The Great Non-Charismatic Trump Card

Posted on June 28, 2011 by | 5 comments

by Scott

Those who know me know I am a charismatic-continuationist. For me, at least with where I am heading in this article, this boils down to mainly two things: 1) I am committed to the reality that all gifts of the Spirit are still available to the church today and 2) I also come from a church perspective and heritage that has traditionally emphasised the importance of the times when the church gathers together in its varying ways.

But, I am also a teacher-theologian at heart. Not the most esteemed by any means. But the ministry gift of teacher seems to be the greatest measure of gifting in my calling in God.

Knowing this fact, I am continually thinking through the in’s and out’s of charismatic-continuationist perspectives and experiences. Sometimes the analysation can kick into overload.

Yet, the odd thing is that I have also experienced some very ecstatic things in my life (not always personally, though sometimes, but also with regards to others in various gatherings). I’ve reached a point in my life where nothing really shocks me. I think there are definitely some general guidelines we must take to heart as we gather together, and as a shepherd within a local church context I do consider my role of protection quite important and sobering. But, at least for me, I believe 1 Cor 14:33 has turned into the great non-charismatic trump card for many – For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

Or other versions might say God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

What can possibly happen for some of us is that anything outside of the more normal, structured order of service can easily be seen as disorderly. And this disorder, and confusion, are definitely out of bounds. Structure and regulation carry great import, and we find that 1 Cor 14:33 provides both the grounds for our stance and the subsequent comfort in guarding against anything out of order (or weird).

Of course, in some extreme cases, this verse has been used as a manipulative tool of control. Yet, this is probably few and far between. But even as this verse provides the grounds for comfort to our structure, at times it can still cause a little too much limitation.

You see, I’m always amazed at the Corinthian situation. I mean this church was nuts. ABSOLUTELY NUTS!

There was incest, people suing one another, gluttony and drunkenness at the Lord’s table and, of course, extreme abuse of the gifts of the Spirit. Though I have encountered some difficult personal situations in my younger life as a church leader, I have not come close to the Corinthian mess with which Paul had to deal.

So one can expect a heavy hand into their situation. For goodness sake, Paul desired that people would no longer fall asleep (die) because of their disrespect for the unity of the body of Christ at the Lord’s table (1 Cor 11:30). So, when we come to things like the gathering of the Corinthian ekklesia, Paul laid out some really harsh guidelines, though, interestingly enough, he did not ever shut things down for good.

With gifts of the Spirit, we see some restrictive guidelines laid out:

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 to God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. (1 Cor 14:27-32)

By no means do I believe that Paul was laying out some command for all-time in that, if you have 4 prophecies come forth in your church’s gathering, then you are grieving the Spirit and disobeying God. Of course, if one doesn’t believe prophecy or tongues are still given and/or needed today, then we don’t have to worry about these instructions. But I do not believe Paul is limiting us to 2 or 3 prophecies or messages in tongues for all-time sake.

Then, following these instructive words to the Corinthians, Paul comes in with that great trump card: For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

As long as nothing comes out of order, out of place, out of the listed structure in the bulletin (we have a bulletin, but you might have it somewhere else), we can feel safe and truly comfortable. Yet, it is interesting that one of the names of the Spirit is that of Comforter (even if we want to translate parakletos differently from Comforter, the Spirit is still a Comforter). And so I suppose we should expect to be uncomfortable at times to know the comforting work of the Comforter. Possibly even feeling a little uncomfortable as we assemble together.

But we are told we serve a God who is a God of order, of peace.

Of course he is.

But sometimes I am very aware that the order and peace of God comes in different ways than what we would expect, or command. I suppose I can remind us of a few biblical examples:

  • Isaiah walked around naked for 3 years as a prophetic action pointing out what would happen to the Egyptians (Isa 20:1-4)
  • Hannah prayed so fervently for a son that Eli thought she was drunk (1 Sam 1:9-16)
  • When Nehemiah and Ezra read the Law to the Jews, they mourned and wept (Neh 8:9)
  • Jesus had a spitting ministry, or he healed people by use of saliva, sometimes mixed with mud (Mark 7:33; 8:23; John 9:6-7)
  • Following the outpouring of the Spirit, the onlookers declared that those speaking in tongues must have been drunk (Acts 2:1-13). As a side note, the behaviour identified with drunkness was probably not the activity of tongues, since the people understood what was being said in their own language, and no one speaks in another language by getting drunk. Rather, other behaviour must have exhibited other forms of strangeness.
  • Not to mention the varied reactions during exorcisms (i.e. Mark 1:23-28; Luke 4:33-35)

You see, when we examine the spectrum of the biblical text, we see tensions right across it. That’s because differing people were writing to differing groups in differing areas at differing times. And they definitely weren’t thinking about all the details of a 21st century global world.

So when it comes to our church gatherings, we cannot easily run to 1 Cor 14:33 and state it as a stamp of approval on how we are to see the order of God come into our midst. I think it would miss both the dynamic of God and the dynamic of the Scripture text.

Of course, the biblical text tells us that God is not a God of disorder, rather he is a God of peace. But the text, that same God-breathed text, also makes clear that our God is a God of ‘disorder’ at times. Shall we survey Genesis to Revelation? Or let’s just consider the bullet points above. I think Isaiah would have made a few of us blush. I suppose spitting on someone would not be considered the most well-mannered of actions.

So when the church gathers, there is no doubt in my mind there are things that the shepherds, the elders, must consider. Again, I am involved in such week in and week out. And I have had to deal with those awkward moments. Not a lot. But I have some. But I would never give up allowing people to pray spontaneously, prophesy, burst forth in a psalm, hymn or spiritual song, share a message in tongues, weep in repentance, or shout with joy exuberant all to make sure we never ever felt uncomfortable. I believe such would be a great grievance to God’s Spirit. And we would miss out on these instructions of Paul within the same Corinthian context:

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. (1 Cor 14:26)

Did we catch that? – each of you has…..

Not just pastors and assistant pastors and worship leaders.

Of course everything must be done to build up. But we have to make space for such so that we can be built up.

In the end, there is no doubt that leaders are called to lead, protect, guard and wisely administrate (not in a secretarial way, but more in a leading way, as I believe the Greek word intends in 1 Cor 12:28). And sometimes we will need to bring an end to something that is causing disorder, we will have to correct, all with wisdom and grace.

But we will also, at times, need to allow for something a little ‘disorderly’ to happen that the Spirit might do the work that he and he alone can do. To stop that out of tune song, to stop the sobbing of repentance, to clamp down on prophecies, well, this could be just as disorderly than to allow for them.

I hope we can agree that there is no straight and hard line to this. But I also hope that, from now on, 1 Cor 14:33 is not simply seen as the fall back or trump card to protect us from what God might stir amongst his people in a somewhat spontaneous and unexpected way. Even if the spontaneity causes a little discomfort.

He is with us. He will lead us. He will give us discernment and wisdom. Let’s make some space for the body to be the body in our gatherings.

5 Comments

Posted in 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 14, body of Christ, charismatic, experience, Gifts, Gifts of the Spirit, strange, subjectivity

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

3 Teachings on 3 Gifts of the Spirit

Posted on June 25, 2011 by | Leave a comment

by Scott

The past 3 Sundays at Cornerstone, I have again been giving some teaching on gifts of the Spirit, at least those found in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

During these past Sundays, I have covered 3 specific gifts:

  • The message (or word) of wisdom
  • The message (or word) of knowledge
  • Distinguishing between spirits.

Below are the audio teachings to listen to or download. I might post some articles as well, as I already have done so for the message of wisdom.

Message of Wisdom

Download at our podcast or iTunes.

Message of Knowledge

Download at our podcast or iTunes.

Distinguishing Between Spirits

Download at our podcast or iTunes.

Leave a comment

Posted in 1 Corinthians 12, audio, distinguishing between spirits, Gifts, Gifts of the Spirit, message of knowledge, message of wisdom, word of knowledge, word of wisdom

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

An Introduction to Ephesians 4 Ministry Gifts

Posted on June 21, 2011 by | 3 comments

by Scott

One of my favourite passages in all of Scripture is found in Ephesians. Actually, Ephesians is probably one of my favourite books in the whole of the Bible. As one of Paul’s final letters, he packs so much wisdom and revelation in this short yet amazing book.

The Ephesians text is filled with multiple great passages: from Paul’s beginning words in 1:3-14; to the all-important words of our salvation by grace through faith in 2:8-9 (not to mention his words about walking out that salvation in 2:10); on to the goal of the one body in 2:11-22; his prayer in 3:14-21; the words on how to live our new life in Christ at the end of ch. 4 and beginning of ch. 5; his words of how to live out godly relationships in marriage, parenting, etc; and the charge about the armour of God in his final words in ch. 6.

This letter stands as maybe the pique of Paul’s writings (uh oh, the reformed people are getting stirred because I didn’t say it was Romans).

But one passage I really enjoy pondering is found in 4:11-16. It, too, is filled with great wisdom and revelation into the purposes and plans of God in this new covenant era. Here are the words from the NIV:

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

From these words, we find out that the goal for the body of Christ is both unity and maturity. Both of those are important. No, they are very important! I find that somehow we don’t realise this. It took me a while to understand that the goal was to see the bride of Christ prepare for our marriage to Christ. This calls for movement towards unity and maturity. We cannot miss that if we are to fulfil the purposes of God.

But, there is another reason I like this specific passage.

Here, in these words of Paul, we are told that, when Christ ascended back to the Father to reign over all, He gave specific gifts to the church to help us move towards this unity and maturity. What are those gifts. They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These five gifts (or four, as some see pastor and teacher as one gift, as in pastor-teacher) are known as the Ephesians 4 ministry (service) gifts, though many refer to them with various other names such as the ascension gifts (since they were given at His ascensions – see vs8) or the five-fold ministry gifts (or four-fold, if one believes pastor-teacher are a combination gift).

Now, for the most part, many Christians in general, both in the past and in the present, have seen only three of these gifts still necessary for and functioning today. Those three being evangelist, pastor and teacher.

Of course, with the rise of Pentecostal and charismatic churches in the last 100+ years, one will definitely find many churches believe prophets (and prophecy) are still functioning today. And with a massive 500 million Christians who would count themselves as part of such Pentecostal, charismatic and neo-Pentecostal church groups, such a belief is definitely not outside of orthodoxy.

But, most all Christians would not venture down the path that would allow for apostles to still exist. They were the ones called to write Scripture (kind of receiving the baton from the Old Testament prophets). They were the select few who were given Christ’s special authority to help the church transition into this new covenant gospel. Once their foundational revelation and message was recorded (as found in our New Testament today), there would no longer be a need for such a ministry. (Such is also argued by some for the ministry of prophets.)

Now, before considering various views on which of these gifts are actually still in function today, I think it important to first ask this question: What is the purpose of these ministry gifts?

Hey, this is an important question. Because we get so caught up in debating whether prophets and apostles could still exist today, we can actually forget why Jesus gave such gifts to the church.

Paul does make it quite clear in this passage as to the purpose of these ministry gifts:

  • To prepare and equip God’s people for works of service, or ministry, since the Greek word could be translated either way (vs12).
  • So that the body of Christ might be built up (vs12).
  • To help Christ’s body reach unity in the faith and knowledge of Christ, becoming mature and grown up into the fullness of Christ (vs13).

Jesus desired to gift people in these ministries so that the body of Christ could be prepared, equipped, built up, unified and mature! That sounds awesome (though Christ really doesn’t need my thoughts here).

But, though we can see these five gifted ministries were given to help the church move towards such a high calling in Christ, there are still questions as to why these gifts are practically needed. I mean, really, why do we need these gifts? What’s this all about? Couldn’t we just get on without them?

Well, to that, I give an answer that isn’t found specifically in Ephesians 4. Rather, I have come to a conclusion as to why these gifts are practically important to the body of Christ and the world today through my overall consideration of the New Testament text. For such, I give four more bullet points:

  • Jesus, Himself, functioned in all five of these ministries.
  • The Holy Spirit also functions in all five of these ministries
  • The body of Christ, empowered by the Spirit of Christ, is now called to be all of Christ in all of the earth.
  • Therefore, Christ’s desire is to continue to gift people in such ministry roles.

Now, I know those four statements are pretty loaded. But I can only say I hope to spend quite a few articles showing why I believe those four points are the logical conclusion from reading the New Testament text.

Of course, one may not have ever realised that Christ functioned in all five of these ministries, nor the Holy Spirit, but they certainly did. I mean, some realise Christ was a teacher or a prophet. But was Christ an apostle? And the Holy Spirit being apostolic or pastoral?

Yes, they were both apostolic. And we must take note that Christ and the Spirit functioned/fucntion in all five of these ministries. Actually, Christ was the greatest apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher that ever existed. Forget Paul, Peter, John or any of the others. Simply stated, there was no other that walked out these five ministries like the divine Son in the flesh. Of course, we would not expect less, right?

And here we are today, even 2,000 years post-incarnation, looking to be all of Christ to all of the world. For this, I believe the best way would be to function in all that Christ himself did. If Christ walked it out, I think he desires his body to emulate the same. If Christ functioned in something, I believe he desires that his body similarly practice such. Of course, I am not trying to equate us with the Son of God. But I do believe that, as sons and daughters of the King, we are called to participate in that which Christ lived in the flesh as we, too, are empowered by the Spirit.

So let me take some time in my next post to look at how Christ was an apostle. Hopefully it will be of interest to you.

3 Comments

Posted in apostles, Ephesians 4 ministries

Tagged ,

The Word/Message of Wisdom

Posted on June 13, 2011 by | 2 comments

by Scott

Within our local church context of Cornerstone, I have begun to pick back up on the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12-14. I had shared much back in the autumn time on the empowering of the Holy Spirit, as well as on prophecy and tongues. But I wanted to go back and look at the 6 other gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 – message of wisdom, message of knowledge, faith, healings, miracles and discerning of spirits.

Last Sunday I began by looking at the message of wisdom. So I wanted to post an article along the same lines.

Specifically, in 1 Cor 12:7-11, we read these words of Paul:

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 14, audio, Gifts, Gifts of the Spirit, God speaking, message of wisdom, word of wisdom

Tagged , , , , , , ,

The Day I Stopped Speaking to My Wife

Posted on May 23, 2011 by | Leave a comment

by Scott

I remember the early days of our relationship. In the 9 months between meeting and marrying, my wife and I were only in the same city a mere 40 days or so. We were divided most of the time by an ocean, but thankfully had great support in both the US and UK. Therefore, in those many days apart (even when we were both in the UK), we spent much time emailing and texting by phone. I’m talking about emailing and texting a whole lot! It was all-consuming as we looked to stay in touch day after day after day.

As our relationship heightened, we began calling each other, though we also maintained the little love notes via text as well. Our mobile phones were the major place of communication. I remember one month my UK mobile phone bill was around 85 GBP, which was some 50 GBP more than the normal monthly bill. I was shocked, but it was truly worth it in my eyes.

We also moved into the realm of love-letter writing. So, yes, I am a bit of a sensitive romantic. After moving back to the US, being even further apart from my beloved, this became an integral part of staying in contact, expressing our heart’s desire for one another. And, of course, both of us saved each and every one of those emotion-stirring, affectionate letters. They were not just words. They were an expression and revealing of the love we had for one another. And being so far apart, you can imagine their role in articulating our deep affections.

It was extremely difficult following our engagement in the US. After staying for a full 7 weeks, my beloved had to return to the UK to prepare for our wedding and finalising details before moving to the US. It was a painful 9 weeks apart. But, again, I am thankful for the frequent phone calls and almost weekly letters.

But, of course, once we were married, we were able to be together forever. We were no longer divided by the space of an ocean, thousands of miles apart. We were now joined together as husband and wife.

And, for all these years, even through difficulties and struggles and misunderstandings and arguments, we remained true to one another. From multiple moves across oceans, to the bearing of our children, to learning how to lead a church forward in a completely different culture than we were used to, we stayed faithful to the love we held one for the other. Through all this time, we came to know one another’s likes and dislikes, dreams and passions, and even what we shared in common (like sushi!).

In the years of our growing relationship, we would even pull out old emails and love letters, to read over them, and be inspired by the love that began years ago. Of course, this is common to many a couples. But from your own perspective you’re not thinking about all those others. Their love compares in no way to your own. This is part of your journey of the expression of the covenant love you have for one another.

And how about the conversations, the deep exchanges over cups of coffee, over romantic dinners, over date-nights out, over holiday time away. Sharing of those desires and dreams I pointed to earlier. Even learning how to work through arguments and disagreements and deep wounds. The poured-out prayers to our Father for all sorts of things also knit our hearts together.

Yet, there was the day – the day I decided it was best that I stopped speaking to my wife.

Now wait a minute, don’t get mad at me just yet. It’s actually all ok.

You see, the day I made such a decision, I sat down with my wife and presented her with a gift. A rather amazing gift, I might add. It was a collage of all the love letters, emails and texts I had sent to her over our years of love, all bound into a beautiful anthology. I was even able to remember the details of quite a few of our conversations. And so I also included those within the volume.

As I handed her this hand-crafted book, I explained that it contained all my love in word form. Therefore, because she now had this extensive record, I no longer needed to express my love through the vehicle of words. We had reached a place where such expressions were no longer needed. And if she ever found herself questioning my love, questioning what I thought about her, well, she could head to the text. There she would find the unveiling of my true love, all in the words we had shared for years past.

Ok, I’m sure you have easily caught on that I speak in parable here.

This never happened. Well, most of it did. But not the part about deciding to no longer speak to my wife. And I would never, ever desire to do such. Such would actually become counter-productive to the covenant relationship in which we have been joined together.

Now, I could actually put together such a record of the emails, love letters and conversations we have held in years past. That would be quite a gift! It could even be revisited over and over again as an inspiring reminder of our love for one another. But it would never actually replace the reality of sharing real conversation. If I ever suggested such, well, my wife might not be too pleased. And that is quite an understatement.

Yet, I believe this can and does happen with God’s people. For many, it is somehow easy to accept that God no longer speaks because we now have the bound anthology of the canon of Scripture. Or, if He does speak, it is only within the context of the words of previous centuries.

But I believe such betrays the very nature of our God, a nature that is relational at its core, with communication being the very essence of God’s relational nature.

Please don’t misread this statement here, but we are not ultimately people of the book. We are ultimately relational beings, sons and daughters of our Father. We are ultimately people of the Spirit, the Spirit who has been sent to continue to communicate and speak on behalf of the Father and Son.

Again, please don’t misunderstand anything here. I am not so much addressing the God-breathed and authoritative nature of Scripture. I am not here to say that there is no great investment within the communicative-speaking nature of our God as shown in the revelation of the Bible. Matter of fact, just as my wife actually does find an expression of the unveiling of my love in keeping emails, letters and conversations within a safe-keep box (and I’ve kept quite a few things from her), we find even more in God’s revelatory expression of Himself in Scripture.

But my wife would never bestow upon all of that written communication as the sole source of our relationship. It is para-revelatory, if you will. It goes hand in hand with the actual relationship we share on a daily basis. Actually, it might even become subsequent to the real love we share through being together and sharing deep, intimate conversation together.

So, you see the parable breaks down somewhat, as I am not relegating God’s revelation in Scripture as a side-project. But each parable has a major point, and that chief point I am looking to bring across is that our revelation and understanding of our Father must be seen in cultivating a real relationship together. And that real relationship consists of both actual speaking and listening one to the other.

It’s not even about investing our understanding His voice mainly in the biblical words given in the past. It is, but to solely invest such into the Bible is, again, to betray a God who has been speaking and revealing and unveiling Himself from the beginning (which includes well before our beginning). And I suppose He desires to continue such into the rest of future-eternity.

Imagine those who recording what is now in the Bible. They could not fathom a God who stopped revealing Himself. Imagine ourselves in the age to come. As we hear the voice of the Father, we would fill with confusion as to why we would thought the pause button had been hit at some point in our history.

Again, for something so core, so essential, to the nature of our God, one cannot fathom the ceasing of such.

I will never, ever stop speaking and unveiling my heart to my beloved, my wife. And I believe the same stands true for the One who has always spoke, is speaking, and will remain speaking for the age to come.

Leave a comment

Posted in experience, God speaking, Personal, revelation, subjectivity

Tagged , , , ,