Spiritual Gifts

SPIRITUAL GIFTS __________________ A Paper Presented to Dr. Adam Harwood The College at Southwestern

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In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for THE4103-A

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by Wes Terry November 29 2007

SPIRITUAL GIFTS Two young boys pack their bags for church camp. They have been best friends since the fifth grade and were eager to share a week together worshiping the Lord. Luke was from a Southern Baptist background whereas Ethan had grown up with more of a Pentecostal influence. When the boys got home from camp they could not wait to tell their parents about camp. Ethan went home and told his mother that he had been filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues at the Wednesday night worship service. Luke came home happy that he had gone but worried about something. He told his dad that the boys at camp told him he was not really a Christian because he could not speak in tongues like the other kids. Luke’s father had to answer a question that is still argued in evangelical circles. Has the gift of tongues ceased or is it still a valid spiritual gift for the Church today? This question can be answered intelligently if one understands the background of Pentecostalism, interprets and applies Scripture correctly, and evaluates the gift of tongues by a biblically consistent standard that exalts Christ and diverts attention away from oneself. A First Hand Look at Pentecostalism Pentecostalism is a form of Christianity that has grown explosively throughout the twentieth century. Concerning salvation, United Pentecostals hold that salvation can be fully experienced only by being baptized in the name of Jesus and that salvation is evidenced by speaking in tongues.1 The following except was written by a Pentecostal 1

H. Wayne House, Charts of World Religions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,

2006), 33. 2

3 minister named David Wilkerson. The firsthand account comes from a twelve year old girl named Neda. Though she was young, Neda had already delved into the world of sex, drugs, and alcohol. She knew kids who used to have the same problems, but after going to the chapel and “speaking in other languages” they seemed to be able to resist temptation. “So they made me want the same thing. I went into the chapel one day to pray by myself. I started telling God all about my problems and I asked Him to come into my life like he had to those drug addicts. Like a blinding light, Jesus burst into my heart. Something took over my speech. It made me feel like I was sitting down by a river that somehow was flowing through me and bubbled up out of me like a musical language.”2 This is one example of the spontaneity found prevalent within Pentecostal churches. Does a person’s conversion experience really count if it was not accompanied with the ability to speak in tongues and the filling of the Holy Spirit? That depends on who is asked. What does the Bible say? A Look at Scripture The examples of spiritual gifts in the New Testament are varied. No one list is exhaustive nor is one particular gift named in every list.3 There also seems to be some degree of overlap between spiritual gifts. In 1st Peter 4:11 the author boils down all spiritual gifts into two categories: whoever speaks and whoever renders service. With such overlap and vagueness in Scripture, both sides of the camp can find Scriptural support for their claims. Some of the debate over tongues centers on the interpretation of 1st Corinthians 12-14. Many believers take the middle ground because they believe that Scripture does 2

David Wilkerson, The Cross and the Switchblade (New York: Bernard Geis Associates, 1963), 197. 3

Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine, ed. Jeff Purswell (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 398.

4 not speak clearly enough to make a conclusive decision. Myron J. Houghton, a cessationist, argues his viewpoint in his essay A Reexamination of 1st Corinthians 13:8-13. In his interpretation of the text Houghton pulls some basic assertions. Gifts, though there are different forms and measures, are given by one Spirit for the sole purpose of edifying the body. The gift that the Spirit gives will be excuted in love and never point to ones self but rather towards Jesus Christ. Houghton goes on to specify prophecy, tounges, and knowledge as examples of spiritual gifts that were temporoary and have thus ceased. He aruges that these gifts are “revelational” and that this distinguishes them from any other spiritual gift.4 Why are “revelational” gifts the ones that have been ceased? The differences in interpretation and application of “revelational” gifts distinguish Pentecostal-Charismatic Protestantism from Evangelical Protestantism. In Pentecostal circles the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant word of God. However, in addition to that, extra-biblical revelations (such as prophecy and “words of knowledge”) are, in some cases, equal in authority to Scripture. Generally, in Evangelical Protestantism, these “words of knowledge” have no such authoritative standing. This is why speaking in tongues has become such a theological issue. Can you indorse one while dismissing the others? This is why many Evangelicals refrain from taking sides on the issue. It is hard to be completely certain on either side of the camp. Paul’s desire was that the Church might be unified as one through the diversity of each person’s gift by the Spirit. Perhaps 4

Myron J. Houghton, "A Reexamination of 1st Corinthians 13:8-13," Bibliotheca Sacra (July-September 1996): 344-345.

5 the Charismatic focus on the individual has taken the application of speaking in tongues and being “filled with the Spirit” past what is Biblically consistent. Andreas J. Kostenberger, in his essay What Does it Mean to be Filled With the Spirit, concludes that the trust of passages that deal with being “filled with the Spirit” are not individual or anthropological (though this is certainly the case in many churches) but instead corporate and ecclesiological.5 Granted, a “church” cannot be Spirit filled unless its members are. Despite that, many churches today, Pentecostal and Baptist, place an unhealthy amount of attention on the individual instead of the community of believers. This can be better explained as the “Body of Christ” and Paul goes into great lengths about this concept and spiritual gifts in Romans twelve.6 The driving force for Paul was the unity of believers and the spread of the Gospel. Likewise, the decision over the legitimacy of tongues as a valid spiritual gift for today should be discerned through the same filter. Does the gift of tongues exalt Christ and divert attention away from oneself while edifying the Body or does it exalt self and divert attention away from Christ. I Stand With Paul Paul went to great lengths to discuss spiritual gifts and their usefulness to the Church. He places extra emphases on prophecy7 in Corinthians 14. Paul stresses the 5

Andreas J Kostenberger, "What Does it Mean to be Filled With the Spirit? A Biblical Investigation," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (June 1997): 231232. 6

Romans 12:3-5 - For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 7

This essay interprets the word prophesy as the preaching of God's word. The author acknowledges that this word has a wider meaning, but in the verses that are being discussed "preaching" (in some form or fashion) seems to be a suitable modern-day

6 importance of prophecy over tongues because prophecy is understood without interpretation and is naturally more edifying to the Body.8 Again, Paul’s primary concern was the unity of the Church and the spread of the Gospel. Speaking in tongues is a legitimate gift of the Holy Spirit, but the Corinthian believers were using it as a sign of spiritual superiority rather than as a means to spiritual unity. This author argues that this same abuse of the gift of tongues it still rampant today and is evidenced much like it was in the fictional story at the beginning of this essay. To judge a person’s relationship with God on an exterior ability to speak in tongues is both ludicrous and unbiblical. Take into account these points made my Paul in 1st Corinthians 12-14. One, it is a spiritual gift from God (14:2). Two it is a desirable gift even though it is not a requirement of faith (12:28-31). Three, it is less important than prophecy and teaching (14:4). Paul even points out that he speaks in tongues more than all those he is writing to (14:8) but still stresses prophecy (preaching) because it benefits the whole church. These observations should be considered by every believer when discerning/practicing his/her spiritual gift. Conclusion Is the gift of tongues a valid spiritual gift for today? The conclusion of this author is that the practice of speaking in tongues by most of those who claim to posses it flatly contradicts what a valid spiritual gift is given by God to accomplish. Often, the ability for one to speak in tongues alienates other believers from the body more than it equivalent. 8

1st Corinthians 14:4-5 - The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

7 brings unity. Seldom does one who speaks in tongues during a worship service exalt the name of Jesus and divert attention away from his or her self. Sadly, the opposite is true. May the reader recognize that the evidence given does not conclude with confidence that speaking in tongues has ceased all together. Many orthodox, genuine, Christ-followers claim to posses the gift and practice it today. The author is not prepared to conclude that those persons are mentally unstable or biblically inconsistent. However, when one manipulates Scripture in order to draw attention to himself and his giftedness while condemning another’s faith as incomplete because of the lack thereof, he has broken the fellowship that apostle Paul so passionately wrote about.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Bruce, F.F. Ronald F. Youngblood and R.K. Harrison. Compact Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc, 2004. Grudem, Wayne. Bible Doctrine, ed. Jeff Purswell Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999. Houghton, Myron J.. "A Reexamination of 1st Corinthians 13:8-13," Bibliotheca Sacra (July-September 1996): 344-345 House, H. Wayne. Charts of World Religions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. Kostenberger, Andreas J. "What Does it Mean to be Filled With the Spirit? A Biblical Investigation." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (June 1997): 229240. Wilkerson, David. The Cross and the Switchblade. New York: Bernard Geis Associates, 1963.