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Theology of Experience

I am grieved to see so much distrust in the church today of things that are out of the ordinary. The church has adopted the theology of "if it does not happen to me then it is not of God". Once again I came across this "Theology of Experience" as I call it, where believers take their experience, or lack of it, and interpret the Word of God through them.

Let me explain: When something different happens and a new phenomenon develops we immediately look for ways to explain it. We may say things like, it did not happen like that in the past, or the word has not spoken to me to show me that it is true, or it did not happen to me, and we interpret validity concerning the event as though it must not be true. I will get deeper if you would prefer.

Hermeneutics is the thorough study of the Word of God. Or a better way of saying this is "the way we interpret the Word of God. What resources do we bring into it, what tools do we employ to discover the real meaning of a word or passage, and what biases do we bring to the scriptures? All this and more play a part in our interpretation of scripture. We take the Word of God and try to discover the reason for its writing, the background that was in play, what God was trying to say to those early believers and then to make it relevant for today's reader. This is a very simplistic explanation but it will do to give you the sense of what takes place every time we read the Bible. Whether we acknowledge it or not, experience plays a major role in the interpreting of the word when it should be totally removed until after we have come to an understanding of the passage first.

When we use experience to interpret the Word we are declaring to God that our experience is of equal authority as the bible. A major event that demonstrates this is the use of tongues in worship and prayer by those who see this as a sign of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. While we can attest to the fact that they are true in their faith in God, and they become, for the most part, bolder in the witness, those that have not experienced it will deny its truth as being from God. This is very dangerous ground to stand on in light of the words of Jesus that states if we blaspheme the Holy Spirit we will not be forgiven.

How lightly we take this warning when it comes to speaking in tongues. I for one would whether find the truth as it is layed out in the scriptures and reserve judgment until I was sure I was right.

Lets look at the facts: These will be direct references to speaking in tongues.

1. The upper room where they were filled and each one spoke as the Spirit gave utterance. There is no debate here so I will go on.
2. Paul's comment that he speaks in tongues more than the rest. 1Cor. 14:18
3. Scripture: (ASV) "Acts 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. "
4. All of 1Cor 14 deals with this speaking in tongues, and I don't mean the gifts alone. The reason for this again is scripture: 1Cor 12:30 "…all do not speak with tongues…"

These are direct occurrences of this event but there are other indirect references to this event as well:

1. Acts 8:17 speaks of the apostle Peter laying hands on believers and they received the Holy Spirit. How did He know they received if there were no occurrences that he could relate? What did they do that convinced Peter they received? Either there was fire above their heads or they spoke in tongues, as these are the only outward signs that had occurred before that would have shown Peter it happened again.
2. Acts 11:15 "and as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them as He did to us in the beginning". How did the Holy Spirit come in the beginning? With tongues and fire.
3. Acts 15:8 "And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them. Giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did so to us;" (Just as He did to us in Acts 2.)

These are just a few of the scriptures that speak of an occurrence that tongues played an important part of the early church. However, in our churches today we say it no longer is true. In fact some go so far to say it is of a false spirit that enables the speaker to speak in tongues. Remember the earlier warning of attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the works of the enemy? I fear for those who in ignorance speak of things they do not understand. Just because experience has not happened does not negate the Word of God.

In the last days there will be seducing spirits but we must be careful to examine the spirit to see if it is from God or not. To rule out events just because we don't agree with them is to deny the uniqueness of God. His ways are higher then our ways. Let us seek His wisdom on these matters and let the true spirit, the Holy Spirit, lead us to the truth.  Let's not fight over differences but let us come to an agreement to disagree in Love!

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