Things That Need Resolution – Part One
Of late, my mind has been drawn to a few dilemmas, which need resolution. Mind you, when I say ?€œresolution?€? I do not necessarily mean agreement. Agreement is a luxury that isn’t always readily available as an option. Since I have limited time to compose this post, I’ll get right to the point.
The first issue which needs resolution is the persistent divide that exists between fundamental evangelicals and charismatic/Pentecostal evangelicals. I don’t have any illusions about trying to bring agreement between these two branches of evangelicalism. However, there are some harmful assumptions, which each side makes about the other, which ensure that the wedge that exists between them continues to exist.
Charismatic/Pentecostal evangelicals make the first assumption I will address. The idea that the baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place as a secondary event to salvation creates a class of ?€œhaves?€? and ?€œhave-nots?€? within the church. The end-result can be that a form of spiritual elitism develops where the ones who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit have a greater understanding than those who have not. The assumption that those who have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit are some how lacking, creates a class system within the church ?€“ the ?€œSpirit-filled?€? Christians and everyone else.
I?€™m not going to address the validity of that doctrinal belief, but rather what I want to address is the fact that the sort of class system that develops is patently unbiblical. It is no wonder that there is such zealousness to have an experience within those congregations so that one can feel a part of the spiritual ?€œhaves.?€? I don?€™t make this accusation lightly since I have had people come out of those congregations and testify to their own ?€œfake?€? experiences. This sort of division breeds jealousy in the ?€œhave-nots?€? and therefore can illicit a contrived spiritual experience. In other words, they fake it. It also puts the entire fundamental evangelical wing of the church in the ?€œhave-not?€? category. This cannot be healthy.
On the other side of aisle, fundamental evangelicals, in their insistence upon the cessation of the gifts of tongues, prophecy and miracles, are forced to make a decision. There are three possible decisions.
The first decision is to believe that they are faking the gifts. True, there are those who have tried to fake miracles, who?€™ve falsely declared, ?€œThus says the Lord,?€? or who have faked the gift of tongues. But have all charismatic/Pentecostals done this? By accusing our brothers of faking the gifts, we have accused them of collectively lying.
The second decision is to believe that the tongues, miracles, and prophesying are indeed real, but demonically inspired. I haven heard, on multiple occasions, fundamental evangelical people smear charismatic/Pentecostals by saying this. It is no small charge to accuse our brothers and sisters of being demonized to the point that they are performing demonically inspired signs and miracles. To say this is to say that millions of born again Christians throughout the world are deeply and seriously, internally demonized. While I can accept that Christians can be demonized (this does not mean possessed) I cannot believe that the Lord would allow such a massive demonic deception to persist in his church for so long. We must look at the spiritual fruit. The fact is there are millions of godly men and women, who practice the ?€œPentecostal?€? gifts, that demonstrate good fruit in their lives. Fruit, which if they were demonized to such a deep degree, would surely not exist.
The third and final decision fundamental evangelicals can make is to simply dismiss the gifts as unnecessary and/or undesirable in worship. These people may accept the gifts as present in today?€™s church, but they have seen the abuses and have made a personal decision that these gifts are not worth the trouble that may come with them. The problem with this is that if you believe these gifts are present today and operating within the church, then you must also believe that God has continued their existence for a reason. To dismiss them is to dismiss God?€™s purpose for them.
What can we do? The wall that exists between charismatic/Pentecostals and fundamental evangelicals is more than a wall of doctrine. The fact is that this wall is full of a little doctrine and a lot of elitism, self-righteousness, and pride. The truth is that godly men on both sides of the aisle have come to their conclusions after carefully studying the Scriptures. Which camp is right? I don?€™t come to the end of this article with an answer. All I know is that both sides need to display some humility toward the other. I?€™m not going to reveal my hand on this. Rather, I would like to hear from you. What do you believe is the answer? I look forward to your input.
6 comments
Thanks for pointing out the tragedy of this deep rift within evangelical Christianity. I think you mentioned the heart of the problem in your last paragraph: lack of humility. God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6); and if we would willingly humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6); and if we would in humility esteem others more highly than ourselves (Philippians 2:3), it would certainly make a world of difference in the way we relate to one another. Consider, for example, how C. J. Mahaney (a third-wave reformed charismatic) gets along with Albert Mohler (a five-point Calvinist, who verges — or seems to — on cessationism): they humble themselves before one another and the Lord. They have warm, loving fellowship, centered on Christ Himself, not on their respective experiences. (That also seems to be a key — centering our fellowship on Christ, not on our experiences — but I’m guessing you’ll be going there in part 2, so I won’t high-jack your blog.)
Or perhaps, better yet, let’s take as our example the response of Paul to other preachers whose methods and motives were disparate from his: “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice . . .” (Philippians 1:18). In this circumstance, Paul was willing to support and rejoice in the ministry of anyone who proclaimed Christ. So, should a reformed Baptist rejoice when a Pentecostal church is experiencing gospel-centered growth, even if he disagrees with their doctrine of the Holy Spirit? Yes, he should. But, WILL he rejoice? Only if he’s humble!
Shane, you have spoken well. Thank you. I love the good that exists in both camps…the fundamental evangelical’s passion for sanctification, love of scripture and preaching the gospel. And I love the charismatics for their desire to see the Holy Spirit move in the lives of people through signs and wonders. Wouldn’t it be glorifying to God to embrace it all?
Great post! This has been a common discussion in my world, as of recently. Having grown up Southern Baptist, I find myself conservative and apprehensive towards Charismatic/Pentecostal events (i.e. healing ceremonies, casting out of demons, speaking in tongues, etc.). Having grown up in America, I also find myself lean towards the “naturalist” worldview. Unfortunately, as I’ve begun my attempt at objectively reading the scriptures, I’ve come to discover that the Bible is neither “conservative” nor “naturalistic.” This is the passage that really throws me off:
“22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” -Matthew 12:22-32
I’ll be the first to admit, I have no idea was this means! What does it mean to speak against the Holy Spirit? How do we know when it’s the work of the Holy Spirit? What does it mean, unforgivable?! Does this mean if I discredit or deny the authenticity of a “healing ceremony” that I am blaspheming against the Holy Spirit?
I’m still wrestling through this one, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I should error on the side of caution, and not throw things out just because they’re weird to me. I mean, let’s be honest… the New Testament is weird. Diseases healed, demons cast out, people raised from the dead, Sapphira and Ananias being struck dead because they lied, and the list goes on. If I were to hear about that stuff in America, I wouldn’t believe it (or would be extremely slow to believe it). If the story came from Africa or India, I wouldn’t be so hesitant. Why is this!?
…just some thoughts
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is a tough one. I’m still not sure I understand the fullness of its meaning. All I know is I do not believe truly born again people will commit it. SBC churches teach that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the ultimate denial of Christ where a person dies without him. I tend to believe it’s more than that. I believe a lost person can commit that sin at any time in their life. It’s basically denying or grieving the Holy Spirit so severely by their disbelief that he abandons that person to their sin.
Why can’t believers commit this? If believers can commit it then it means that Jesus died for all of your sins, except one. This can’t be true if we believe the Bible teaches that his blood covers all of our sins. Right? You can’t have it both ways. Hebrews 10:14 says, “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” If we are “perfected for all time” then we can never commit a sin which causes us to lose our salvation.
As far as how do you know if something is a work of the Holy Spirit goes, all I can say is look at the fruit. That’s one reason I stopped judging charismatic/Pentecostals by what I see on TV. You can’t see the daily fruit of a person’s life by watching them on TV. The fruit of one’s life will reveal if they are truly doing the works of the Holy Spirit. Jesus teaches very plainly in Matthew 7 that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit; neither can a bad tree bear good fruit. Observing fruit may not answer all of your questions, but you can at least have the peace of mind that this person really is following Jesus and therefore it should be a cause for pause before casting judgment about their experiences.
Good questions! Thanks for posting, Jacob. Hope all is well out on the West Coast.
Jacob, I really love your reply on this. I love when Jesus takes something we thought we knew, shakes it up, and brings us back to square one as we start reading, learning, and desiring to know Him more! I can’t even count how many times that has happened to me!
Shane, I get what you’re saying about humility. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to tread on the whole judging another believer thing (even though I’m sure I do often), so I feel like making sure my heart is in the right place is so important. However, coming from someone who has been in the Charismatic/Pentecostal camp for my entire life, I have to say that having the Holy Spirit active in my life has been so essential to my walk with the Lord. And Jacob’s right! The New Testament IS weird! But to me that speaks of who Jesus IS…not just who He WAS. I love that in the New Testament He was always keeping people on their toes! Always pushing the envelope. Always making people question. Always making people wonder. And since He tells us He’s the same today as He was then, I can’t help but believe it. Miracles, healings, being set free from demonic oppression…all things that are still needed today, so why wouldn’t Jesus do what is needed to make sure those still happen?
And I truly believe that Americans don’t see or experience these things nearly as much as we could because we have such little faith. There are just too many things in the way to cloud it, and that is why it’s harder for us to imagine these things happening, or better yet, experience them ourselves! When you go to third world countries and hear stories from missionaries of miracles and healings happening it’s because it’s many times all they have to hold onto. Their faith is big! I want that!
I agree with you completely, Annie. I think the point I’m driving at is that the assumptions that some charismatic/Pentecostals make about other believers is incredibly condescending. I believe the Holy Spirit has been very active in my life for a very long time, so for someone to come along and tell me that I’m wrong, I find that somewhat presumptuous. I don’t go up to my Pentecostal friends and pronounce their experiences as unBiblical, and I would expect that same grace to be extended to me. The fact of the matter is both groups of people believe something that is considered debatable by some of the most intelligent and godly men in church history.
I’m a Reformed Continuationist, by the way. I know I said I wouldn’t reveal my hand, but oh well. I believe in the continuation of the gifts to the present day, and I also hold to a Reformed view of God’s grace. There you go.