What needs to be emphasized is that the signifi cance of signs relates to
what they are pointing to, and with respect to the works of the Spirit—in
and through human agents or otherwise—this has to do with their pur-
poses and goals. Understanding the “this is that” of the present human
drama in relationship to the biblical narrative involves this practice-related,
performative, and teleological dimension. 37
The works of the Spirit, put alternatively, inspire and are manifest
through human agents and their purposes, practices, and performances.
Post- Pentecost- al interpretation thus reads the scriptural witness to the
Spirit’s activity (“that”) in and through contemporary expressions (“this”),
especially but not only within the Church (the people of God, the body of
Christ, and the fellowship of the Spirit), as intimated in light of the already
but not yet reign of God. To some degree, we can discern the normative
shape of that reign in the person and work of Jesus, but in other respects,
“now we see in a mirror, dimly” (1 Cor. 13:12a). This means that we read,
interpret, and discern in and through the Spirit betwixt and between: after
Pentecost, but in and through the multi- and inter-cultural witness that
expects, trans-culturally, the divine reign. 38
From an Asian American perspective, then, such pragmatic and teleo-
logical interpretation includes the proclamation of the gospel (Good News)
story betwixt and between the processes of globalization. Migration,
transnationalism, and the fl uctuations of the global market impinge upon
life in the Spirit in the present era. How can the gospel narrative provide
norms for and yet also inspire faithful Asian American and trans-cultural
Spirit-fi lled living amidst the current pressures? How might the forging of
Asian American Pentecostal faithfulness be redeemed toward a trans-cul-
tural instantiation that is in turn a sign of the coming reign of God? How
might Asian American innovation anticipate trans-cultural and eschato-
logical purposes and performative praxis within global ebbs and fl ows?
In short, how might we read the “that” of Spirit’s apostolic mission as a
trans-cultural ideal for the “this” of the contemporary multi- and inter-
cultural mission of God?
A post-Pentecost-al hermeneutic emphasizes the signs of the Spirit’s
presence and activity, especially as expressed in how the people of the Spirit
attempt to bear witness to the person and message of Jesus that announces
the coming divine reign. These signs of the Spirit are unfolded in the
scriptural narrative, particularly in and through the apostolic testimony, as
a template for the ongoing Spirit-empowered life. Yet insofar as the “sci-
ence” of hermeneutics is less rigidly describable in propositional mandates
THE SCIENCE, SIGHS, AND SIGNS OF INTERPRETATION: AN ASIAN AMERICAN... 189