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The finer points of a charismatic's sword drill

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 10:59 PM ET , Monday, Jun 05, 2006

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Categories: Deep Doctrine Magic: Charismaticism

Charismatic Chaos Recommended
Charismatic Chaos
by Dr. John F. MacArthur


Recently I've found Bible teacher John MacArthur's 1992 book Charismatic Chaos nonetheless relevant in the current church climate — just change the names here and there, and the same tricks are still around.

MacArthur, of course, is very serious throughout his criticism of charismatics and defense of “cessationism” — the idea that “higher” Holy Spirit gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophesies and miracles have ceased with the end of the Apostolic Age. Yet that sober assessment doesn't prevent him from having a little fun, with evidently at least one late-'80s/early-'90s version of Joel Osteen:

I watched in horror a couple of years ago as a guest on a charismatic television network explained the “biblical basis” of his ministry of “possibility thinking.” “My ministry is based entirely on my life verse, Matthew 19:26, ‘With God all things are possible.’ God gave me that verse because I was born in 1926.”

Obviously intrigued by that method of obtained a “life verse,” the talk show host grabbed a Bible and began thumbing through excitedly. “I was born in 1934,” he said. “My life verse would be Matthew 19:34. What does it say?” Then he discovered that Matthew 19 has only thirty verses. Undeterred, he flipped to Luke 19 and read verse 34: “And they said, The Lord hath need of him” (KJV).

Thrilled, he exclaimed, “Oh, the Lord has need of me! The Lord has need of me! What a wonderful life verse! I’ve never had a life verse before, but now the Lord has given me one! Thank you, Jesus! Hallelujah!” The studio audience began to applaud.

At that moment, however, the talk show host’s wife, who had also turned to Luke 19, said, “Wait a minute! You can’t use this. This verse is talking about a donkey!”



A church 'body' of only speaking tongues?

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 01:12 PM ET , Thursday, Apr 13, 2006

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Categories: Deep Doctrine Magic: Charismaticism, Cross Firings



The following was posted by BJR in response to Churchianity, part 2: The Unwritten Rules of God’s House. After that comes my response, which I also added beneath that entry as a comment:

Dear Dr. Ransom:
Thank you for your much- needed article re Churchianity. I have been attending a fundamentalist church and am being told by one of the “church elders” that I MUST:
a-Speak and pray in “tongues.”
b-Hear from God in a clear and audible voice.
c-If these two above-mentioned things are not happening to me then it means that all of my prayers, church attendance, Bible reading, etc., are “for nothing” because “I have not gotten it.”

I have spent over five years reading the Bible and even though I understand that there is much I still have to learn, I cannot find anywhere in it that I MUST do these things in order to qualify as a “true Christian.”

What are your thoughts regarding this?

BJR, you’re in my prayers.

I think you could approach this two ways.

The first way is unique because it works Biblically even if one accepts the notion that tongues-speaking and physically hearing God are Biblical (but more on that in a moment). The most often-cited passage regarding wisdom, teaching, and other spiritual gifts is 1 Corinthians 12. Read through and recognize a common thought that Paul repeats: that there are “different kinds of service, but the same Lord.” (1 Corinthians 12: 4 [NIV]) Later he is even more clear about the diversity of roles and gifts within the body:

“Now the body is not made up of one part but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?”

1 Corinthians 12: 14-17 (NIV)

Similarly, if the whole body were forced to be a speaking tongue, what about all those who may have the other gifts? Wisdom? Discernment? Faith?

For example, let’s say you’ve found you enjoy studying church history, doctrines, discerning false beliefs from Biblical ones. That may be a gift of knowledge. You’re more of a “head” in the body. Would it be right for you to demand that all the hands, feet, ears, even “tongues,” be heads like you? Not at all! The same is true for the “tongues” — they are Biblically wrong to demand that everyone be like them.

“But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’”

1 Corinthians 12: 21 (NIV)

Therefore the “tongues” cannot say to other parts, ‘We don’t need you!’

The second issue is the assumption that tongues-speaking in that form is Biblical anyway. Paul elaborates more on the subject two chapters later. Christians may disagree over whether tongues-speaking is still in effect anyway, but the simplest route to take may be that Paul is very clear that tongues-speaking is not helpful unless others are present to “interpret” what is being said.

“If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.”

1 Corinthians 14: 27-28 (NIV)

On two counts, then, these church members are upholding their own traditions above actual Scripture.

First, your gifts may lie in other areas. A Biblically based church should not deny Christ-given diversity of gifts and attempt to make everyone the same.

Second, tongues-speaking itself may be un-Biblical. It certainly is if it ignores the orderly worship Paul discusses later in chapter 14, and is void of actual interpretation of the “tongues.” That issue alone, along with the even-more-anti-Biblical expectation that God should speak audibly, may be enough that you may want to look into other churches. Though they are unfortunately rare, I think other churches might have more respect for growth in studying the Scriptures, orderly worship and working with diverse parts and gifts contributing in the Body.

Remember, it’s by Grace we have saved — un-merited favor given by God — and not through our own works. Bible reading, prayer and church attendance won’t do anything to redeem from human sin unless Christ’s free gift of redemption comes first. Too many Churchians, blindly continuing in their own extra-Biblical and even anti-Biblical religious traditions, fail to understand that.

God go with you, and post again anytime if the situation changes. …