Within the spectrum of expression in the Christian Church the Charismatic movement provides many great and commendable blessings. It appeals to those whose character traits and preferences demand freedom and vitality. However, at and near its fringe there’s something dark and destructive at work. Paul warned of “another Jesus”, “another gospel” and even “another spirit” (2 Corinthians 11:4). There are, says Paul, other spirits posing as the Holy Spirit. There are also “false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ” (v13).
“And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness” (verses 13-15).
Just as “All that glitters is not gold”, so all that appears to be of God is not the work of God, and unfortunately many professing believers aren’t able to tell the difference.
In this article I intend to highlight some false and potentially ungodly practises in the Christian Church, and to answer a few of their claims. The subjects I cover include being “drunk in the spirit”, feelings, tongues and false prophecy. Please forgive me for any ugly ads or gaps inserted by WordPress. I’m putting subtitles on the same line as my script in order to stop ads separating the two.
A MISGUIDED LAMB, OR A WOLF? The minister who claims to be spirit-filled but puts his own word above God’s word may seem to be godly and innocent. He may have the reputation of being a powerful miracle-worker and a powerful Christian, but if you carefully compare his message, his actions and his spiritual fruit to the Bible – the word of God – you may find that he’s living and promoting falseness. In his error he could be just mistaken and in need of some correction. Alternatively, he may be an “angel of light”, appearing to be a great man of God on the outside but actually being a minister of Satan within. His motives and his intentions are not those of a true shepherd of God’s sheep, but those of a ravenous wolf.
FAKE MIRACLES. The power of God is being belittled and mocked in some very large and influential denominations and movements. While someone’s “headache” is healed to the great praise and acclaim of the flock, we should ask what’s happening to the boy who’s been in a wheelchair since birth? Is he still there? And what about the girl who lays in a hospital bed suffering with incurable cancer: is she still fading away? Without doubt God is able to heal, but according to His will, not ours. Jesus didn’t come to heal all sickness in this world: this world is decaying and dying. Instead, we look forward to the next world in which sickness and death will be no more, and the man or woman who insists that he can’t heal you because you don’t have enough faith is twisting the message of the gospels. He’ s excusing his own failure and blaming it on you.
SELF-HYPNOSIS. I once knew a young man who was given what he was told was a hallucinatory drug, at his request. Within an hour of ingesting it he was reporting visions. He excitedly described colors he said he was seeing, and intricate details in patterns on the wall. After another hour the people who had given him the “LSD” informed him that there was no drug at all in the small piece of paper they had given him: they had tricked him. Similarly, a tool of the medical profession has been the placebo. People often report some improvement in their conditions when they are told that the pill they’ve been prescribed is effective, when in fact it contains no drug at all.
Hypnotists will tell you that they have a much easier time hypnotizing people who want to be hypnotized than they do trying to hypnotize someone who resists. What we see in some more extreme fringes of the charismatic movement is a form of hypnotism and a willing self-hypnosis, achieved with clever words and acting, promises, and mood music. When the congregation is told that the minister is powerful in the Spirit, and that he can “slay” people and make them laugh, feel drunk and even physically healed from minor illness such as headaches and backaches, his name is acclaimed and his ministry held up as being “powerful”.
Individuals learn how to put themselves into a semi trance-like state where they “feel” and experience things believed to be from the Holy Spirit. Underneath it all the word of God is not being preached, except perhaps in small, convenient snippets, and the power of God and the true miracles of Jesus Christ are being mocked and belittled. Do I believe in miracles? Certainly I do, but the miracles I expect God to do are awesome and unmistakeable.
THE OFFENSE. Such “prophets” and “apostles” may have a following, but the many who’ve been repulsed by what are sometimes embarrassing or even frightening demonstrations will never again set foot in a church. Neither will they be interviewed or given the opportunity to give their testimony, even if they wanted to. People who don’t know better and who want to be hypnotized are swayed and impressed by the “signs” they are seeing, when in fact they may have never been confronted with the gospel which brings repentance and salvation. They haven’t confessed openly that Jesus Christ is lord and the only lord; they haven’t been told that Truth is what is found in the written word of God – the Bible – and they couldn’t define the gospel message of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, his resurrection and his eternal deity. They don’t display the fruits of the spirit in their daily lives, and they aren’t maturing in the ways of God and their witness to the world.
FEELINGS FAIL. Feelings and emotions are very human. They may be inspired by the movement of the Spirit of God or by the truths of God, but it’s a big mistake to rely on them. Believing that God is present only when we have feelings and emotions is not faith, it’s a worldly and carnal expectation. It’s sight and not faith. It’s a worldly attitude which relies on the human brain, on pheromones, hormones, imagination and external stimuli.
As an example, as Christians we know we are to overcome fearful circumstances by trusting in God. The Lord did not send fear into our hearts but wants us to believe in Him and in His faithfulness as the way to overcoming fear, even when we feel helpless. We are to trust in Him even when it seems He’s a million miles away. True faith is believing in God even when the world around us and in us tells us we should not. Those who trust in feelings and emotions aren’t able to give a good defense of the truths of Scripture because they haven’t learned them.
WHO SPEAKS THROUGH TONGUES? Great claims are made of the gift of “speaking in tongues” in our time. It’s believed by many that the Holy Spirit speaks through the tongues-speaker, so that powerful things are being accomplished in the heavenly realm. Demons are fleeing and miraculous things are happening. With this in mind the use of tongues has all but replaced committed, deep prayer in ordinary languages in some churches.
Paul specifically noted that when tongues are used the speaker is the source of what’s being said. Paul states that, “The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:5). Who greater than the Holy Spirit? No-one is, therefore the speaker is not the Holy Spirit. Paul goes on:
Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying?” (verse 9).
Paul is talking about what “you” are saying. He doesn’t say, “how will anyone know what the Holy Spirit is saying?” Paul is discounting the value of words spoken which are not understood. Now here’s the clincher:
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding” (verses 14-15).
Paul is indicating clearly that the message is coming from the spirit of the speaker, not the Holy Spirit: “I will pray with my spirit”. Paul says, “my spirit prays”, not “the Spirit prays”.
THE SPIRIT PRAYS. A passage of Scripture commonly used to support the idea that the Holy Spirit speaks in tongues is found in Paul’s letter to the Romans:
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
First, notice that tongues were/are/should be uttered in “words”:
“But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:19).
Now look at the second part of verse 26 of the Romans text, as quoted in the above NIV version:
“…the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans”.
Here’s the same phrase in the KJV:
“the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”.
It’s not possible to audibly pray without words and without utterance. Paul is saying in this passage that what the Spirit does for us is wordless: it’s devoid of tongues or any spoken expression on our part. He doesn’t pray through our mouths or in groans or any sounds at all, but in our hearts and our inner being, to the Father who is also in every true believer. No “tongues” are necessary.
POWERLESS UTTERANCES. Paul goes on to say to the Corinthians that in the church he would rather speak five intelligible words than ten thousand words in a tongue (verse 19). If words come from the Holy Spirit in the use of tongues, Paul would never have said anything like this. He would essentially be saying that the words of the Holy Spirit have no power. Further, Paul said that if no-one understands you, “…you will just be speaking into the air” (verse 9b). There is therefore no power in the gift of tongues, even supposing it’s the real gift, except when it’s used for its true purpose (verse 20-22).
When words that no-one understands are being spoken how can we know that what’s being said is truly of God or in praise of God? How do we know another spirit isn’t inspiring them? How do we know our God is not being mocked and slandered? The answer to this potential problem is to use gifts Biblically. If there is no true interpretation says Paul, the speaker should keep quiet (verse 28). Again, if the gift of tongues were the oracle of the Holy Spirit, Paul would never have told believers to keep quiet.
NO, THE LORD DIDN’T TELL YOU. God speaks to us through His written word, the Bible. Additionally, His Spirit sometimes directs our hearts and minds to think correctly. He is, after all, our Counsellor. However, what we sense from His guidance must agree with God’s written word or be rejected. Rarely, and I mean almost never, God speaks to us in a voice we can hear in our minds. However, when the self-proclaimed prophets tell us what the Lord has “told them”, we need to be very wary. I would not say the Lord never speaks to us directly through other people – Person to person – but I would say that most of the time when someone says, “The Lord told me….” it’s really something coming from their own minds. I’ve been given “prophecies” and heard others being given “prophecies” which never came to pass.
It’s not wrong to question these people, in fact Scripture commends the testing of those claiming to speak the words of God:
“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false” (Revelation 2:2).
There are many people under the Christian umbrella claiming to speak the words of God who are really just fakes. I’ve known some of them personally. They are more prone to fall away from the faith than others. Just as children play doctors or firefighters or pop stars, so some adult Christians imagine themselves to be modern Peters and Pauls. They seek recognition and power over other people. Question everything that they say. Lean instead on the words found in a good translation of the Bible: God speaks to our everyday lives there.
“DRUNK IN THE SPIRIT” IS PAGANISM. While those who love to be hypnotized and have spine-tingling feelings – and attribute it all to the Holy Spirit of God – are looking for more opportunities to lose control, the Bible tells us that “the fruit of the spirit is self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). These people like to insist Paul’s counsel is to be “drunk in the Spirit” and proceed to lose control by passing out on the floor or laugh uncontrollably are missing the point of what Paul is saying:
‘Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
These experiences are opposites. Paul is contrasting a loss of control which alcohol brings with the self-control which is provided by a submission to the Holy Spirit. The word “filled” in Paul’s instruction speaks of completion. Be complete by living in the Spirit, rather than getting drunk on wine.
Peter spoke about this attitude of self-control three times in his letters, and his words are the antithesis of what is being practiced today in many circles:
“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming” (1 Peter 1:13).
“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray” (1 Peter 4:7).
GOD AND YOUR MIND. Peter is telling us that you can only pray if your mind is “sober”. That is, self-controlled and fully aware. Today’s tongues speakers seek the exact opposite, and ignore the most important command Jesus Christ gave his disciples:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).
By disengaging your mind – which happens when you don’t know what you’re saying or when you fall on the floor – you are disobeying the words of Christ and you are failing to love God as you should. God gave us minds to consciously know Hiim and worship Him. Here’s another directive from Peter’s wisdom:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
If your mind is disengaged it is open to the lies of the devil, says Peter. Being “drunk in the Spirit”, then, is unbiblical and a bad idea. There are no examples in Scripture of the first-century church being out of control when spirit-filled. Even on the day of Pentecost the disciples were heard to be speaking in the languages of the foreign Jews present and were not babbling uncontrollably. There are numerous examples of apostles and disciples being filled with the Spirit who remained completely lucid and in control of themselves, and speaking in the language of those around them.
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH OR THE SPIRIT OF PAGANISM? The Holy Spirit is called by Jesus “The Spirit of Truth” (John 18:13). At worst today’s extreme charismatics, who insist that they are the true worshippers and other fellowships are “dead”, are disobeying God, opening themselves up to lying tongues and false prophets, and flirting with the devil This is a pagan attitude, not a godly one, and the person who is receptive to the truth needs to repent and sober up, giving obedience to the truth of the Scriptures – the true word of God.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 