A conference most Christians will not attend or watch is causing a lot of stir on the internet. The conference, titled Strange Fire, is starting today along with the release of a new book on the same topic. Here is one of the videos promoting the conference featuring John MacArthur:
Notice that amidst the oddly hokey figurines depicting Biblical events, Dr. MacArthur speaks of the "charismatic movement" offering strange fire in the worship, blasphemes the Holy Spirit and attributes to the Holy Spirit the work of Satan. The second charge bears a quick note and I am sure Dr. MacArthur did not use it carelessly because it jumped out at me. They blaspheme the Holy Spirit. He uses this phrase multiple times, a phrase we find in the third chapter of Mark:
"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— (Mark 3:28-29)
The "charismatic movement" is guilty of what is often called the unforgivable sin? Well that is an interesting way to try to influence people you think are in error.
While I don't like the way this slanders literally millions of Christians, brothers and sisters I disagree with but still still as brothers and sisters, more to the point it is just awful application of a text and that is shocking coming from a widely recognized excellent exegete like MacArthur.
The event name is based on the Biblical account of the "strange fire" that the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10. Here is the account if you are not familiar with it (in the KJV which uses the phrase "strange fire"), it is pretty powerful:
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. (Lev 10:1-3, KJV)
God gave very specific instructions about how the Israelites were to worship God in very specific situations. John MacArthur is trying to tie that with the real and perceived excesses of charismatic worship.
So here is the problem. First the account of "strange fire" is a very unique situation in a unique setting under an obsolete covenant. John MacArthur is not Moses. The New Covenant church is not Old Covenant Israel. Second, God actually gave us very few specifics about how to come together to worship in the New Testament, an inconvenient fact that hasn't stopped generations of Christians and unbelievers alike from helping God by filling in the blanks and declaring manmade traditions to be "biblical".
This is one of those "all publicity is good publicity". Those who disagree with MacArthur and talk about it drive traffic to the conference webpage and it gives those who support MacArthur the opportunity for smugness and the obligatory posting of random Youtube videos of crackpots and heretics as "proof" of the general heresy of any form of charismaticism. Again, I disagree with a lot of charismatics and I absolutely recognize that there are excesses and outright heresies. It would have been a great conference to explore the topic of the spiritual gifts and help draw some distinctions between what is or is not Biblical. Instead we get an inflammatory lead up to a conference.
I am getting ready to watch the first general session with Dr. MacArthur right now, I hope I am wrong about this whole thing.
Showing posts with label The Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Who's Afraid Of The Holy Spirit?
Are we afraid of 1/3 of the Trinity? Afraid He might show up and because we hardly know Him we are afraid of what might happen, or worse that we won't recognize if what is happening is truly a moving of the Holy Spirit? That is the question raised in this very interesting talk by Tope Koleoso speaking at the 2013 Desiring God conference for pastors. His talk (video embedded below) carried the rather unwieldy title: Sovereign Grace, Spiritual Gifts, and the Pastor: How Should a Reformed Pastor Be Charismatic?. Setting aside the exclusive way he addresses this issue to clergy, his message raised some interesting and perhaps troubling questions for me.
I have always erred on the side of what can perhaps be called the cold, intellectual, rational aspect of Christianity, with the systematizing of theology and the reading of books, theoretically honing the edges of intellectual understanding. As part of that overly rational and intellectual aspect of the faith I have looked with equal parts suspicion and mockery at the more exuberant, expressive aspects of Christianity. There is certainly a place for scholarship, for study. We have always faced the specter of wolves and false teachers in the church who pervert the Gospel for their own gain. That has not and never will change this side of eternity but we can overreact and in doing so hamper our ministry.
Some of that is perhaps understandable. The excesses, abuses and outright heresy of the extremes that often go under the guise of "charismatic" are legion and well documented. Many of the most recognizable names who claim special spiritual gifts are kooks and crackpots and outright heretics, from Benny Hinn to Todd Bentley to the entire TBN network.These wolves need to be identified and called to repent. But like many other controversial issues the reaction is often an overreaction in the opposite direction.
This talk has caused something of a stir. Just like John MacArthur's talk some years ago on why all self-respecting Calvinists should be dispensationalists, this talk has ruffled feathers (for an example see The Cripplegate which has a multiple part series on why Reformed pastors need not be charismatic in response to Tope's talk. Some of the information is OK, some of it is arrogant and borderline dangerous like the post equating the miraculous gifts with spiritual infancy in the church, presumably in contrast to our "maturity" evidenced by our endless sermonizing). Rather than taking their word for it that Tope was off the mark, I watched the video of his talk myself and found very little that was objectionable. Was it jarring to our "mature" modern sensibilities that seeks after "solid exegetical expository preaching"? Sure. We live in a sterile culture where everything is neat, tidy and sanitary and that is nowhere more true than in the church where we have adopted the sensibilities of the world. The messiness of ministry has been replaced by a performance based culture. That "works" for us in our religious culture. The sheep are entertained, whether by catchy music or by well prepared sermons. The money flows, the system marches on and nobody asks any questions more controversial than questioning the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. Who needs the Holy Spirit outside of a perfunctory invitation for Him to show up at the beginning of a "worship service"? We have it all figured out, organized, systematized, sterilized. I am afraid we have neutered ourselves our of fear.
Now I am not at all convinced that all or even most of what passes for "movements of the Holy Spirit" are legitimate. Having been a mormon and experiencing the "burning in the bosom" I know how easy it is for people to convince themselves that the experience they are having is legitimate even when they are creating it themselves. I have run into too many people who make stuff up that is obviously self-serving for the purpose of enriching themselves or covering for their own sin and disobedience. Not everything that makes you feel warm and fuzzy or even makes you cry is a movement of the Spirit. So I still take spiritual claims with a grain of salt or three. However I am concerned that quashing or denying the movement of the Holy Spirit can be as damaging as false reports of His moving.
We must test all things, not in a spirit of suspicion but in a spirit of discernment. The only way to do so, in my understanding, is via a community hermeneutic. In 1 Corinthians 14 when Paul is speaking of the spiritual gifts and what appears to be an issue with their misuse he doesn't forbid them but rather encourages them while at the same time calling for the church to be involved in their use so that it may be done for the edification of all rather than the puffing up of the one. We today should likewise "earnestly desire the spiritual gifts" (1 Cor 14:1) for the edification and building up of the church. We have not "matured" beyond our need for the gifts but rather just the opposite. Our need for legitimate, church building, spiritual gifts has never been greater! Paul indicates that the spiritual gifts are something that we can and ought to desire. Instead of fearing the spirit or capitulating to false manifestations of shysters and charlatans seeking to enrich themselves we should as the church all seek the gifts of the spirit.
Until we equip the church and make disciples who are mature and discerning instead of milk fed novice disciples that are spiritually co-dependent on clergy we will continue to have the two extremes where people are either taught to fear the Holy Spirit and His gifts our of ignorance or people are lured in and destroyed by wolves. If our fear is that the church will be deceived by the Benny Hinn's of the world then we need to equip disciples and feed them meat. The problem is not the Spirit, it is immature disciples who have never been equipped to stand on their own. Until we fix that very little will change, whether dealing with the spiritual gifts or evangelism or any other question that troubles the church. Anyway here is the video, it is an hour long but worth the time.
I have always erred on the side of what can perhaps be called the cold, intellectual, rational aspect of Christianity, with the systematizing of theology and the reading of books, theoretically honing the edges of intellectual understanding. As part of that overly rational and intellectual aspect of the faith I have looked with equal parts suspicion and mockery at the more exuberant, expressive aspects of Christianity. There is certainly a place for scholarship, for study. We have always faced the specter of wolves and false teachers in the church who pervert the Gospel for their own gain. That has not and never will change this side of eternity but we can overreact and in doing so hamper our ministry.
Some of that is perhaps understandable. The excesses, abuses and outright heresy of the extremes that often go under the guise of "charismatic" are legion and well documented. Many of the most recognizable names who claim special spiritual gifts are kooks and crackpots and outright heretics, from Benny Hinn to Todd Bentley to the entire TBN network.These wolves need to be identified and called to repent. But like many other controversial issues the reaction is often an overreaction in the opposite direction.
This talk has caused something of a stir. Just like John MacArthur's talk some years ago on why all self-respecting Calvinists should be dispensationalists, this talk has ruffled feathers (for an example see The Cripplegate which has a multiple part series on why Reformed pastors need not be charismatic in response to Tope's talk. Some of the information is OK, some of it is arrogant and borderline dangerous like the post equating the miraculous gifts with spiritual infancy in the church, presumably in contrast to our "maturity" evidenced by our endless sermonizing). Rather than taking their word for it that Tope was off the mark, I watched the video of his talk myself and found very little that was objectionable. Was it jarring to our "mature" modern sensibilities that seeks after "solid exegetical expository preaching"? Sure. We live in a sterile culture where everything is neat, tidy and sanitary and that is nowhere more true than in the church where we have adopted the sensibilities of the world. The messiness of ministry has been replaced by a performance based culture. That "works" for us in our religious culture. The sheep are entertained, whether by catchy music or by well prepared sermons. The money flows, the system marches on and nobody asks any questions more controversial than questioning the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. Who needs the Holy Spirit outside of a perfunctory invitation for Him to show up at the beginning of a "worship service"? We have it all figured out, organized, systematized, sterilized. I am afraid we have neutered ourselves our of fear.
Now I am not at all convinced that all or even most of what passes for "movements of the Holy Spirit" are legitimate. Having been a mormon and experiencing the "burning in the bosom" I know how easy it is for people to convince themselves that the experience they are having is legitimate even when they are creating it themselves. I have run into too many people who make stuff up that is obviously self-serving for the purpose of enriching themselves or covering for their own sin and disobedience. Not everything that makes you feel warm and fuzzy or even makes you cry is a movement of the Spirit. So I still take spiritual claims with a grain of salt or three. However I am concerned that quashing or denying the movement of the Holy Spirit can be as damaging as false reports of His moving.
We must test all things, not in a spirit of suspicion but in a spirit of discernment. The only way to do so, in my understanding, is via a community hermeneutic. In 1 Corinthians 14 when Paul is speaking of the spiritual gifts and what appears to be an issue with their misuse he doesn't forbid them but rather encourages them while at the same time calling for the church to be involved in their use so that it may be done for the edification of all rather than the puffing up of the one. We today should likewise "earnestly desire the spiritual gifts" (1 Cor 14:1) for the edification and building up of the church. We have not "matured" beyond our need for the gifts but rather just the opposite. Our need for legitimate, church building, spiritual gifts has never been greater! Paul indicates that the spiritual gifts are something that we can and ought to desire. Instead of fearing the spirit or capitulating to false manifestations of shysters and charlatans seeking to enrich themselves we should as the church all seek the gifts of the spirit.
Until we equip the church and make disciples who are mature and discerning instead of milk fed novice disciples that are spiritually co-dependent on clergy we will continue to have the two extremes where people are either taught to fear the Holy Spirit and His gifts our of ignorance or people are lured in and destroyed by wolves. If our fear is that the church will be deceived by the Benny Hinn's of the world then we need to equip disciples and feed them meat. The problem is not the Spirit, it is immature disciples who have never been equipped to stand on their own. Until we fix that very little will change, whether dealing with the spiritual gifts or evangelism or any other question that troubles the church. Anyway here is the video, it is an hour long but worth the time.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Scared of the Spirit
I read a very interesting interview with Francis Chan this morning on a topic that frankly scares me: the Holy Spirit. Let me clarify. I am quite comfy with the view of the Holy Spirit that I have typically surrounded myself with, a nice and neat Spirit that works in conjunction with the preaching of the Gospel to regenerate the unbelieving heart, bringing a dead sinner to newness of life and a new creature replaces the old. Once He accomplishes this work? That is where things seem to go off the rails in one of two ways. Either the Spirit is relegated to a theological concept off in a corner somewhere where He is expected to be on His best behavior during church or the Spirit is used as cover for all manner of emotional excesses that have little to do with actual workings of the Spirit. The fact that this interview appears on the webpage of Charisma magazine made me uncomfortable, like I was reading Maxim magazine at work or something.
It is quite clear from Scripture that being a Christian involves being filled with the Holy Spirit and that the indwelling presence of the Spirit should have a discernible impact on us. How that looks in the daily lives of Christians and in the community of faith is a little harder to pin down, largely because of the ways the Spirit is represented and taught in most of the church. I think I tend to dismiss much of what passes for movements of the Holy Spirit based on the excesses of some parts of the Charismatic movement. That is partly understandable but mostly inexcusable.
So I am going to try to really study this quiet but vital member of the Trinity. It fits in with my general interests in blogging. One of the things that I think the traditional church has inadvertently done is put so many structures in place that we leave no room at all for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself in our gatherings. In an effort to be orderly, we have removed the truth that the church is Spirit-infused and Spirit-led and made the church leader-led and doctrine-infused. We need to recognize and embrace the role of the Spirit in the gathering of the Church while staying firmly grounded to avoid the sort of abuses and shenanigans that have cropped up over the centuries.
First and foremost I need to turn to the Word and intentionally seek out places where the Spirit is given special prominence. I also need to read up on Him in a wide variety of works. I have three books on my shelf that I have skimmed through that approach the Holy Spirit from a Reformed perspective, written by John Owen, Sinclair Ferguson and R.C. Sproul. You aren’t going to get much more Reformed than that! I just added Francis Chan’s book, The Forgotten God, to my Amazon cart. I think Chan’s book will be a solid but different perspective and one I need to look at. I would be open to other suggestions for books on this forgotten/neglected member of the Trinity (not Benny Hinn). I am not so much interested in more books written by Reformed folks because I think I have that covered nor am I looking for way out in left field charismatics. Just looking for some good, solid, balanced works that look at the Spirit in the life of believers and the church. So if you have any suggestions for good books on the Holy Spirit, please fire them up in the comments!
It is quite clear from Scripture that being a Christian involves being filled with the Holy Spirit and that the indwelling presence of the Spirit should have a discernible impact on us. How that looks in the daily lives of Christians and in the community of faith is a little harder to pin down, largely because of the ways the Spirit is represented and taught in most of the church. I think I tend to dismiss much of what passes for movements of the Holy Spirit based on the excesses of some parts of the Charismatic movement. That is partly understandable but mostly inexcusable.
So I am going to try to really study this quiet but vital member of the Trinity. It fits in with my general interests in blogging. One of the things that I think the traditional church has inadvertently done is put so many structures in place that we leave no room at all for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself in our gatherings. In an effort to be orderly, we have removed the truth that the church is Spirit-infused and Spirit-led and made the church leader-led and doctrine-infused. We need to recognize and embrace the role of the Spirit in the gathering of the Church while staying firmly grounded to avoid the sort of abuses and shenanigans that have cropped up over the centuries.
First and foremost I need to turn to the Word and intentionally seek out places where the Spirit is given special prominence. I also need to read up on Him in a wide variety of works. I have three books on my shelf that I have skimmed through that approach the Holy Spirit from a Reformed perspective, written by John Owen, Sinclair Ferguson and R.C. Sproul. You aren’t going to get much more Reformed than that! I just added Francis Chan’s book, The Forgotten God, to my Amazon cart. I think Chan’s book will be a solid but different perspective and one I need to look at. I would be open to other suggestions for books on this forgotten/neglected member of the Trinity (not Benny Hinn). I am not so much interested in more books written by Reformed folks because I think I have that covered nor am I looking for way out in left field charismatics. Just looking for some good, solid, balanced works that look at the Spirit in the life of believers and the church. So if you have any suggestions for good books on the Holy Spirit, please fire them up in the comments!
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