Heb 5:12-14 implies that there are two main stages in the Christian life,
a childish, beginners stage, and a more mature, adult 
one. The inspired author writes: "You need milk,
not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is
not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food
is for the mature." In par. 72 of Catechesis in our Time, Pope
John Paul II seemed to echo these words when he wrote: "Renewal
in the Spirit will be authentic and will have great fruitfulness in
the Church, not so much according as it gives rise to extraordinary
charisms, (i.e. milk) but according as it leads the greatest possible
number of the faithful, as they travel their daily paths, to make
a humble, patient and persevering effort to know the mystery of Christ
better and better, and to bear witness to it. (i.e. solid food)"
Two baptisms
Jesus experienced two baptisms. There was his 'baptism in
the Spirit' at the Jordan. It inaugurated his public ministry
and empowered him to proclaim and demonstrate the unconditional
love of God in an anointed way. This was obvious when Jesus ministered
in his native Galilee. He performed numerous healings and miracles,
attracted large crowds and seemed to be very successful. However,
Jesus also talked about a second baptism, one which would immerse
him in suffering. He said: "I have a baptism with which
to be baptised, and what stress I am under until it is completed!"
Lk 12:49. It reached its climax in holy week when success gave
way to failure, adulation gave way to hostility, and charismatic
activity gave way to apparent powerlessness. For example, when
he was hanging on the cross the scorners cried out in Mt 27:42:
"He saved others; he cannot save himself He is the king
of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will
believe in him." But nothing miraculous happened. Instead
the ever faithful Jesus felt abandoned by God and man, and in
this state he died.
At this point a question arises. Which baptism did most to
inaugurate the coming of the Kingdom? Obviously both did. But
surely the suffering and death of Jesus did more than his healings
and miracles to bear testimony to God's love. As St Paul said:
"God proves his love for us in that while we still were
sinners Christ died for us..For Jews demand signs and Greeks
desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling
block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God" Rm5:8; 1 Cor 1:22-24.
It seems to me that charismatic prayer groups are very good
at helping people to accept the first baptism and its charismatic
implications. They are not so good at helping people to accept
the second baptism and its spiritual and practical implications.
As Tom Smail, a leader in the Protestant Charismatic Renewal
has observed: "A need centered renewal is hampered and hindered
because many involved in it have not been converted from need
to obedience, from satisfying themselves to being at God's disposal."
Perhaps that's why so many prayer groups seem to be losing their
sense of vitality and direction.
Two stages of spiritual growth
I can recall an eminent spiritual director once: "charismatic
prayer groups are good at getting their members established in
new life in the Spirit, but they seem to be at a loss when it
comes to helping people to grow and mature." When I head
him make this observation, I felt that it was very perceptive.
In his Exercises, St Ignatius describes two stages of Christian
growth.
In the first, e.g. the period after baptism in the Spirit,
the main dynamic at work is that the person is motivated by a
self-centered need to receive the mercy, love, consolations and
gifts of God. I may say in passing that there is nothing wrong
with this kind of desire; it's prompted by the Lord and is a
necessary preparation for the second stage of spiritual development.
A problem arises when charismatic individuals and groups get
stuck at this stage and for one reason or another fail to move
on to the second.
In the second stage, the main dynamic at work in the person
is motivated by a God-centered desire to be united to Jesus,
poor humble and dependant on God. The person no longer focuses
on the gifts or consolations of God, but rather on the God of
consolation and the gifts. Inwardly, the person shifts from asking,
'what can God do for me?' to 'what can I do for the God? More
often than not the person at this stage wants to be "guided
by the Spirit" Gal 5:16; 18. As George Montague has pointed
out, the Christian life is not a list of do's and don'ts. It
is the gift of being moved by the Spirit of God, and the key
to life is to allow the Spirit to lead. Paul clearly speaks of
an inspired ethic and of inspired action. A crucial point: When
confronted with any moral decision, great or small, the Christian's
first question should be "where does the Spirit lead me
in this?"
The social justice dimension of renewal
As far back as 1971, the Synod of Bishops stated quite correctly
that justice is an essential dimension of the preaching of the
gospel. However many charismatic groups and individuals have
neglected this dimension. Perhaps this is due to three main reasons.
Firstly, many charismatics share a questionable view that the
world is corrupt and that Christians should not get involved
in it, lest they become contaminated. Secondly, many charismatics
are so preoccupied with community-building and personal renewal
that they have neglected justice issues. Thirdly, when they think
of evangelization, many charismatics see it exclusively in terms
of preaching the Good News, e.g. by means of such Life in the
Spirit Seminars and Alpha courses. If and when charismatics do
get involved in the search for fair, humane treatment for the
disadvantaged members of society, their most common understanding
of social action is that of doing works of mercy on an individual
basis. However, they often neglect to identify and change the
unjust structures that produce human oppression in the first
place. Charismatics could learn from the Vincent de Paul Society
who commission research into the causes of injustice and who
make regular submissions to the government and local authorities
recommending remedial action. The charismatic movement has a
lot to learn from the justice movement.
Conclusion
The leaders of Charismatic groups need to encourage their
members, by means of good teaching and example, to move beyond
a fixation with their own needs to focus on the needs of God,
i.e. the divine will, and of the neighbour. In so far as Charismatic
groups fail to do this, they will continue to lose some of their
best members. They will become disillusioned and go elsewhere
in search of on-going spiritual growth. Diocesan and national
service committees have a responsibility to work out the practical
implications of these points for the renewal and to do something
about them.
