In the lead feature article of the August issue, Dr. Hector Ortiz shares a powerful message about the pivotal moment of transitional leadership taking place in the Church of God of Prophecy. "I believe that the Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP) is experiencing a kairos moment in its history. A primary rationale for this view is how this group of believers, during a time of great transition, has grown from a worldwide membership of 260,000 in 1990 to 1.4 million in 2011."
This article is dedicated to the proposition that divine guidance is critical in God’s kairos. The Greek term kairos generally denotes God intervening in human history in a special and significant manner in order to fulfill His will and purpose.1 I believe that the Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP) is experiencing a kairos moment in its history. A primary rationale for this view is how this group of believers, during a time of great transition, has grown from a worldwide membership of 260,000 in 1990 to 1.4 million in 2011. God’s kairos is a time for deep introspection that would foster humility and not arrogance. I am thankful that the COGOP has embraced the humility of prayer as one of its core values. A kairos visitation can bring great blessings, but it can also include reversals.
Behold, Kairos Reversals: The Story of Hezekiah
As children of God, we are graciously admonished that Biblical examples “. . . are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). The story of Hezekiah’s illness, deliverance and tragic ending are glaring Biblical examples of a kairos reversal.
Hezekiah, due to a serious illness, receives a prophetic word to set his house in order because he was going to die. His prayer to the Lord is one of humility and supplication. “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with whole hearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah wept bitterly” (Isaiah 38:3 NIV). The second prophetic word was that the petition for deliverance from death was granted with a kairos gift of adding 15 years to his life. The kairos gift also included a promise of divine intervention in delivering Jerusalem from the hand of the Assyria king (vv. 4-6). The promise of deliverance was confirmed by “I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz” (v. 7 NIV). Great victories that ride the waves of deliverance can also lead into a euphoric state that can lessen the sense of discernment. As the story of Hezekiah’s deliverance unfolds, a second reversal is pending when the “envoys” of Babylon arrived to ask Hezekiah “about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land” (2 Chronicles 32:31 NIV).
When one is in a euphoric state, some serious unresolved issues arise when critical decisions have to be made. The envoys from Babylon came on an exploratory mission to determine what Hezekiah possessed, which was more than great riches. Hezekiah also possessed a heart that had trouble with pride (2 Chronicles 32:25, 26). Although, Hezekiah had repented of the pride of his heart, it appears he had dormant pride, for in a euphoric state of complacency, “. . . God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart” (v. 31 NIV).
The primary root of the Hebrew word yada (know) is “ascertained by seeing.”2 When God departs from one, the real person stands up. Actions reveal the heart. The second reversal was pronounced by another prophetic word by Isaiah “And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon” (Isaiah 39:7 NIV). Arrogance and pride are kin to self-centeredness and they go before a fall.
Hezekiah’s words in response to the reversal of good fortune are amazing for “. . . he thought, there will be peace and security in my lifetime” (Isaiah 39:8 NIV). In kairos visitation, reversal can be negative or positive. When divine intervention arrives, it does not only affect the present generation, but it becomes trans-generational. In essence, Hezekiah was willing to sacrifice the future on the altar of the present. What price glory!
Kairos Discernment
“Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple” (Malachi 3:1 NIV). “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4 NIV). The greatest kairos visitation was the arrival of the incarnate Son of God, Christ Jesus who was announced prophetically in the canonical text. Israel was not ignorant of the prophetic words of the coming of the Messiah, but kairos visitation without the Holy Spirit is a formula for tragic results.
It is interesting to see how in the Lucan corpus the author posits the essential elements of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A graphic example of the need for discerning guidance by the Holy Spirit is when Christ visits the temple.
A certain Simeon, a righteous and devout person who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, to whom it was revealed by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he would see the Lord’s Christ come to the temple. “Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts” and took the Christ child in his arms and stated “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people” (Luke 2:27, 30 NIV). What did Simeon see? There was no visible miracle that the Christ child was performing. There was no outward manifestation that the text reveals. In kairos discernment one sees and senses what others miss.
In like manner, a second witness of the Christo - kairos visitation is recorded in the person of Anna the prophetess who “never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying, which also, “spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38 NIV). What did Anna see? There were no outward signs, but Anna saw something in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Are we not seeing the kairos of God because we are only looking for signs and wonders?
In kairos discernment, some individuals begin to see and sense a shift, a different sound, a different rhythm, a different encounter. The Lord’s first advent to visit his temple was ignored by the priest and worshipers. All continued to perform their duties and practices, oblivious of the fact that “…the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple” (Malachi 3:1 NIV).
Routine dulls the senses in perceiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Christ’s first advent to his temple created two sets of individuals: one walking in systematic, routine rhythm, and those who were moving in the kairos rhythm by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I believe that a present danger in the COGOP is that the global constituency is not fully aware of the kairos visitation. Routine complacency will not assist this group of believers to receive the full impact and benefits of God’s kairos. I endorse the embracing of the core value of biblical leadership development to engage the harvest, with the caveat that leadership development must be holistic in dealing with the kairos visitation.
Holistic Integrated Leadership Development
I applaud the sound decision by the plurality leadership of this church to endorse and support leadership development in order to strengthen the core value of global harvest. This decision is a major paradigm shift in the COGOP, for it was only a few decades ago when there was still a strong element of anti-education among our constituency. A position of anti-education has not served us well, but neither will it be wise to now swing to an all cognitive/didactic position in leadership development. There are some things that the head can receive, but the heart will not absorb.
There was a season in renewal history when the traditional churches accused the Pentecostals of being all fire and no light, while the Pentecostals would accuse the traditional churches of all light and no fire. Those days do not need to be repeated; however, if one extreme does not serve the universal church well, neither does another extreme. A balance between light and fire is biblically sound. In the quest for the COGOP to enhance its biblical leadership development, a holistic integrated experiential knowledge formation for leaders is advisable. The Daniel paradigm addresses the issue of cognitive process and experiential knowledge.
Daniel and his companions were captive exiles who were brought to Babylonia to receive special training in order to serve in the king’s palace. Daniel 1:4 gives some of the traits of these young individuals: they exhibited “aptitude for every kind of learning, well-informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve” (NIV). In other words, they had a holistic educational base in order to render holistic service; however, these young individuals were religious Jews who served the true God. Daniel and his companions did not forget their roots in the midst of higher learning. The greater part of their learning is captured in Daniel 1:9 “To these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kind” (NIV). In kairos times, more often than not, it will be experiential knowledge and wisdom that will lead the way. Divine guidance in discerning God’s will in a kairos visitation is not going to be found in a classroom book!
As the COGOP forges forward in reaching the lost harvest while preparing leaders, a balanced, holistic epistemology of integrating sound biblical and theological tools with experiential knowledge will bring empowerment in a kairos environment. As much as we desire better and greater scholarship in this church, we must not forget that our present and past development have not been by scholars, but by field generals who built the work—often riding on bikes, eating mangos and drinking water!
Guidance and empowerment of the Spirit do not mean depreciating the laborers with less preparation, but affirming what has been accomplished and preparing for a greater future. The Daniel paradigm reveals that when all the learned personnel could not assist king Belshazzar when a kairos visitation occurred in the palace, Daniel was called because he was “found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems” (Daniel 5:12 NIV). The phrase “explain riddles and solve difficult problems” in Hebrew connotation translates as “explanation of mysteries and dissolving knots.”
In the process of developing a global ecclesia, the problems to be solved will often be “intensely knotty.” In a global kairos visitation, the solving of difficult problems is not going to be found in a human written book! Discerning wisdom through guidance of the Holy Spirit will be the resounding method in solving difficult global issues. This will mean that over- dependence on all kind of human designs and systems can cause some serious miscarriages in decision-making.
If there is something worthy to remember from renewal history, it is that the Pentecostal movement still believes that the “Maestro” of the kairos visitation is the Holy Spirit. All the preparation in the world cannot, should not, must not displace the principal guide, the Holy Spirit. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 NIV). When one has a guide, he also relinquishes control, for there is no neutrality in the guide who gives guidance. A guide leads and others follow!
In such a time as this, our earnest prayer should be, “Come, Holy Spirit, be our guide into the splendor of fulfilling the sovereign will of God!” Come, Holy Spirit, we welcome you!
—Héctor Ortiz, D. Min.
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1Donald K. McKim, Westminister Dictionary of Theological Terms, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press) 1996, p. 152.
2Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew Chaldee and Greek Dictionaries, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon) 1980, p. 47.
3Keil, C. F., Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 9, (Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1985) p. 186.
