Believers Who Believe in Spiritual Gifts vs. Those Who Don’t
I just read a long rant by a minister who rebuked some Pentecostals/Charismatics for their arrogance and stressed how the fruits of the spirit are the true evidence of spiritual maturity. He had some corrective things to say that the body of Christ needs to hear, particularly fleshly believers in the Pentecostal/Charismatic camps, but other things he said showed a very limited understanding of the topic of glossolalia and spiritual gifts. Worse, he came across as looking down on Pentecostals/Charismatics, which is not good as shown in this passage:
Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
Romans 14:1-4
You could insert any non-essential doctrine or practice into this scenario and it would apply. It corresponds to the wise saying:
In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity
The topic this minister was addressing happened to be glossolalia and gifts of the Spirit. Believers who believe in spiritual gifts must not look down on those who don’t and vice versa. In other words, do not treat people with contempt if they don’t believe in spiritual gifts and don’t treat people with contempt if they do embrace them. The principle applies both ways.
Now let’s consider what was good and not good about this brother’s rant.
He was right to stress the importance of the fruit of the spirit as evidence of genuinely walking with the Lord (Galatians 5:16-26). He was also right to rebuke the arrogance of some Pentecostals/Charismatics who make the gift of speaking in tongues out to be the sign of a true believer. It’s not; the fruits of the spirit are — as Christ plainly said: “by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:15-23). Notice he didn’t say “by their spiritual gifts you will recognize them.” A good example of immature believers flowing in charismatic gifts while glaringly walking in the flesh can be observed right in the Bible at the assembly in Corinth, which explains Paul’s open correction to them:
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ… 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
1 Corinthians 3:1,3
This minister was right to confront this issue in his rant and correct it.
However, he was in error concerning his understanding of the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. From what he said, it didn’t seem like he has spent much time studying this gift or charismatic gifts in general beyond what he understood of Acts 2. More specifically, he argued that the only purpose of glossolalia is for believers to reach unsaved people on the mission field who speak a different language. Actually there’s WAY more on speaking in tongues in the Scriptures as shown in:
- This article on the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- This article on gifts of the Spirit.
I am so thankful for receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit 2.5 years after I was initially saved as a young man. I can’t tell you how much it has blessed me and empowered my walk with the Lord. I encourage every believer to learn of this awesome gift and receive it. However, I don’t look down on those who are ignorant of it or reject it for one reason or another. That’s their call.
The brother stressed Christ’s words in John 14:23 “if a man loves me, he will keep my word,” but what about keeping the Lord’s word in Holy Scripture on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts in general? Or should we just pretend like those many passages aren’t there? Or write them off somehow?
He argued: “They (Pentecostals/Charismatics) are more or less striving for special callings, ministerial power and gifts.” Yet doesn’t the Bible plainly instruct us to “eagerly desire” spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1, 31, 14:1, 39)? This is why believers should stay away from the false doctrine of cessationism because it encourages believers to eagerly deny spiritual gifts, which is the very opposite of what the Scriptures instruct us to do.
Paul plainly said in Scripture: “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you,” which certainly smacks of spiritual boasting (notice I said spiritual boasting, not fleshly). Yet he quickly followed this up with “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:18-19). This shows wise balance on his part.
When it comes to non-essential doctrines & practices we have to be careful not to treat believers with contempt just because they disagree on some issue that we have a conviction. By “non-essential” I don’t mean that these doctrines/practices are unimportant, just that they’re not essential to salvation or being a genuine Christian.
By “not treating believers with contempt” I don’t mean that you shouldn’t teach/preach what the Bible says on any topic thru rightly-dividing the Scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15). Please do so, by all means, but be prepared to prove your case from several passages. Anyone who can’t do this is probably in error. However, if the person you’re trying to convince rejects it due to sectarianism or what have you, please don’t pester them or look down on them. Grant them the liberty to reflect on the matter and make their own decisions. Then pray for them. It’s their spiritual walk, not yours or mine. As the Scripture passage says at the beginning of this article: “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand” (Romans 14:4).
Allow me to close with a fitting passage:
1If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
Related Topics:
Spiritual Growth — The Four Stages
Slain in the Spirit—Is it Biblical?
Should I get the Surgery or BELIEVE for Healing?
Prophets — New Testament and Old Testament (There’s a Difference)
Hermeneutics — Proper Bible Interpretation
Berean Spirit — What is it? How Do You Cultivate It?
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