Wimber's 10 Values || Wednesdays w/ Wimber
What drove John Wimber? What influenced and shaped his ministry? Well according to Dr. Don Williams, John Wimber was driven by ten values... here they are!
What drove John Wimber’s theology? What shaped his ministry and influenced his leadership of the Vineyard movement? Well on this episode of Wednesday’s with Wimber, we’re going to look at ten values and commitments that drove his role as a follower of Jesus, a pastor, and the leader of a church planting movement known as the Vineyard.
So in 2005, this really thick academic book came out, titled Church, Identity, and Change: Theology and Denominational Structures in Unsettled Times. It’s a collection of essays written from a variety of scholars on various denominations, including one of Wimber’s close friends, the Vineyard theologian named Don Williams.
Don’s essay provides a theological perspective on the Vineyard but really focuses in on John Wimber and a number of his values and deeply held commitments. In fact, he offered ten different ideas and commitments that drove Wimber that can help us understand more about Wimber’s theology and practices.
But before we look at those ten values, according to Don Williams, we need to understand that for John Wimber, the most important concept for him was his understanding of the Kingdom of God. As Wimber read the New Testament and came to understand the Kingdom of God was both “now and not yet,” he was really convinced that:
“Jesus came in the power of the Spirit to evangelize the poor, heal the sick, drive out demons, liberate the oppressed, and build a people living under his lordship who will reflect his character and ministry in fulfilling his mission to the nations.”
Don Williams REALLY wanted to make sure that before we even begin to think about understanding what drove Wimber, we need to understand that his central foundation was the theology of the Kingdom as a present reality with a future consummation… it was both “now and not yet” because we lived in the tension between those two realities.
But what else drove John Wimber? Great question! Here are the ten ideas, values, and commitments that drove Wimber:
First, Wimber was evangelistically driven. His own conversion and early experience with a man named Gunner Payne made a huge impact on him and Wimber reportedly led hundreds upon hundreds of people to Jesus in his early years. This followed Wimber all of his life and shaped many pastors in the Vineyard and well beyond.
Second, Wimber was Word-driven. His loved the Bible and believed that it was the absolute and final authority. Williams suggests that for Wimber, all supernatural events, prophetic words, and ministry activities had to be measured by Scripture. It’s also important o note that Wimber held to a historical-grammatical hermeneutic, meaning he placed a high value on reading Scripture in it’s historical context and took seriously the original author’s intention as well as valued how it would have been interpreted by it’s original audience.
Third, Wimber was Spirit driven. He valued the presence of God in church gatherings, desired for the Spirit to heal people, and also spoke about how the Holy Spirit would drive the Church back to Scripture. Williams even notes that “more than once [Wimber} changed course or corrected earlier teaching because of a better understanding of the Scriptures.”
Fourth, Wimber was prophetically driven… meaning that he learned to trust the Holy Spirit’s voice in his life and wasn’t afraid to take risks that he felt were inspired by gifts of prophecy. Hearing from God was a huge value for Wimber and was active throughout his entire ministry.
Fifth, Wimber was compassionately driven. As countless thousands of people can attest, John Wimber loved people and had a pastoral heart. This shaped his ministry and the churches he led because he was always looking to reach the lost sheep and to help people experience God’s mercy and love.
Sixth, and this is something I want to really highlight, Don Williams suggests that Wimber was theologically driven. This is especially true in regard to Wimber’s well thought out and robustly held theology of the Kingdom but can also be found in many other areas that he taught on.
Seventh, Wimber was pragmatically driven. Williams points out that this was evidenced by Wimber’s expertise in church growth and understanding of the role that music played in the life of the church. I’d also argue that it was seen in how Wimber always worked hard to make deeper theological truths accessible to every-day Christians.
Eighth, Wimber was ecclesiastically driven. John Wimber loved the WHOLE church. From his time working with hundreds of various denominations and churches to his reminder to the Vineyard that they were just one vegetable in God’s stew, Wimber worked hard to bless the whole Body of Christ and held renewal conferences all over the world for many different Christian traditions.
Ninth, Wimber was missionally driven. As Williams states, John Wimber was a “Great Commission” kind of Christian. He cared about people getting saved by faith in Christ and encouraged Vineyard pastors to be informed about effective cross cultural mission strategies.
Finally, John Wimber was devotionally driven. Intimacy with God was something that he talked about openly and his devotional life meant a great deal to him. His relationship with Jesus was a reality that he prioritized on a daily basis.
As you can see, there’s a lot more to John Wimber than worship music, signs and wonders, and church planting. Wimber made a lasting impact on the Church and these values drove him to be more than just a fat man trying to get to heaven… John Wimber was a fool for Christ…
What do you think?
About the Author
Luke Geraty is a pastor-theologian in northern California. With a few theology degrees and nearly twenty years of pastoral leadership, Luke loves the Bible, theology, fly fishing, coffee, and books. All opinions are his own and not the views of any other organizations he’s affiliated with. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe to his YouTube.