In today’s Western Church atmosphere there are basically three different groups regarding Pentecostal experiences. [Pentecostal meaning experiences related to the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 and further expounded in 1 Corinthians 12-14]. One group is called Cessationist, meaning they believed the supernatural gifts of the Bible ceased after the “age of the apostles.” A second group refers to themselves as “open but cautious.” This group gives an intellectual credence to the possibility of the supernatural gifts continuing into today. However, they tend not to practice them, or interact with groups that do practice them. In a sense they are pragmatically agnostic in terms of the supernatural gifts. A third group is often referred to as the Continuationists. They believe in the continuation of the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit.
In light of outright antagonism against continuationist practices, such as John MacArthur’s “Strange Fire” Conference held a few years ago, It is fitting to discuss the topic. Today, I want to discuss 4 themes related to the controversy of the supernatural gifts. 1. Power of the Holy Spirit in purpose and practice. 2. Gifts of the Holy Spirit. 3. Fear of the Supernatural Gifts. 4. Disbelief in Pentecostal gifts.
Power of the Holy Spirit–Purpose and Practice
First off, we must acknowledge that encounters with the Holy Spirit are deeply personal. Having said that, there is a lot of abuse and false representation that surround experiences with the Holy Spirit. Often I have seen people exhibit very attention getting displays of spiritual experience that have looked more like the descriptions of Pagan ecstatic worship of false Gods than what is shown in Scripture. I have also noted that many people who exhibit such displays do not have the consistent character reflective of mature Christianity as spelled out in the Bible. Much of the practice I have seen is more reflective of a superstitious ecstasy that guises itself with the name of Jesus.
Contrary to that, I have seen legitimate displays of a person’s encounter with the Holy Spirit that has led to theirs and others’ transformed lives for the Gospel. That makes sense, because for every legitimate there tends to be a counterfeit that closely resembles the real.
Sensational
The supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit can be powerful enough to move people emotionally. Some people can have extremely sensational expressions of such. From what I’ve seen, the level of sensationalism seems to be higher in less spiritually and/or emotionally stable people as well as healthy, but more emotionally expressive people. Either way, to some people, encountering the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit affect them in a sensational manner.
Developmental
The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s gifts is always connected with God’s mission for the Church. That mission is the Great Commission and the Greatest Commandments. 1. Love God and Love people (right relationship). 2. Go into the world and make disciples of Jesus, teaching them # 1.
One of the sure-fire ways to tell if a person is legitimately experiencing the Holy Spirit or sensationalizing a spiritual/emotional deficiency is whether their experiences are directing their lives to the mission. If not, their expressions are likely illegitimate.
Many cessationists and “open but cautious” people point to the illegitimate expressions as the standard for all interactions with the supernatural and discount them as all hokey and fleshly, not spiritual. Yet that conclusion can only be made by someone who remains distant and/or limited in the experience. (i.e. someone who went to a few sensational churches and were turned off by it, yet never experiencing a church where the experiences were legitimate).
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Pentecost in Acts 2 is not about everyone getting the gift of tongues. It is about empowering the church to fulfill Jesus’ mission. It was never about having an ecstatic experience. It was about bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth through the church, continuing what Jesus started.
The church’s work in partnering with God to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth is empowered by gifts from the Holy Spirit. As we discussed in earlier posts, those gifts tend to fall into two different categories: supernatural gifts and non-supernatural gifts. Gifts like healing, tongues, and prophecy are of a supernatural nature. Gifts like teaching and administration are of a non-supernatural nature.
Regardless of the nature of the gifts, they are all given by God to equip the church for its mission of bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth (meaning: spreading the Gospel, which is right relationship with God and with man).
Fear/Disdain for Supernatural Gifts
Many groups have a fear and/or disdain for the supernatural gifts. Like all forms of fear, this is rooted in a fear of losing control. One of the biggest obstacles to our faith and the largest source for several mental & emotional illnesses is a fear of not having control. In our relationships, when people don’t do what we want them to, often we resort to coercion, manipulation, and force to control them. We “make” them do what we want them to. If we are unable to accomplish that, we may become passive-aggressive, where we sabotage something seemingly unrelated to the area of conflict. We have the same tendency when it come to the supernatural spiritual gifts we can’t control.
No one raises an issue regarding the gift of teaching. Or administration. Or helps. Why? Because all of those can be regulated and controlled. from start to finish. A teacher has control over the entire process of teaching, except for the student’s learning. A helper keeps every bit of control as to what, when, where and how well they help others.
Not so with the supernatural gifts. This is because the enacting of the gift must come from God. I can pray for someone to be healed, but in the end, it is not I that heals them, but God. I don’t control the outcome of such a gift. The same goes for prophecy, miracles, faith, etc. These gifts can’t be manipulated. They are direct evidence of God’s hand moving in the process. Yet sometimes God doesn’t move, leaving the person with the gift somewhat exposed. So it is easy to disdain or discard gifts/abilities that cannot be controlled (that includes controlling the outcome as well).
Disbelief Due to Lack of Personal Experience
Many Christians choose to disbelieve in the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit because they have not personally experienced it. The “seeing is believing” mentality that was exemplified by doubting Thomas. So what happens when influential people in the church with the non-supernatural gifts of leadership and teaching adopt a belief system that the supernatural gifts do not exist in today’s world because they have not personally experienced them? They begin to teach a belief predicated upon lack of personal experience as an objective truth. this leads those who are under their instruction to adopt the same belief. Such an event happened with Calvin. In his writings, he taught that there was no longer a place in the church for apostles, prophets, and evangelists, as well as many of the supernatural gifts. Is there anyone today who believes the church does not need evangelists, as we are now living in what is called a Post-Christian culture, where people today are as ignorant of Christianity as the early pagans were?
This is the danger that comes from making doctrinal statements based on personal experience. Why would Calvin make such assertions? He was a man of his time. He never saw supernatural miracles. In fact the only ones in his day who attested to those were Catholic mystics. Couple that with Calvin’s training in the Scholastic method of the Catholic Church in a world that was referred to as Christendom, and you have a perfect storm of being trained in Catholic beliefs in a setting where ecclesial authority trumped the unpredictability of Holy Spirit, deviating from the organization using his training in a world that universally acknowledged the deity of Jesus. These are very limiting elements that lead to Calvin’s work on theology. So making his doctrines a universal decree of truth is dangerous.
So those are four things that pertain to the gifts given to the church during and after Pentecost in Acts 2. Are there abuses with the supernatural gifts? Yes. However, that leads me to think there is a a legitimate presence of supernatural gifts from God because there is a counterfeit. So how do we tell the difference? As Jesus said, “you will know a tree by its fruit.” If it furthers the mission of Jesus and leads people to right relationship, then it’s legit. If not, then it is nothing more than a pagan ecstasy that worships the self more than God and tacks the name of Jesus onto it.
What are your thoughts on the area of spiritual gifts? Let us know what you think in the comments.