One Movement

Toward the bottom of the pcg.org home page you will find this statement, “We believe that God has One Mission on His mind—to reach the lost—and One Movement on this planet—the church of Jesus Christ.”

There has been and are currently a broad range of movements in the world. Some are charitable like the American Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders. Some are social like The Civil Rights Movement or Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. There are political movements, educational movements, environmental movements, labor movements, and church movements. It is the Church as a movement that we are most concerned about, especially the Pentecostal Church of God.

Think of the Church as a symphony movement, one unified expression with many parts. The Church as one movement is made up of many people, different cultures, a variety of ministries, each having its own unique role or gifting.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many (I Cor. 12:12-14, ESV).

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another (Rom. 12:4-5, ESV).

Our conductor is Christ, the Head of the Church. The Apostle Paul, when talking about the preeminence of Christ in Colossians 1, says, “And he is the head of the body, the church…” (Col. 1:18, ESV) He guides and directs. We follow.

A musical movement requires motion. The movement is always going somewhere. The Church is not meant to sit still. It is ever going, sending, making disciples, reaching Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:19, ESV) And later, he adds, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8, ESV).

A symphony that stops moving loses its purpose. A Church that stops moving loses its mission.

In a symphony, every musician must come in at the right time, play the right notes, and stay in harmony. If one or more are off, the entire movement suffers. In our declarations as a movement, the Pentecostal Church of God has declared, “Every person is a mission, every church is a mission, and every nation is a mission.” Every believer is like an instrument—necessary, purposeful, and designed to contribute.

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be: As it is, there are many parts yet one body (I Cor. 12:18-20, ESV).

The movement only works when everyone participates!

A full symphony often has multiple movements, each with a different tone (joyful, somber, triumphant), but all belong to the same overarching composition. The Church of Jesus Christ exists in different nations and cultures and sometimes the “sounds” are contrasting, yet all are a part of the movement of God. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28, ESV).

Every symphony movement builds toward a crescendo, a gradual increase in intensity which leads to a climatic moment. We are moving toward a crescendo. The Church is moving toward a crescendo. The Pentecostal Church of God is moving toward a crescendo.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the Throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9-10, ESV)

We are marching toward the crescendo of the movement called the Church. We, Pentecostal Church of God, are a unified, Spirit-directed body moving toward a divine culmination.

In my opening statement, I directed you to the bottom of the homepage of our website (pcg.org). In closing, I will direct you there again. In that same section, you will notice a heading and also a button, which reads “JOIN THE MOVEMENT.” If you have not checked that box either literally or figuratively, please do so today and join a host of others across this nation and many nations of the world in a movement that is sounding more and more like a beautiful symphony.

As we celebrate 100 volumes of Pentecostal Messenger ministry, I am reminded that the PM has been a tie that binds us together as a movement. It has been and continues to be a consistent source of encouragement, insight, and inspiration to me and countless others. With timely articles, reflections of PCG ministry worldwide, and personal testimonies, the PM has enriched my spiritual journey and strengthened my sense of belonging to a true movement. We are grateful to all of those who have labored to produce, edit, print, and distribute this vital resource to our community of faith. Happy 100th Anniversary, Pentecostal Messenger!