It's Day 60 and we're in 1 Corinthians 13.
Congratulations! You made it through the 60 days! We will begin a new 60 days next Monday. To continue for another round, you don't have to do anything - the updates will just keep coming.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 7 - Love gives the benefit of the doubt.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
Your Questions:
- "Because you have mentioned this several times and stated it in today's 60in60, I want to know how is it determined and who determined whether certain spiritual gifts are given by the Spirit in the present time? What biblical bases is there for determining some spiritual gifts, like speaking in tongues, are obsolete? If we say certain gifts are not given in the present time, does that not open things up for a "pick & choose" of which scriptures are applicable for today?"
That's a great question. Let me handle it in two parts. First, let me answer why I believe that speaking in tongues is no longer operative for today. Second, let me address the "pick and choose" issue.
First answer - speaking in tongues:
First, let me again say that I have good friends who are Pentecostal and I have great love for them. Further, I think my Pentecostal brothers and sisters have a lot to teach Baptists, especially on the issues of having joy in worship and racial diversity within congregations.
A few of the reasons I am reluctant to believe speaking in tongues is for today. . .
1. Historically, it is without question that speaking in tongues disappeared from the church soon after the early church. There is just no record of Christians continuing to speak in tongues throughout the last 2,000 years. On the rare occasions that a group did claim to speak in tongues, those groups were consistently heretical groups.
2. It is possible that God has decided to renew the gift for the last days, although it's now been over 100 years since Azusa Street, so at a certain point it's hard to say that it's a "last days" thing.
3. One thing that is deeply troubling to me is that the expressions of speaking in tongues almost never follow Paul's clear "rules of engagement" in 1 Corinthians 14. Paul explains how speaking in tongues can be done within a service, but I have never been in a single Pentecostal service that has followed Paul's instructions. It makes me reluctant to think that this is a God thing when those claiming Biblical backing for the gift do not also follow the Biblical teaching on how to use that gift.
4. Finally, it seems odd to me that God would re-authorize the gift that the Bible speaks of as being one of the least important gifts while not re-authorizing more important gifts. (Also, those other gifts (like healing or speaking miraculously in foreign languages) would also be more clearly from God because they'd be more confirmable than speaking in tongues, which could be faked.)
Again, I've been wrong before and will be wrong again, but that's the best I can do on coming to an honest answer on that issue.
Second answer - "picking and choosing":
We are "reading over the shoulder" of the Christians who originally received the New Testament letters. For instance, Galatians was originally addressed to the believers in Galatia. Because of that, we have to keep in mind that some of the content might be specific to their situation.
Some believers say that they take the Bible literally in everything it says. That's just not the case. Romans 16:16 commands believers to greet one another with a holy kiss, but you don't see folks doing that in church today. To use another example, some people brag that they don't allow women preachers in their services because they take what Paul said literally, but yet you don't see those same believers also taking literally Paul's injunction that women should be silent in church generally.
To directly answer the question you posed - how do we know when something is no longer applicable for today - let me begin by saying it is a difficult issue. It would certainly be easy to dismiss teaching that you don't like. For me it's a matter of prayerfully reading and studying the passage and attempting to discern whether the truth conveyed is one that is applicable to all times and all cultures. Like discerning the truth of the Bible as it applies to my life in other areas, it's a matter of honest conversation with God in trying to grasp His will. I do know, though, that the answer some people give that they will just obey everything in the Bible literally is something that I have never seen anyone actually do.
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