Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A Call to Consider the Strange Fire Conference





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)?  

For these reasons and more, the issues raised at the Strange Fire conference bear serious consideration, no matter where you personally are regarding the sign gifts.  I urge you to take these issue seriously, they are not minor, and be willing to submit yourself to the authority of Scripture and consider that you might be wrong.