Charismatic Clarity: What 'Strange Fire' Got Right

Today I want to continue a bit of the conversation I'm trying to have - as much with myself as with the internet - on 'Charismatic Clarity'. I blogged recently on John MacArthur's 'Strange Fire' Conference, and was fairly clear (and still am) that it wasn't the wisest thing any Christian has ever done. For my full criticism, do read my post 'Charismatic Clarity: Responding to Strange Fire', but for the sake of brevity, I observed that;

1) Dr MacArthur referred to a nebulous 'Charismatic Movement', that didn't represent the best parts of Charismatic Christianity.

2) For an expositor of MacArthur's experience (whether one agrees with him or not, it is observable fact that Dr MacArthur has been engaging with Scripture for a long time) the methods chosen,the sermons in the run up, and the overall level of criticism was shockingly poor.

3) The irony of someone who holds to 'Sola Scirptura' appealing to extrabiblical authors - even such notable thinkers as John Calvin - is hilarious and sad at the same time.

I did however note that MacArthur raised some good questions and challenges that bear engagement with, even whilst his exegesis, baby-and-bathwater shaming and general tone were slightly surreal. Tim Challies has been good at blogging about this whole thing, and the second part of his interview with Dr MacArthur responding to his critics can be found here. Whilst I found it mostly quite frustrating, I was very interested to read the quotes from a blog post by a Pentecostal pastor who liked the conference. You can read that fascinating post here. The blogger identifies 5 important points.

- 5 Things 'Strange Fire' Got Right' - 

1) Any error John MacArthur espoused at the conference, and any recklessness he demonstrated, is far less than the errors and recklessness we see in much of the modern Charismatic movement

I broadly agree with this assessment. The blogger goes on to note that the most prominent and well known people in Charismatic circles, rather than being Gordon Fee, or John Wimber, are those like Todd Bentley, Benny Hinn, and so on. There is a lot of difference between some of these folk - all to often, unfortunately, those who make it onto God TV, Trinity Broadcasting Network, and so on - and orthodox Christianity. In some cases it goes beyond practice in to basic doctrinal error - whether it is Benny Hinn's surreal view of the Trinity, or the essential Kenotic Christology (read: wrong understanding of Jesus) of some modern Charismatics. I think MacArthur was wrong to run the conference in the way he did - dialogue would have been better, and I think it would have been better still to stand with the good in the movement and work from there - but this is an important point.

2) Pentecostals and Charismatics are allergic to doctrinal distinction and discernment.

I've written about Discernment before, just as I've written about what intimacy with God might actually mean. Having been involved in a Charismatic church for about four years, gone to conferences, and had friends in various streams, I do see some truth in this statement. I am grateful that the leadership of the Church and Movement I am part of are keen to define terms, demonstrate discernment, and stand in line with Christian orthodoxy, but I know many who don't. 

The blogger makes the point about Oneness Pentecostalism, a branch off of Pentecostalism which espouses the Trintiarian Heresy of Modalism (for why this matters, do read Mike Reeves' 'The Good God'). We cease to be meaningfully, biblically, historically, creedally, orthodox Christians if we are not engaging with the Triune God. We might be theists, but we won't be Christian. He challenges, too the acceptance of the Prosperity Gospel in many quarters, and also the influence of Open Theism. The simple fact that these terms (and Open Theism is at least occasionally capable of resembling orthodox Christianity, even if sometimes it doesn't) and ideas gain ground are testament to the validity of the observation above. It challenged me deeply about how to use my blog.

Please, please, do read this excellent book on God the Trinity.

3) The false teachers have more influence than we think or admit.

This is a powerful and challenging claim. I firmly agree with the criticism of some of the people who he names - even though I am not yet convinced either way about Joyce Meyer. There is the important point that;

 "MacArthur wasn't looking to spark a debate in peer-reviewed literature. He was looking to engage at the popular level.... It's the popular level where the false teachers and excesses are often a problem"

I agree with that observation, though my concern is that, in doing so, MacArthur is implying that scholarly consensus is with him, that the textual and theological debate is settled. It isn't. And, arguably, if it is, it is perhaps against him and in favour at least of an open but cautious approach to God's work today. I applaud anyone trying to expose the Prosperity Gospel and other false teaching, but to do so in an over simplistic, 'lumping' way, as MacArthur has, is, I think, foolish and dangerous.

4) We routinely ignore the regulative principle of worship.

This is a rather interesting point that echoes a wider discussion in terms of worship and practice. Simply put, there are broadly two (Reformed) principles of Worship, The Regulative Principle: that only what the Bible explicitly mentions is permitted in worship, and the Normative Principle, that anything that is not prohibited is permitted in worship. The blogger attempts to apply that to the practice of spiritual gifts, and I *think* I agree with him that "we should only promote and permit that which can be rightly be found to be the normative practice of Scripture". In terms of technology, etc, I think the discussion is slightly wider and different, as we aren't meant (I think) to be Amish!

Bluntly, we must have the holy boldness to say 'No' to some things in worship. I personally believe that God's soveriegnty is surprising, but that doesn't mean we should say 'Yes' to everything. For example, I'm undecided as to people being 'slain in the spirit'; in my understanding of Scripture, what is important is that the experience changes them, that we begin to see the Fruit of the Spirit manifesting itself, and their lives change. If someone comes to church, falls over every week, and yet isn't changing, over a long period of time, I would question whether God is at work in that person, or if it is just hype. 

I need to think more about this issue - do stay tuned for future 'Charismatic Clarity' posts.

5) We functionally ignore Sola Scriptura.

This is important, and its particularly important for folk like me who are Reformed as well as Charismatic. Intellectual and verbal assent to the idea is not enough - it needs to be seen in our practice and what we encourage. I'm grateful for the processes of discernment regarding whether God has spoken or not, that I see in my local church and in other local churches, but this isn't always the case. 

I think 1 Corinthians 11-14 is a compelling case for the continuation, use, and importance of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. But so often its careful balance is negated by pragmatism, hype, or ignorance. I am grateful to be in a movement (The Vineyard) with the value of both experiencing God and being authentic. I think Scripture makes it clear that we are to experience God, but also that such an experience must be real, and have real effect.

- Closing Thoughts - 

 I hope I have brought a little more clarity to the 'Strange Fire' controversy, and also to what I think about Charismatic Christianity in general. I don't think that everyone and every Church/movement that identifies as 'Charismatic' or 'Pentecostal' is necessarily Orthodox, and I suspect that some of them may be definitely heretics, in the sense of holding beliefs that the Church doesn't, but that doesn't mean we all are. I hope I've gone some way towards noting the good in MacArthur's comments, even as I still think it might have been better to go about it in a different way. 

Anyway, on with the show.

- Forthcoming 'Charismatic Clarity' Posts - 

There are a few topics/ideas I currently have for future posts under the broad notion of 'Charismatic Clarity', which currently include:

What I talk about when I talk about God talking to Me

When we have to talk about excess

When we have to be Both And

When God does things we don't understand

When we have to be Fruits and Gifts people

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If you've found this interesting, I'd love to recommend a few things. Firstly is the introduction to this pseudo-series, the original 'Charismatic Clarity' post. Secondly, some books. Simon Ponsonby's book 'MORE' is still my favourite on this topic, but I'd also recommend Francis Chan's 'Forgotten God'.  One of the most helpful introductions is Tim Chester's 'Who On Earth is the Holy Spirit?'. Finally, I've reviewed Frank Viola's excellent eBook response to MacArthur on this issue.