“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’” (Luke 15:8-9).
Ironic as it may seem, renewal movements often look back for inspiration and guidance as they engage the future. This is especially true for those who seek reformation, or revival, within the Christian church. Renewal movements seek to recover something that has been lost. The Pentecostal Movement was birthed as sincere believers sought to recover the apostolic faith. The heart of Pentecostal spirituality is an encounter with the Holy Trinity.
There are many challenges that face Pentecostal churches as we transition into the second century of the movement. Many of these challenges are not unlike the difficulties of the early church in the second and third centuries; or the challenges of other renewal movements throughout the history of the church. From time to time, the church loses a treasure. The parable of the lost coin teaches us that we must be very careful to guard the treasures with which we have been blessed. The woman had ten coins. Early Pentecostals inherited a rich deposit of Christian tradition.