Word, Spirit, and Power

So our parent church in Abilene (Beltway Park Baptist Church) is having their Word, Spirit, and Power Conference this weekend, beginning this evening. It entails three heavy hitters in the charismatic world: R.T. Kendall, Jack Taylor, and Charles Carrin. And to be completely honest, I am struggling with a degree of trepidation.

I am certainly open to the ministry of these gentlemen and have a confidence that they are truly functioning under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and with a doctrinal solidity. My uneasiness comes more from the fact that it has been over ten years since I have been in this kind of environment, and a great deal of water has passed under the bridge since that time in college. Perhaps my seminary education has made me more critical of such things, more skeptical.

One factor in my reservation is that many in the charismatic camp hold distinct anti-intellectual stances, making it clear that they are anti-education and anti-seminary. Seminary is cemetery in their minds. It corrupts the heart and the work of the Spirit for crass book knowledge, or so they say. I know there are exceptions, but this sentiment is still strong. Supposedly, the Spirit often works in ways the mind cannot comprehend, outside the realm of theological discourse. And I acknowledge that there is certainly a high degree of mystery when it comes to the person and work of the Spirit. I have heard that the heart will understand the things of Spirit that the mind will not.

I guess I have been influenced too much by my seminary professor, David Buschart, one of my theology instructors. He consistently made the point that as believers we need to earn the right to declare “mystery.” We need to be willing to dive into scripture, to wrestle through the theological issues of justification, salvation, sanctification, glorification, the character of God, the condition of humanity, the Trinity, the role of the Holy Spirit, etc. And in the process, we attempt to understand or interpret our experiences in light of scripture (and not the other way around). What if I hear or see something not spoken of in scripture tonight, something outside my theological framework? It should drive me to study, to question, to struggle. If it is within the realm of possibility, as scripture reveals, then I can declare “mystery.” But if it not within a reasonable range of possibilities according to scripture, then I have a responsibility to speak up, to be a voice for theological integrity and orthodoxy.