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Excitement and Truth in Church
Today we deal with a passage that deals almost exclusively with "charismatic" (tongues, healing, prophecy) gifts. This is a very big and complicated issue - this isn't the venue to deal with an issue so big or divisive, but suffice to say that some people believe that these gifts are still operating today and some believe that they are not. Working from that framework, Blomberg has some good and important thoughts about the application of this passage today:
"Christians sometimes struggle to find relevant passages of Scripture that speak directly and in detail to contemporary problems. Such is the case, for example, with abortion, ecology, and nuclear war. In chapter 14, however, we find remarkably clear and detailed teaching that bears directly on one of the most divisive issues in the church today—the debate over the so-called charismatic or more supernatural gifts.
The charismatic movement is known for emphasizing the value of speaking in tongues. To many in that movement, Paul would surely say today that greater emphasis is needed on the more immediately intelligible and more cognitive gifts. Many sermons in charismatic or Pentecostal circles lack consistent, clear exposition of texts of Scripture. The recent neo-prophetic movement has heralded something of a shift away from tongues to prophecy. But it tends to conceive of the latter in a very narrow, highly supernatural sense and often does not submit its revelations from the Lord to the evaluation of a congregation and a duly recognized group of church leaders. Decision-making in the charismatic world often seems highly subjective, as people explain their actions with little more than the rationale, “The Lord told me to do such-and-such.” But how do they know for sure what they heard was from the Lord or, if it was, that they interpreted it entirely correctly? Authoritarian leaders within this movement can at times rule ruthlessly and without fear of contradiction because those under them believe everything spoken “in the name of the Lord.” It would probably be good if no Christian today ever said, “The Lord told me …” lest God get blamed for human error, but rather preface their remarks with, “I believe the Lord has told me …”
Noncharismatic churches too are increasingly moving away from solid instructional messages based on biblical content. Many favor a more entertainment-oriented style of worship, and “seeker-sensitive” messages, often with the worthy motive of attracting the unbeliever or church-hopper who judges local congregations on the value of many services they provide other than preaching. Such churches recognize the need to avoid Christian “jargon,” in-house or theological language that outsiders find strange and difficult to comprehend. But if large-group worship services take this form, then it becomes crucial that the church stress that its members become involved in additional activities that provide detailed instruction in the Bible, Christian doctrine, ethics, and the like. These can take the form of Sunday School, special seminars, or small groups.
The value in both charismatic and noncharismatic circles of a clear proclamation of God’s Word over and above more unusual phenomena like tongues remains indisputable. In Paul’s world, at least the more exotic phenomena reminded people of analogous practices in other religions, so that they were not entirely foreign. In our modern day, many unbelievers seeing glossolalia for the first time will be all the more convinced that Christians are “out of their mind” (v. 23). Indeed, the excesses of the charismatic movement, especially through televangelism, are one of the major reasons all conservative Christianity has been caricatured, stereotyped, and rejected as weird and out-of-touch with reality by many contemporary Westerners, especially in the media." [1] (emphasis mine)
The message is this: if you think charismatic gifts exist, use them the right way as specified in this passage. If you don't, beware of other "flashy" forms of "church" that focus on entertainment and excitement rather than truth and worship. This is an insanely needed message for much of the church today.
Questions? Comments?
Excitement and Truth in Church
Today we deal with a passage that deals almost exclusively with "charismatic" (tongues, healing, prophecy) gifts. This is a very big and complicated issue - this isn't the venue to deal with an issue so big or divisive, but suffice to say that some people believe that these gifts are still operating today and some believe that they are not. Working from that framework, Blomberg has some good and important thoughts about the application of this passage today:
"Christians sometimes struggle to find relevant passages of Scripture that speak directly and in detail to contemporary problems. Such is the case, for example, with abortion, ecology, and nuclear war. In chapter 14, however, we find remarkably clear and detailed teaching that bears directly on one of the most divisive issues in the church today—the debate over the so-called charismatic or more supernatural gifts.
The charismatic movement is known for emphasizing the value of speaking in tongues. To many in that movement, Paul would surely say today that greater emphasis is needed on the more immediately intelligible and more cognitive gifts. Many sermons in charismatic or Pentecostal circles lack consistent, clear exposition of texts of Scripture. The recent neo-prophetic movement has heralded something of a shift away from tongues to prophecy. But it tends to conceive of the latter in a very narrow, highly supernatural sense and often does not submit its revelations from the Lord to the evaluation of a congregation and a duly recognized group of church leaders. Decision-making in the charismatic world often seems highly subjective, as people explain their actions with little more than the rationale, “The Lord told me to do such-and-such.” But how do they know for sure what they heard was from the Lord or, if it was, that they interpreted it entirely correctly? Authoritarian leaders within this movement can at times rule ruthlessly and without fear of contradiction because those under them believe everything spoken “in the name of the Lord.” It would probably be good if no Christian today ever said, “The Lord told me …” lest God get blamed for human error, but rather preface their remarks with, “I believe the Lord has told me …”
Noncharismatic churches too are increasingly moving away from solid instructional messages based on biblical content. Many favor a more entertainment-oriented style of worship, and “seeker-sensitive” messages, often with the worthy motive of attracting the unbeliever or church-hopper who judges local congregations on the value of many services they provide other than preaching. Such churches recognize the need to avoid Christian “jargon,” in-house or theological language that outsiders find strange and difficult to comprehend. But if large-group worship services take this form, then it becomes crucial that the church stress that its members become involved in additional activities that provide detailed instruction in the Bible, Christian doctrine, ethics, and the like. These can take the form of Sunday School, special seminars, or small groups.
The value in both charismatic and noncharismatic circles of a clear proclamation of God’s Word over and above more unusual phenomena like tongues remains indisputable. In Paul’s world, at least the more exotic phenomena reminded people of analogous practices in other religions, so that they were not entirely foreign. In our modern day, many unbelievers seeing glossolalia for the first time will be all the more convinced that Christians are “out of their mind” (v. 23). Indeed, the excesses of the charismatic movement, especially through televangelism, are one of the major reasons all conservative Christianity has been caricatured, stereotyped, and rejected as weird and out-of-touch with reality by many contemporary Westerners, especially in the media." [1] (emphasis mine)
The message is this: if you think charismatic gifts exist, use them the right way as specified in this passage. If you don't, beware of other "flashy" forms of "church" that focus on entertainment and excitement rather than truth and worship. This is an insanely needed message for much of the church today.
Questions? Comments?
[1] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 275-76.
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