John Wimber, 1934-1997

Not only was John Wimber a great Charismatic leader who was used by God to perform miracles and teach others to do the same, but he also had a burning heart for the poor and oppressed, and especially in his later years he emphasized to remember the poor and to work for social justice. Here are some quotes by him concerning this issue, mainly found on the John Wimber Twitter and Facebook accounts.

“The same Lord who gives sight to the blind and creates miracles through our hands is the very One who feeds the hungry through our hands and watches over the immigrant. We must never ignore the poor & needy. We must never spend any outpouring of Gods Spirit on ourselves.”

“Faith is spelled, R.I.S.K….Commitment is spelled, M.O.N.E.Y…”.

“The call to social justice is not adding to the Gospel, it flows from the heart of God. Great leaders in the history of the Church have understood the relationship between the Gospel and justice.”

“When we stand for social justice, we testify to the presence of the Kingdom.”

“We need the poor as much as they need us…”

“Revival moves vertically touching all socioeconomic levels. When revivals go throughout the social order they bring radical social reform. Priority may be given to spiritual needs, but the meeting of material needs inevitably follows true revival.”

“We will never step out of our middle class mindset and do anything for the poor until we’ve caught God’s heart for them. Our actions will change when our heart is changed.”

“Give some portion of what you have—time, energy, money, on a regular basis—to this purpose, to redeeming people, to caring for people.”

“Many Christians and Christian leaders have been neutralized by the love of money and materialism. The homage paid to affluence becomes a burden that saps our energy as well as our love for God and other people. Though repentance and the cleansing of forgiveness, we can rid ourselves of this burden and begin to let God transform our value system. Like Jesus and Paul, we can learn to be content with what we have, living modestly in order that we may give liberally to the work of the kingdom and to meet the needs of others. ”

“It’s not the stripping of wealth that is the most difficult test but the acquiring of it…”

“It’s tragic to see faith healers get caught up in opulent life-styles, rationalizing their material wealth as a sign of  ‘God’s blessing’. Greed and materialism are perhaps the most common cause of the undoing of many men & women with a healing ministry.”

“If we ever ignore the poor and needy were as good as dead as a people.”