MAINSTREAM OR FRINGE?
It’s no secret that there are abuses in the Charismatic
Movement. Even many Charismatics will
admit it. But when opponents of this
Movement point out those abuses, Charismatics will often accuse those opponents
of focusing too much on those people who are on the “fringe,” i.e., the border
or outer edge of the Movement. They’ll
say, “It’s not the majority of us who
cause the abuses, but there are just a few who are out of line. Let’s not over-emphasize the threat.”
But is this true? Are
these abusers really only the fringe with only a few followers?
Two of the leading opponents of this “charismania,” Dr. John
MacArthur and Phil Johnson, who were speaking of the abuses in the Charismatic
church, dealt with this issue. MacArthur
said:
“So I thought there was a very
interesting little piece put together by one of our seminary graduates… Really
amazing. He said, ‘Let’s look… at this thing in a quantitative
basis.’ So he took… [t]he twenty sort of leading, moderate,
continuationist[s] who believe the gifts continue that John Piper, Wayne Grudem,
D.A. Carson [and he] even [threw] Rick Warren and some others[s] in
[there] who would allow for the gifts... And then, you look at their
Twitter account and added up how many people were on their
Twitter account and the number came… to, five million or something
would be the total of that. And then he took the twenty most
well-known Charismatics and added up their Twitter accounts and it was
massively, exponentially way, way beyond by the multiples of
millions, beyond those more reasonable people. So… if you’re trying to convince me that the
radical kind of aspect is the minority… I’m not buying into that and there’s a
quantitative objective proof of that. That is the vast
majority of the Movement… So I think you’re going to get caught in
the broad brush and in the radical aspect of the Movement if you’re
not willing to rise up against it.”
See here:
So
MacArthur is saying that those radicals who are promoting the hyper-emotionalism,
those who embrace the “prosperity gospel” or the “Word of Faith,” those who promote
“new revelation” from God, those who carelessly violate Scripture to continue
in their deception… are actually in the majority! It is the more conservative ones who are the fringe!
If
it is the radical Charismatics who are on the fringe, then why are they growing
so fast with so many followers?
For
instance, one source points to a well-known Charismatic “prosperity preacher”:
“And according to experts in the field of televangelism, Benny
Hinn is the next big thing. ‘He's
probably the fastest-growing ministry in America,’ says Ole Anthony, head of
the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, a group that monitors Christian media. ‘He became the
replacement for Jim and Tammy Bakker, for Jimmy Swaggart. He is now the man of
the hour.’”
Another
source says:
“Another area of danger in the charismatic movement is their
false teaching of prosperity theology or prosperity gospel. This greed-driven
theology has allowed them to expand rapidly across the world particularly in
poorer and disadvantaged continents of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The
largest and fastest growing Charismatic churches preach the prosperity gospel
to a greater or lesser degree.”
And
lest anyone think that we are only quoting non-Charismatic sources, here is a
statement from C. Peter Wagner, who is considered to be the founder of the New
Apostolic Reformation (N.A.R.) and he is also recognized as a church
growth expert. This source tells us:
“Wagner has gone on the defensive of this
fastest-growing Christian movement in Charisma Magazine today, explaining why
dominionism, the office of Apostle And Prophets are fine for today, and why NAR
followers think it’s fine to engage in Spiritual warfare with the demonic:
[Wagner says] ‘It will
surprise some to know that the NAR embraces the largest non-Catholic segment of
world Christianity. It is also the fastest growing segment, the only segment of
Christianity currently growing faster than the world population and faster than
Islam.’”
Remember,
this is from the leader of the N.A.R. (which is a modern radical Charismatic
group). It is rather hard for anyone to
claim that this is simply part of a “fringe” movement with this kind of
phenomenal growth!
The
very conservative Charismatic churches don’t seem to enjoy the popularity of
the new Charismatic groups. For example,
there don’t seem to be any mega-churches in the conservative Charismatic camp. But we certainly have mega-churches that
teach, for example, the “prosperity gospel.”
The number one largest church in America is Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church
in Houston, Texas, which boasts 52,000 people attending per week. Not surprisingly, Osteen is “faithful” to
preach this prosperity gospel which appeals to the masses.
And
what about the fast-growing Charismatic churches like Bethel Church in Redding,
California, or Hillsong Church (originating in Australia)? These are also mega-churches who embrace the
prosperity gospel and other false teachings.
People,
in general, are gullible and follow the crowds.
It is in just this kind of hype, this emotionalistic and
experience-driven environment where God is supposedly doing a “new thing,” or
giving “new” revelation, where everyone is clamoring for a personal word from
God… it is this type of atmosphere that
is a seedbed for error and abuse. Why
else could a proven charlatan like Peter Popoff be able to make a comeback and even flourish today? (For those not
familiar with Popoff, he was a disgraced televangelist in 1986 when he was
exposed for using a transmitter to receive secret messages from his wife during
services, messages about certain church members, while pretending to receive
this information from God).
These
ultra-popular Charismatic environments leave people ripe for deception.
The
popularity of the new brand of radical Charismatics (and the followers that
result) versus that of the conservative Charismatics proves beyond a doubt who
is mainstream and who is on the fringe.
Furthermore,
it is interesting that most people within the Charismatic Movement (as a whole)
have hardly ever even heard of
conservative continuationist / Charismatic leaders, like C.J. Mahaney, John
Piper, Wayne Grudem, or Sam Storms.
Again, it is these conservative guys who are on the fringe, and not part of the mainstream.
So
shouldn’t those more conservative members in the Charismatic Movement be the loudest to condemn the charismania, the
weird behavior, and the false teachings in these groups, since this makes all
of them look bad?
It’s
not acceptable to say, “Well, it’s just not my job to correct them,” or “I
don’t want to judge,” or “It’s no big deal,” or “They don’t represent all of us,” etc. That’s simply a cop out. The errors of these radical Charismatics
should not be taken lightly. This is not
God-honoring; it is HIS church that they are leading astray. So we need to base the activity going on in
the church on HIS infallible blueprint – Holy Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17), not
on feelings, emotions, or trends. It is
the duty of a church to “police” itself and to expose sinful and erroneous
behavior (Acts 2:11-14; Ephesians 5:11; James 5:19-20). If these radicals connect with you in any
way, you have the responsibility to speak out against their abuses.
So
it’s not just a tiny minority who are guilty of abuses, as some would have you
believe. These false teachings and
radical behavior may have once been the fringe, but not anymore. They are not the exception, but have become
the rule.
“For the
time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2
Timothy 4:3-4)
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