Last week in Sun Valley, California Grace Community Church hosted the Strange Fire conference, the latest iteration of the Truth Matters conference, which is kind of a Shepherds’ Conference light, aimed at lay men and women rather than at pastors and elders. And in case you missed it and the ensuing kerfuffle, the focus of this conference was the dangers posed by and the errors pervasive in the charismatic movement. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am a confirmed cessationist, you can read why here.)
Now
whether you are a confirmed cessationist, or even more so if you are a
confirmed continuationist (or even a full on tongue speaking Pentecostal) I
firmly believe that you should take the time to listen to the conference audio
and consider the teaching and evaluate it in the light of Scripture. Let me give you a few reasons why.
1. Although it seems to be very unpopular
to say so, even in the evangelical world, someone is wrong about the gifts and
being wrong has consequences. Either
cessationists are wrong, and their denial of the miraculous gifts is seriously
hindering their Christian lives, or charismatics/continuationists are wrong and
they are introducing (and fostering) dangerous errors into the church. This is an either/or issue not a
both/and. One group is right and one
group is wrong. Period. And believers should want to be right, there
is nothing godly in not caring about truth. (There is a very helpful post from the Gospel Coalition here.)
2. Unity is not the supreme Christian virtue. Jesus never said the He came to bring unity,in fact He said He would be divisive. Having a conference to take issue with what a
church and many faithful scholars and pastors see as a threat to the people of God and the gospel is not inherently wrong or unloving as many have
complained. What if Peter, in the name
of unity above truth, stopped preaching Christ when so ordered by the Sanhedrin? What if Luther burned his 95
Theses instead of nailing it to the church door at Wittenberg? What if he recanted instead of declaring “here
I stand”?
3. It was not just John MacArthur, and the
staff of Grace Community Church speaking at the conference. It has become popular in many corners of the
reformed world to criticize John MacArthur, and even to begin referring to him
as a Fundamentalist (which he is not, in the capital F sense, although he
certainly and unapologetically affirms the fundamentals of the faith). But it wasn’t just him speaking, he was
joined by Joni Eareckson Tada, R.C. Sproul (via video, despite his failing
health), Steve Lawson, Conrad M’bewe and others. Although he is the lightning rod, John
MacArthur is not alone among the giants of the faith in feeling that this conference
was necessary.
4. The theological fringe is the mainstream
of the charismatic movement. Although
the criticism has been leveled that the abuses that were the focus of much of
the conference represent the fringe extreme of the movement they really don’t. Try this little experiment, go to your local mass
market Christian bookstore, don’t ask for help and begin wandering around. Do you see more Joyce Meyer or Wayne Grudem
Books? C.J. Mahaney or T.D. Jakes? D.A. Carson or Joel Osteen? Flip through the channels on T.V., who do you
see first, Pat Robertson or John Piper?
Benny Hinn or Mark Driscoll (there is a must read take on
Driscoll’s impromptu appearance at the conference here)?
