Can You Be A Southern Baptist And Speak In Tongues?
Over the last three months, I have seen three stories regarding Southern Baptists and tongue speaking. This should tell us that a battle may be on the verge. It would not surprise me to see a resolution given at the SBC annual meeting against tongue speaking. It will be interesting to watch if Southern Baptist leaders are willing to alienate a strong evangelical group of charismatics. I know I am.
I personally believe that tongue speaking was a first century gift. I believe that it was a gift of given to the Apostles to spread the Gospel. I do not want to write a huge post on my personal views on this issue. If you would like a good book on the subject, let me encourage to read Charismatic Chaos" by John McArthur. Another good book on the issue is "Counterfeit Revival" by Hank Handegraff.
Recently the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention decided to not commission any missionaries that speak a private prayer tongue. The IMB has had a long standing policy against public tongue speaking. This move was done to remove any charismatic tendency within the mission body. An interesting side item to all of this is that the current President of the IMB, Jerry Rankin, has admitted to a private prayer tongue in his past. I always question motives of unnecessary moves. I wonder if this was a shot at Jerry Ranking.
The Associated Baptist Press, which is a liberal Baptist news service, released an article last week about the SBC and tongue speakers. The article was about a Pastor named Ron Phillips. Pastor Phillips pastors a large SBC church in Tennessee. He speaks in tongues. He feels the leadership of the convention has shunned him because of his theological convictions. I do not know if Pastor Phillips has been shunned. I do know he isn't welcomed in my pulpit.
Today, In the Dallas Morning News, I read that the Dean of Students at Criswell College resigned over his support of tongue speaking. I am absolutely certain he did the right thing. W. A. Criswell created a school with a certain type of teaching in mind. The Dean should have resigned. If he agreed with tongue speaking prior to his hiring, I think he made a mistake for taking a position at Criswell knowing he didn't agree with their theological perspective.
Southern Baptists need to decide soon if they are going to be just like all the other evangelical groups, or are we going to have some theological convictions. I know that the SBC is basically a missionary based convention. The SBC has absolutely no authority over the local church. However, that doesn't mean that the SBC has to take money and support churches that teach in contrary to the Scripture.
I believe that the Charismatic movement is a dangerous movement. I think the SBC should take a stand on this issue. I look forward to watching the events unfold on this topic. It should be an interesting debate for years to come.
I personally believe that tongue speaking was a first century gift. I believe that it was a gift of given to the Apostles to spread the Gospel. I do not want to write a huge post on my personal views on this issue. If you would like a good book on the subject, let me encourage to read Charismatic Chaos" by John McArthur. Another good book on the issue is "Counterfeit Revival" by Hank Handegraff.
Recently the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention decided to not commission any missionaries that speak a private prayer tongue. The IMB has had a long standing policy against public tongue speaking. This move was done to remove any charismatic tendency within the mission body. An interesting side item to all of this is that the current President of the IMB, Jerry Rankin, has admitted to a private prayer tongue in his past. I always question motives of unnecessary moves. I wonder if this was a shot at Jerry Ranking.
The Associated Baptist Press, which is a liberal Baptist news service, released an article last week about the SBC and tongue speakers. The article was about a Pastor named Ron Phillips. Pastor Phillips pastors a large SBC church in Tennessee. He speaks in tongues. He feels the leadership of the convention has shunned him because of his theological convictions. I do not know if Pastor Phillips has been shunned. I do know he isn't welcomed in my pulpit.
Today, In the Dallas Morning News, I read that the Dean of Students at Criswell College resigned over his support of tongue speaking. I am absolutely certain he did the right thing. W. A. Criswell created a school with a certain type of teaching in mind. The Dean should have resigned. If he agreed with tongue speaking prior to his hiring, I think he made a mistake for taking a position at Criswell knowing he didn't agree with their theological perspective.
Southern Baptists need to decide soon if they are going to be just like all the other evangelical groups, or are we going to have some theological convictions. I know that the SBC is basically a missionary based convention. The SBC has absolutely no authority over the local church. However, that doesn't mean that the SBC has to take money and support churches that teach in contrary to the Scripture.
I believe that the Charismatic movement is a dangerous movement. I think the SBC should take a stand on this issue. I look forward to watching the events unfold on this topic. It should be an interesting debate for years to come.
posted by Foundes Community Church @ 2:06 PM
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