Would you confess?

I was reading SBC blogs after the recent annual meeting in San Antonio. You know how it is. You read one blog and it links to another. By the time I finished the circuit I found myself reading Jerry Corbaley's blog. He stated the following in one of his responses to a commenter.

"The SBC has some members who are convinced that God has gifted them with glossolalia and/or the interpretation of glossolalia. The vast, vast majority of them are unwilling to let it be widely known that they do so."

I really cannot blame them. The issue of PPL is particularly divisive in our convention. As a child I was a member of a church in which a family was threatened, yes threatened, with physical removal if they should ever return to "our" church. Why? Because of significant moral failure? Because of chemical dependence? Because of gossip or gluttony? No, none of these. It was because one member of that family prayed in tongues. It was never practiced in public, not even in front of the family. It was truly private and only came to light because that person refused to lie when asked directly. That may be "baptist" but it certainly isn't scriptural. Nowhere in this frenzy did the offended party/parties initiate scriptural church discipline. And church discipline wouldn't have applied since no sin had been committed on the part of the excommunicated family. Unfortunately, this church was more interested in maintaining control than in what God really would have us do. As a result that church has shriveled up and is now just a building people come to on Sunday. They would likely have divided on any number of issues. PPL just happened to be the one that came to the fore.

I do not possess the gift of tongues, public or private. But if I did, and if I was convinced that God had led me to an SBC church, I would be hesitant to publicize it. I am not advocating deception. But, a certain degree of self preservation is understandable. The witch hunt I watched as an adolescent would make me most cautious regarding to whom I would reveal my gifts. And I fear mine isn't the only such story.

As Southern Baptists we have shunned the "charismatic" gifts. I classify myself as a cautious continuationist. I believe that all gifts mentioned in scripture are still given. I believe that only the second coming of Christ (or maybe the rapture of the church when the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth) will cause the gifts of the Spirit to cease. However, I am not certain that all gifts, as they are practiced today, are to be taken at face value. There is some doubt in my heart as to whether PPL really is a gift of the Spirit or just an ecstatic utterance. I don't believe PPL is of the evil one nor am I wholly convinced it is of God. Maybe it is a product of self and psyche, borne of our experience driven culture.

However, I also believe that we as Southern Baptists shy away from charismatic issues because we don't understand them. It is human nature to fear that which we don't comprehend. It is only though the grace of God afforded by the Holy Spirit that we can study such things and come to a God honoring conclusion. That is what I pray for in these kinds of issues.

It is my hope that we as Baptists, and Southern Baptists in particular can learn to practice unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials and charity in all things. We must acknowledge that there really are non-essentials in theology. We need to realize that we just might be wrong about the gifts of the Spirit, regardless of which side we align with. I am a cautions continuationist. Some are cessationists. Others are full-fledged continualists. We are all brothers and need to act like such, giving grace because we have received it so freely from our Father's hand.