So after attending Shakina and seeing the kneeling prayer warriors, it brought me back to the question of the charismatics versus the conservatives. Do we embrace the spiritual matters, or do we focus on faith alone? Should we search our feelings, or do the feelings lead to the Dark Side?
During my high school years, one of the worship leaders at my church, Daniel, was “filled with the spirit” at a conference and started busting out in tongues. He said he was overflowing with joy that he started crying, and this coming from a geeky computer major. My first experience with such an event was when we had a fellowship night where some people from another fellowship came over for a “spiritual filling” night. Despite those people layed their holy hands and chanted some mombo jumbo in Greek (as if God spoke Greek better than English), I did not speak in tongues that night, but neither did Daniel. So much for that. I have been researching this topic since, but let’s analyze the pros and cons I’ve observed so far.
On one hand, if you accept charismatics, then you believe that the gifts still exist. That means people still speak in tongues, have gift of healing, have word of knowledge, cast out demons, and prophesy. As a result, people in charismatic churches tend to seek God more because God is more real. They pray to God more often, humble at the feet of God, and are more sensitive to spiritual matters such as spiritual attacks. They follow God with their hearts. Admirable.
On the other hand, if the very Spirit that inspired the apostles still prophesy through people today, then it’s like a continuation of the Bible. If anything it’s even more relevant than the Bible because it’s the Spirit Daily with today’s date, instead of back issues from thousands of years ago! This is where heresy starts in many charismatics churches. How can you tell between the true believer and the con artist? Once they learn the lingo and put on the “Praise The Lord” tag, it’s hard to separate the sheep from the goats.
What I see in the conservative church is the opposite. It’s all brains and not much heart. Instead of coming to seek God for worship services, the sermon is the service. Some people felt that if the sermons are dull, then they’re not being fed and they need to look for a different church! Many people who serve also do it out of duty. I’ve seen email sent with “It’s your Christian duty to…” Many people who serve tend to use their own strengths rather than God’s, as sometimes they get so busy they have no time to pray! And what about the silly little game of putting your thumb up for prayer before a meal? “Oh no I really put up my thumb before yours!! You just didn’t see it! Okay okay, fine… I’ll pray”. It’s almost like a punishment! Prayer is definitely not the same in the conservative church.
Before you still yelling at me saying “I don’t do that!”, I want to add a disclaimer that these are just generalizations and not everyone does everything listed above. I attend a conservative church and am guilty for some of the items I’ve listed out, but I’m open to either side.
One thing’s for sure, if the Spirit of God is actively working today, I want to be part of it.
Wow, your well-balanced comment surprised me. 🙂 I thought we were in opposite camp regarding this topic. 😛
But I have to say that anything good can be abused. No exception with spiritual gifts. Having the supernatural gifts alone doesn’t mean that we are better christians or we are closer to God than those who don’t have the gifts. Like any experience with God, our emotion will eventually die down. But like all our experiences with God, they serve to remind us of how God has worked in our lives. They are datapoints to help us know our Heavenly Father. A real dynamic relationship that is not just intellectual.
If a person has ever experienced a miracle or a special encounter with God, he/she knows how much it means to himself/herself. For me, I’m grateful for the various experiences that He gave me. They carried me through those difficult times in my life and they marked my growth as well. I’m forever grateful for this underserved kindness that He shows me. I’ll survive if He never gave me those experiences. But I may not be the same without them. Afterall, we are all shaped by our own experiences.
Since I attend a conservative church, and yet experience Him in many other charismatic settings as well, I’m sure I’m influenced by both sides of the teaching. It’s important to be well grounded in the Bible and let our experiences of God to testify our knowledge of Him. Jesus promised us that He’ll send the Counselor to us, not the Bible. At the same time, He reveals Himself to us through His teaching that we learn from the Bible. I think they go hand in hand together, but not one or the other. It’s sad that most churches lean heavily on one side or the other.
Anything worth pursuing has risk involved. I don’t think we can understand the supernatural side of God without experiences. (Even with experience, our understanding is very limited.) My skepticism disappeared when I encountered Him in a supernatural way in 2000 at a Vineyard conference. After talking to many people, I come to the realization that one has to experience it himself/herself in order to believe it or to understand the benefit of it. Mere discussion just doesn’t help much. Granted that we don’t want to be misled by cults that mimic the outward behavior of a ‘spirit-filled’ church, but that should give us all the more reason to know & understand His Word well and yet be open to what the Holy Spirit wants to do in us or reveal to us.
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Heehee… As someone who is a member of both Jubilee Church and of ECC X-group, I find this discussion quite fascinating.