REASON #

17 REASONS WHY I LEFT THE TONGUES MOVEMENT

By Alfred H. Pohl

202 - 33401 Mayfair Ave., Abbotsford, B.C. V2S 6Z2 Canada
Box 856, Three Hills, Alberta T0M 2A0 Canada

CONTENTS

Reason # 1--Sincere convictions regarding their doctrines, emphases, and practices
Reason #2--An unsound biblical basis for their doctrine of the Holy Spirit
Reason #3--An over-emphasis of one gift of the Holy Spirit
Reason #4--An under-emphasis of other doctrines, particularly the cross-work of Christ
Reason #5--Their "experience" orientation
Reason #6--The undermining of the personality of the Holy Spirit
Reason #7--Spiritual pride and disunity produced by their doctrine
Reason #8--The teaching that tongues speaking is a sign of spirituality or even of salvation
Reason #9--Sign-seeking instead of faith
Reason #10--Questionable activities practiced and condoned
Reason #11--The fear of questioning the so-called activities of the Holy Spirit
Reason #12--The view that the Corinthian church was a model church
Reason #13--The danger of claiming extra-biblical revelation
Reason #14--The excesses and deceptive practices condoned in divine healing campaigns
Reason #15--The tendency to blind, unquestioning devotion to popular leaders
Reason #16--The possibility that the Charismatic Movement will be instrumental in producing the prophesied world ecumenical church of the last days
Reason #17--Their distortion of the true Spirit-filled life
Charismatics: Whither Bound?
Helpful Books on the Charismatic Movement

REASON # 12

THE VIEW THAT THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH WAS A MODEL CHURCH

Because tongues speaking is so much in prominence in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and, incidentally, is not even mentioned in any of the other twenty church epistles, it became a very important epistle to us. I personally , as I’m sure many others did too, looked upon the Corinthian church as a model in the area of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, particularly the gift of tongues.

HERE, THOUGH, LET US ASK OURSELVES SOME QUESTIONS:

1) WAS THIS EPISTLE WRITTEN TO ENCOURAGE THE ALL-OUT USE OF TONGUES, OR WAS IT WRITTEN TO CORRECT IT’S OVER-EMPHASIS AND ABUSE IN THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH?

2) IS EVERYTHING THAT TRANSPIRED IN THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH DOCTRINALLY CORRECT AND CAN THUS BE USED AS A BASIS FOR DOCTRINE BY ALL CHURCHES THROUGHOUT THE AGE?

Can we build upon their church conduct as being exemplary and such as will please the Lord? In short, should our churches today strive to be like the Corinthian church ? Is it a "model" church?

I, for one, did not approach the Book of First Corinthians with these questions in mind. Because of the tongues-emphasis teaching that I was raised in, I felt and believed that we should be more like the Corinthians, for did they not have the gifts of the Spirit in operation in their church?

Chapter 1:7 tells us that they came "behind in no gift." And they, of all churches, must have been most spiritual because of the great prominence of tongues in their services, for only in this church are tongues mentioned in the epistles. They excelled in tongues speaking!

How wrong I was ! Isn’t it strange how doctrinal extremes can blind a person to truth! I have since learned, and not overnight, either, that I was wrong in my approach to the Book of 1 Corinthians.

Answering our questions now, first, Paul did not write this epistle to commend the Corinthians for their emphasis on tongues speaking, or to urge them to do more of the same, but rather to bring them back to a more restrained and orderly use of this gift. In fact, he urged them to major more on the "best gifts" (12:31). He said: "Covet earnestly the best gifts, " one of them being the gift prophecy (14:5): "I would that ye all spoke with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied." In 14:19 he adds these words: "Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." In other words, he is plainly telling them that they were putting their emphasis in the wrong place.

Second, Paul makes it very plain in his letter that the Corinthian Christians, though they had the gifts of the Spirit in operation in their church, were nevertheless "carnal" (3:1-4). Notice a few of the "carnal" or unspiritual fleshly manifestations present in their church:

contention--1:11; division--1:10, 12, 13; carnality--3:1-4; fornication--5:1; taking one another to court--6:6-7; disorders at the Lord’s table--11:17, 20-22; immaturity in spiritual matters--3:1, 12:1, 14:20; disorders in church meetings--14:40.

What does all this tell us? The lesson is plain. It is possible to have gifts and yet be unspiritual. Read 1 Cor 13:1-3 again! Remember, spirituality is not gauged by your gifts but by the fruit you bear ! In this area, then, the Corinthian church was certainly not to be followed as a model church !

3) THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH FALLS SHORT OF BEING A MODEL CHURCH BECAUSE OF THEIR LACK OF THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT!

This is what Paul is trying to get across to them in chapter 13 particularly. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance ..." (Gal. 5:22-23). But these were in short supply in the Corinthian church. That is why they took each other to court, were contentious, divided, and exhibited selfishness and pride, etc. No, the Corinthian church was far from being a model church. It would have been preferable to take the Philippian church or the Thessalonian church as our model, but then, there was no indication in their epistles that they were tongues speakers!