166. Bible Questions: Why are some churches against the use of "sign gifts?"

EPISODE 166  Bible Questions:  Why are some churches against the use of "sign gifts?"

In the little church I grew up in, let's just say we weren't real expressive. I mean, the only time you'd raise hands in our church is if you had a hammer or paintbrush in it and the sign gifts. Well, forget it. My little church, wasn't going to bring in a faith healer for a revival, prophecy, someone standing up and saying, I have a direct word from God. Forget it. And speaking in tongues. Well, you might just as well as peed in the baptismal tank, my church was one that not only didn't encourage these sign gifts, but forbid them. We didn't need signs. We had the Bible, I stand alone on the word of God, the bib L E but not every Christ follower thinks the way the people in my little church thought about the sign gifts today.

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There are approximately 500 million charismatic Christians in the world. Those who believe the sign gifts are normative or normal for today. Not only normal, but desired. They would point to the scripture. God is the same. Yesterday, today and forever, they would press further that the church today needs to be like the church in acts more than ever. The world is just as dark, perhaps worse. And the return of Jesus is even closer. But my little church of 200 stoic Bible focused Scandinavians, didn't buy it and neither do approximately 1.2 billion, other Christ followers at best.

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Most of their skeptical believing sign gifts are highly emotional, psychological. Even of the enemy. They would say sign gifts were for the time of the book of acts, but not for our time at all, which leads to this Bible question. Why do some churches not encourage or even forbid the sign gifts like healing, prophecy and tongues. As a kid, I grew up on a comedian, Rodney Dangerfield. His stick was this. I get no respect. Just about every joke led back to that punchline. The Christians I grew up around gave great honor to God, the father, our creator, the almighty and Jesus, the son, our savior and Messiah was absolutely adored.

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But the third person of the triune God, the holy spirit, frankly, was the Rodney Dangerfield of the Trinity. No respect. When you drag a magnet across scripture, this is very odd. There are 599 references to the spirit in the old and new Testament. Sometimes that small, less, but if even one third of these references to the spirit is capital S the person of the Trinity. That's 200 times the holy spirit is mentioned, and it's even more odd when you consider the role of the holy spirit throughout scripture in creation, we're told the spirit moved over the waters in the book of Exodus.

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The holy spirit gave a man named Bezalel special craftsmanship ability to build God's tent. The tabernacle, the holy spirit came powerfully on the judges, in the book of judges to deliver Israel an example, it would be the lightweight judge Gideon and how the spirit energized that man is a great deliverer. In first, Samuel we're told the holy spirit came on Israel's first king Saul, and quote, changed him into a different man. The holy spirit filled the prophets of the old Testament to speak from God. Then we come to one of these profits, the prophet Ezekiel, in chapter 37, we get an amazing story.

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EasyCube was taken to a high place and he looks out over a valley. The valley is filled with dry bleached, parched out human bones. God says to the prophet, Ezekiel preach to these bones and a Zeke you'll complies. He begins to give his sermon over these bones. And as he does these bones find each other and start to rattle loudly. As they form skeletons, then Zeke you'll shock muscles and send you and flesh. Come on these form skeletons, they turn into human bodies, but there was no life in them. While that's an improvement. A valley of dry bleached out bones becoming a valley of corpses.

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Then God says to a Zeke you'll summon the wind, the breath, the a Zeke you'll praise for the wind of God and God breathes life into these corpses. And they rise up and become a living mighty army. All my, the prophet Joel promises that one day the spirit would be poured out on all. Even the common folks in John chapter three in a conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus tells him you must be born of the spirit to enter the kingdom of God. John, the baptizer then said, Jesus would one day baptize people in the spirit in John 6 63.

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He reports Jesus saying human effort accomplishes nothing. It is my spirit that gives life, man, does that sound like the valley of dry bones all over again? The night before Jesus died, he said, it's better that I go. Because when I go the spirit, the helper will come. He will guide you into all truth. And he'll convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. 40 days later, as Jesus was ready to leave our planet, he said, go back to Jerusalem. Don't do anything, but wait for the spirit in acts two, the spirit comes mightily upon those who are waiting and he comes with three powerful signs, including speaking the gospel in every known language of those assembled in Jerusalem.

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A few days later, Peter full of the holy spirit preaches and 3000 men go all in on Jesus. A few chapters later, the spirit comes and literally shakes the place where the people are praying. Oh man, I could go on the new Testament letters, tell us the spirit prays for us, guides us convicts us empowers us, gives us spiritual gifts and empowers them. And we are warned by the apostle Paul don't quench the spirit. That's in the letter to the Thessalonians and don't grieve the spirit. That's in the letter to the Ephesians. So how did the holy spirit become the Rodney Dangerfield of the Tribune guide with no respect?

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We need a little history lesson. Look up on Wikipedia Azusa street revival. That's a Z U, Z a and Pentecostalism on April 9th, 1906 on Azusa street in Los Angeles, suddenly like a bolt of lightning. People were knocked out of their chairs. They began to speak in tongues. The sick were healed and sinners were saved. Or as they said, baptized in the holy spirit, they believed this was the beginning of returning the church to its proper condition. That the book of acts was prescriptive for our time. They believe that the rule of God had come and breathed life into these dry bones.

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If I can use a word picture, Azusa street threw open the window to let the wind in saying to other Christians, this is normative. This is desirable Christians. We need this. As the movement grew, it began to be criticized heavily by both the secular media and Christian theologians, secular media claimed it was outrageous behavior theologians claimed it was an Orthodox theology. So what did the theologians do? They slammed the window shut. Seeing what happened when the window was opened, that is all the flies. The abuses came in. They swung the pendulum. The other way they said acts is not prescriptive.

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It is descriptive. Sign gifts were for a time, but they ceased when scripture was completed. So these theologians slammed the window shut to keep out the abuse, the flies. And for the last 115 years, the wind has been kept out of many churches. Theologians pointed to Jesus to show sign gifts were not to be normative for all time, but were descriptive of Jesus' time. And the time of the early church in the book of acts before scripture was completed. They point that even in Jesus' time, when people came to Jesus, asking for signs, Jesus said an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

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Instead believe God's word. Then Jesus told a parable of the rich man and Lazarus read that parable, the rich man having died and waiting pleads with Abraham to send someone back to warn his living brothers Abraham's response. They have Moses and the prophets let them listen to them. Theologian said, God's word once complete is all. We need the sign gifts, which were to be signed. Posts are no longer needed. They pointed out while people on Azusa street might've been knocked out of their chairs or slain in the spirit. Scripture is more powerful.

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Still it pierces to the heart. As for tongues. As we learned in the last Bible question, the purpose of tongues was for unbelievers as a signpost, not for believers. And as for prophecy, the critics of Azusa street said direct words of guidance or knowledge from God. Why do we need that? If that direct word agrees with scripture, we don't need it. And if it disagrees, we don't want it. So there you have it. Azusa street and the resulting movement Pentecostalism threw open the windows saying, come holy spirit, breathe life into your church and bring your sign gifts for the world.

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And when they opened the window for the wind of God, of course, the flies and other critters came in abuses. So the other camp slammed the window shut to keep out the flies, the abuses, and in doing so, charismatics would argue, filled the church with nothing but stale air. So which group is right? I have two observations. First, the gap between charismatics and non charismatics may not be that great. The differences are maybe not quite as black and white, even in my little church, if people were sick, they might not have called for a faith healer, but they certainly may have called for the elders of the church or the deacons to come over and lay hands on them and pray.

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Maybe even break out a flask of oil to anoint them. Did my little church, believe God heals some sickness through prayer. They did. They just didn't believe it necessarily flowed through a faith healers hands. And how about that prophetic word from God while nobody would dare stand up in our church and say, God has given me a message for this church. Often in a Bible study, you'd hear one of these dear saints say I was reading a passage this morning, and God really spoke to my heart. Think about those two statements. Are they really all that different? And as for tongues, well, I went to the well, one too many times in my church, they would have thought that was just weird.

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My church might even say with missionaries, we'd be open to sign gifts, missionaries going into a dark place in the world with no Bible. There are a lot like the book of acts. Those folks might need authenticating signs to demonstrate the missionaries were speaking from God, but that's for dark places without the scripture, to which a charismatic might respond. Doesn't that describe America today, a nation that's largely biblical, illiterate and believes. There's no such thing as absolute truth. Why wouldn't God break out the signs today? Which leads to my second observation. There is another alternative.

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We don't have to slam the window shut and keep out the wind of God. And we don't have to throw the window wide open. So that abuses come in. We can put up a screen. This is what the apostle Paul does. And the things that I fleshed out in the last Bible questions. Paul puts up a protective screen of how the sign gifts and all the gifts of the spirit should be used just quickly. Let me summarize what that screen looks like in episode 1 65. These are the rules for the use of God's spiritual gifts. They are given for the benefit of others. Not ourselves. They're given to build the church, not to tear it down.

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They're given to bring unity, not division. They must be motivated and fueled by unconditional love. The holy spirit gives them. We cannot demand them, but Jesus said, we can ask. They operate under the holy Spirit's power, but we have control over them. And the ones that we view as lesser are actually more important. I don't know about you, but as for me, I'm not willing to slam the window, shut keeping out the wind of God, the holy spirit. And I'm not willing to leave it open. Allowing abuses to come in which the world find offensive or which undermine the authority of scripture.

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I don't want to disobey Paul's command, not to quench or grieve or hinder. God's holy spirit in any way. From this third person of our triune, God doing his amazing work. My prayer is come a spirit of God, breathe life every day, fully into these dry bones.