Evangelicals are calling out the Charismatics. Teachers are calling out the Prophets. Those who have championed the gifts of the Spirit and all things supernatural are being called to account and everyone is being given the opportunity to be offended…. Are we learning anything yet? (…saying this tongue in cheek:-)
Personally, I have probably listened to more Bible-trained teachers (and “continuationists”) in the last six months than I have in the previous ten years. In an attempt to understand the concerns about prophetic malpractice and glean some help in my own prophetic gifting, I have determined to weigh the warnings and consider the criticism. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve learned some things. I’ve been challenged. I’ve been forced to see things through different eyes. I’ve had to reevaluate my own practices in the prophetic and think about some needed changes. And my own personal awakening to this course correction is only a glimpse of what God seems to be doing in the collective.
I’ve heard from other leaders who are watching, listening, trying to learn, and reevaluating our corporate and online protocols concerning the spiritual gifts. And regardless of some theological differences with several of the teachers when it comes to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, I am seeing a thread. The Holy Spirit is humbling us. He is calling us to account to see if we can learn from our critics. He is testing us to see if we can take counsel from another part of the Body in order to bring health to the whole. We must clean out the impure and profane if we want to be a people of purity and power. (And I don’t believe in burning down the whole Charismatic/prophetic movement and starting over – as some are suggesting. I have too much faith in the power of redemption and transformation!)
I don’t’ necessarily agree with everything I’m hearing. I am weighing things. Testing things. Filtering things through prayer and my own reading of the Word. And even though this whole process is a mixed bag of evidence versus innuendo and opinion, I see God’s purpose and I’m determined to grow through it.
The biggest lesson thus far is learning how to properly steward spiritual experiences and interpret prophetic revelation. I am seeing the value of both Objective truth as well as Subjective truth. That which is based on the fixed and unchanging Word of God and that which is lived and experienced as evidence of those truths (see my PDF Study Download below). The spiritual experiences that some “continuationists” criticize, must be acknowledged as having value. Yes, they must be properly interpreted and applied within scriptural boundaries. But there are some things that will likely never make sense to the natural mind nor satisfy the doubters.
The challenges in finding the value of both the Word and the Spirit are in process. This is the journey we are on. I hope we can all get past the pain of these exposures and learn what God intends.
