Spritual Gifts – Tongues or Vacuuming?

Richard Smolenski — Thu, 31 May 2007 02:50:12 +0000

In the book of Acts, the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit after they already believed in Jesus Christ. Some churches have taken this to mean that being saved is a two-step process. What they forget is that the apostles were living in a unique time; the transition time between when Jesus ascended and sent the Spirit in His place to be with us on Earth. Since the event itself was a two-stage process, anyone living during that time would have experienecd it in this way. All believers after this era, however, receive the Holy Spirit at once, as they already live in the time of the Spirit. There is no need to wait for the Holy Spirit to come down from heaven and fill the new believer. He is already here.

The Holy Spirit gives the believer spiritual gifts to equip the believer for ministry. Some churches think of certain gifts, such as speaking in tongues, as symbols of spiritual maturity but this is not necessarily the case. Although it is true that mature believers are usually given more gifts or responsibilities, not each believer receives each gift and each gift is for God’s purposes, not the individual believer’s. God may choose to give a new believer a gift that is needed in his area of influence but may also choose not to give the same gift to a very mature believer because it is not necessary in her area of influence. In this case, the gifts do not signify spiritual maturity, but peer-group necessity. People with certain gifts do not enter the special “God club” that some denominations seem to emphasize. Gifts, although they usually occur while the believer dedicates more and more time to God, do not happen on any humanly-discernable timeline.

Although the list of spiritual gifts listed in the Bible is quite long and some denominations believe that general human talants, such as being able to clean or vacuum really well, can be looked at as spiritual gifts, the main gifts are prophecy, teaching, miracles, healing, tongues and interpretation of tongues, word of wisdom or word of knowledge, and distinguishing between spirits and spiritual warfare. Some denominations believe that all gifts have ceased, some believe that any one person can receive all of the gifts. Being raised a Catholic, then attending and being involved in ministry at an Assemblies of God church, then finding a new home at a Calvary Chapel, attending Biola University, and now attending Liberty Theological Seminary, I tend to look at the debate over spiritual gifts like the Calvinist/Arminian debate. Both sides have some Biblical backing and both sides have some Biblical mountains to climb. The real answer is somewhere in the middle. We, as fallen, created, finite beings just can’t understand the issue as God has chosen to reveal it.

Hebrews 12:15-16: How to Worship

Richard Smolenski — Sun, 20 May 2007 04:21:50 +0000

[bibleblock]Heb 12:15-16[/bibleblock]

This passage tells us that worship is not to be limited to just a worship service. Although corporate worship is a biblical Christian activity, we must remember that worship is not limited to Sunday mornings. We are to continually worship God. It is also important to remember that the Bible lists many ways which God is to be worshipped. All of these activities please God and, since God has wired us all differently, it is acceptable for us all to favor different methods of worship. Some of us may feel that we are fully worshiping God when in the middle of a highly charismatic worship service while others feel that they are giving more to God by worshipping in quiet solitude. Some might feel that they are worshipping God through dance and song. Others, who may not have been blessed with rhythm or the gift of a good voice, may feel they are worshipping God through prayer and study. All of these are biblical models and just because someone has a worship style different than our own does not mean that they are not successfully worshiping God.

In an Assemblies of God Pentecostal church that I attended in the past, it was believed that one was not worshipping God unless he was dancing frantically and speaking in tongues because this, they believed, was how the true believer empowered by the Holy Spirit worshipped. If anyone was not worshipping in this manner there were silent doubts concerning that person’s salvation. It felt more like a show for people to make these human beliefs go away than true adoration of the Lord.

The important thing to remember in spiritual formation and worship is that, although there are biblical models for worship, there are a lot of them and all of them do not apply to every believer in the same ways and in the same degrees. God lets each believer know how He wants to be worshipped by that individual and this is between God and the Christian. Although frameworks can be good at helping someone realize worship styles that might not have been known or tried before that could be a way that God wants that believer to praise Him, we should be careful to not dogmatically assert that every Christian must favor a specific worship style.

Prudent Musings » assemblies-of-god

Spritual Gifts – Tongues or Vacuuming?

Hebrews 12:15-16: How to Worship