Wednesday, December 27, 2006
The Uneasy Conscience of a Non-Charismatic Evangelical
Adrian Warnock posted a book review a while back that I found most fascinating. He sums up the book this way:
This is also descriptive of why some think me a little too open minded; why I am unwilling to condemn some that believe differently directly to the nether regions. If we are defined by our beliefs, it becomes very easy to draw lines and say who is in and who is out. If; however, we are defined by WHO we believe, and that who is God Almighty, such lines become much harder to draw. Why? Because He is undefinable and incomprehensible.
But what glory, many are they that lack the intellectual capacity to describe what they believe, but they are not denied the glory of life with Christ for that's what it is, life with Christ, not a life of thought.
Maybe the next time you want to read a book, you should pray? You don't have to be charismatic to pray do you?
Related Tags: Holy Spirit, charismatic, rationalism, relationship
Interestingly, Wallace does not become a charismatic, but his book instead urges cessationists to find room for the experiential reality of the Holy Spirit whilst not giving up their theological positions.That's a pretty good description of me, so I perked right up. Adrian then goes on to present the eleven theses of the book, some of which bear further commentary
Although charismatics have given a higher priority to experience than to relationship, rationalistic evangelicals have given a higher priority to knowledge than to relationship.I couldn't agree more. Our faith is not just about belief; not some mere set of ideas. The author agrees:
This emphasis on knowledge over relationship has produced in us a bibliolatry.TRUST is the key word there. I know there are those that think the relationship thing is overdone, but it must be true for trust is the key determinant for a healthy life with God, life lived not on our own terms, but His. Life lived in trust to Him. As this next thesis says
The net effect of such bibliolatry is a depersonalization of God . . . our stance changes from "I trust in" to "I believe that."
Part of the motivation for this depersonalization of God is our increasing craving for control.Changing gear a little, this is where I really worry about the politicization of faith. As Evangelicals are increasingly identified as a political demographic, that depersonalization takes deeper and deeper hold. It becomes about your political stances, not your faith.
This is also descriptive of why some think me a little too open minded; why I am unwilling to condemn some that believe differently directly to the nether regions. If we are defined by our beliefs, it becomes very easy to draw lines and say who is in and who is out. If; however, we are defined by WHO we believe, and that who is God Almighty, such lines become much harder to draw. Why? Because He is undefinable and incomprehensible.
But what glory, many are they that lack the intellectual capacity to describe what they believe, but they are not denied the glory of life with Christ for that's what it is, life with Christ, not a life of thought.
Maybe the next time you want to read a book, you should pray? You don't have to be charismatic to pray do you?
Related Tags: Holy Spirit, charismatic, rationalism, relationship
