The Gatling gun was invented by a man named Gatling in 1862. It was a multi-barrel gun run by a hand crank and fired up to 200 bullets per minute. It could shoot up to 400 rounds per minute when brass cartridges were introduced. Consider the Civil War battle type, one line of men facing a line of men and firing. A Gatling gun could have mowed the grass of the opposing warriors. Yet – Benjamin Butler, a union general, was the only one to buy ten Gatling guns during the war. The Gatling gun wasn’t accepted as military ordinance until 1866, after the Civil War.

The gun was refused more because of the culture of the times than because of its effectiveness. The generals were afraid the gun would waste too much ammunition, so they stuck to the single load, three shots a minute, rifle. Decisions like for or against the Gatling gun were the types of decisions which shaped the face, the length, and the outcome of the war. 

Compare the Gatling gun to how Christians consider the work of the Holy Spirit. The culture of the church determines the openness to the Holy Spirit even though all churches use the “gun” to fight the enemy (It might be more appropriate to consider that the gun uses us as we are servants of the Holy Spirit). I guess we each choose which gun is best for us.

The cultural word which seems to offend is the word “pentecostal.” Pentecostals use phrases like “baptised in the Holy Spirit” and others to describe the Holy Spirit as the Gatling gun of God to mow down the enemy. There is a long list of the gifts of the spirit which include things like healing, revelation, prophecy, and so much more. The words which seem to be most offensive to the anti-pentecostal crowd are things like “baptised in the Spirit,” and “the gift of tongues.”

I contend that all churches are, in their own way – single shot or multi-shot- pentecostal. I don’t know any Christian church that fails to recognize the Holy Spirit as one of the Holy Trinity, the working hands of the Lord on Earth through people. All Christian churches pray for the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, possibly without using inflammatory words. They pray for healing, same as pentecostals, maybe with less dancing (dancing not required [humor intended]). Every Christian I’ve ever met has had a revelation of Jesus or scripture from time to time, which pentecostals would label as a gift of the Spirit. All Christians believe Jesus is alive and making Himself known to believers and unbelievers because all Christians believe in witnessing so the broken and injured of the world can be saved and rescued. We desire the same, pray for the same, but have different cultures in the church and different preferred terminology. 

It is my wish that we could recognize our unity instead of letting the enemy divide us by our preferred culture and terminology. After all, it is about Jesus and what He wants, not about our convenience or comfort. One shot or multi-shot, we are in the same war. The enemy divides, and we should fight in unity. God has deemed each person a precious creation. He died so that all, not just a few, could be rescued. 

I wonder what I will look like, as a person, when I don’t let words, culture, and comfort get in the way of loving like God loves and caring like God cares. God is working on me in single shots and multi-shots to destroy the enemy in my life and free me. I want to be like Jesus now, but I know I will be like Him eventually. The process is ongoing.