Pentecostal Spirituality and the Other

The following is an attempt to think through my present context of being in a Pentecostal Church, with postmodern critiques of reality. Emmanuel Levinas set forth the "foundation" (I hope you catch the humor in this) of postmodern philosophy by giving us the concept of the other. The other is always found relationally. One only knows what one knows through a series of interconnected relationships with the other. Thus, the "great evil" of subjectivity is in essence the "great evil" of placing ourselves in relationship to another. This is a scary thing. You may have already guessed it...our challenge becomes this: how does one live one's life in relationship to the other, constantly respecting the otherness of the other, without attempting to devalue the other through assimilation of the other? Assimilation of the other is a metanarrative and thus introduces colonial language into our discussion. Such language is ultimately, in its rawest form, oppressive. Yes, I am a Christian that does not believe in metanarratives. I'll save further thought on that for another post. Back to the subject at hand...

Levinas, as well as Derrida, were Jewish, and in keeping with an understanding of the other, their writings must be understood in light of their personal context. (Yes, we will interpret through our own socio-cultural lenses. Don't get ahead of me here.) The tradition of Derrida and Levinas place them within a context of messianic hope. Thus, when we reread Levinas and Derrida in light of such, we can see that the other is always a relationship of unfulfillment. The reality of the relationship, and being for that matter, is the relationality. By this, we can only will for the other that which is just to come. In understanding this, we can see how postmodernism is a philosophy of longing for fulfillment of that which is just out of reach. Ultimate justice, ultimate love, ultimate peace (all of which are relational qualities) cannot be expected in fulfillment in the present. We wait, we work and we strive for them in the present, understanding fulfillment is to come. Now, let's place this in light of the Christian narrative from the prospective of pentecostal spirituality.

In class last week, Dr. Augustine spoke of the connection between the fulfillment of the Spirit in the believer as being the incarnation of Christ. To understand this further, let's look at the birth narrative of Christ (the Messiah that Levinas and Derrida await). Mary is greeted by an angel that declares that the salvific plan of Christ will come to fulfillment in and through her womb. Marry's acceptance of this is found in her complete submission to the will of God, "I am the Lord's servant...May it be as you have said." Just before this verse, Mary is told that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and overshadow her. The point that Mary is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, is the point through which the incarnation of Christ becomes a reality. The incarnation of Christ is the ultimate event of the other. In this case, the other exemplifies what is labeled by postmodern philosophers as the "ultimate hospitality toward the other." Christ does this, not by coming in the rich, or at a distance, but by a humble incarnation into the confines of the other, into physicality, into time, into space, thereby becoming reality, a reality in which we meet the ultimate other. If you are reading this and find yourself within the pentecostal tradition, then I plead with you to reevaluate your experience in and through the Holy Spirit as the very event of the incarnation of Christ into your specific socio-cultural setting. The other invites each into a relationality by which and through which we understand the reality that is ours. How do you attempt to do this, to come into such a relationship with the other? The ultimate deconstructionist: the Holy Spirit. Paul says "I die daily." This is ultimate hospitality of the other, not only the other of God, but incarnates itself in the other of our neighbor. This is a long way from the doctrine of the Holy Spirit presented in our churches, youth ministries, and...oh did I mention youth camps? God help us. (And that's just all I got to say about that!)