John Wimber: Prophet of the Kingdom

Dr. Don Williams

John Wimber was a Kingdom man. He rightly saw the center of Jesus’ good news as the in-breaking presence of the Kingdom of God. Behind this is the cosmic battle between God and Satan for rulership over this planet. When Jesus showed up, the showdown began. People were forgiven, healed and released from demons. This was radical business. The Holy Spirit, promised in the Old Testament for the end-times, breaks out in power as the Kingdom is preached. For Wimber, Kingdom ministry wasn’t just for then, its for now. But what does this mean for us? Let me illustrate.

I boarded a British Airways jet in Los Angeles bound for London. Once seated, I watched a video of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Parliament and other memorable sights. A steward with a British accent then offered me a cup of tea. The blanket for my feet was Scottish plaid. Here I was in L.A., experiencing a taste of my destination: Great Britain. Similarly, as we submit to Christ as Savior and Lord, God gives us a taste of our destination, his heavenly Kingdom to come. We experience the power of the Spirit, the lost saved, the sick healed, the demonized delivered. The future triumph over Satan and the restoration of all things is present in some measure now. Not all we pray for are healed. Not all we witness to are saved. But like my experience of leaving L.A., the signs of our destination surround us. While we experience the Kingdom partially now, it is nevertheless real.

Wimber’s unique contribution to the church was to grasp that the theology of the Kingdom demands that we minister the Kingdom. He expected to have the Spirit’s anointing as he preached, prayed for the sick, and cast out demons. His class at Fuller Theological Seminary in the early 80’s (MC 510), became famous not because he taught about supernatural Kingdom ministry, but because he ended each class with a workshop where Kingdom ministry happened. This changed many faculty and students forever. It also threatened the unity of the Seminary where theory and practice tend to separate. While the class was suspended in a cloud of controversy, the damage had already been done. The word was out: God is alive, speaking, healing, delivering today. The Kingdom coming is also the Kingdom come.

In reflecting back upon that time, it is clear to me that John Wimber was called to be prophetic to the whole church. The Cambridge scholar C.H. Dodd tagged Jesus’ ministry as “realized eschatology.” In Basil, Switzewrland, Oscar Cullmann, using a World War II analogy, showed that the church is in a mopping up operation between “D Day,” the decisive invasion of enemy territory, and “V Day” the final victory when all the powers of evil will be destroyed. Through Wimber, God held the church accountable for this Biblical theology.