalted over sound doctrine.
Story-telling replaced teaching, and feel-good messages replaced theology.
Training was neglected in favor of speed.
Formulas and how-tos replaced waiting on God.
Reaping was desired without sowing.
The works of God replaced the ways of God.
Gifts and charisma took precedence over experience and understanding.
The need for instant gratification replaced endurance.
Numerical growth and success seminars replaced prayer meetings and prayer watches.
Action was more important than accountability - the end began to justify the means.
Fathers who didn’t seem to have enough fire and speed were rejected—along with their wisdom—and our peers became our counselors. Fire counseled fire! The results? Fireworks! And after a few bright flashes, it was all over. The movements died.
Speed and size spelled success. An instant-gratification, buy-now/pay-later, live-for-today world succeeded in conforming much of the Church to its ways.
Phrases such as “fastest growing” and “one of the largest” became absolute curses to the Body of Christ, curses which continue to operate. Born of immaturity, inherent in these phrases are wrong motivation, a deficient understanding of God, the wounding of others, and the propagating of a competitive spirit. Nowhere in the Scriptures will you find speed or size to be the criteria for success or greatness. Yet they have taken center stage in American Christian culture. This has done much more damage than most realize. When the standard for success is distorted, the efforts to achieve it also invariably go amiss.
Enough time has passed that it is now possible to judge the fruit of this distortion of God’s ways. I’m not aware of a city in America that has experienced a genuine revival as a result of one of the “fastest-growing” or “largest” churches. Despite our supposed growth and the many megachurches that were created, the percentage of Americans attending church did not increase from 1980 through 2000. Ninety percent (90%) of reported church growth in America was from people moving to a new congregation, not from conversions. We created megachurches through a mega transfer movement! And this hasn’t changed; since the turn of the century through 2020, church attendance actually declined. Only recently has this begun to change.
Because our emphasis was on speed—without depth and wisdom—the church has underemphasized character and built ministries without sufficient foundations to support the structures. We have broken the rules, but still want to win the war. Instead, many, like Asahel, have been speared by the enemy. Casualties abound.
In the coming awakening, we must correct this, marrying wisdom and revelation, preaching and teaching, how-tos and theology, prayer and action, revival and reformation, grace and truth, power and humility, gifts and maturity, and youth and age. Holy Spirit is preparing us for this.
Listen and obey.
Pray with me:
Father, as we look back, we can see that You have matured the body of Christ in America over the past few decades. We ask that this continue, that You keep us from aborting Your plans and our destinies through immaturity and ignorance. Our human tendencies are to focus on gifts and sensationalism, not Your heart and ways. We don’t like to wait. Give us grace to overcome this in our lives.
Our desire is that the coming great awakening bears the greatest possible amount of fruit, and that the fruit remains. We want no delays, and we want no crop failures. With the incredible amount of harvest on the horizon, we will need to function at a very high level of maturity to reap it and disciple the large numbers of salvations. Give us the appropriate balance of gifts, power, grace, mercy, discipline, teaching, and all of the other manifestations of Holy Spirit in our lives. We ask all of this in Yeshua’s name.
Our decree:
We decree that as we war, we will do so with wisdom.
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