Matt Chandler on being Reformed and Charismatic

Aaron Armstrong —  May 24, 2010 — 6 Comments

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.943538&w=425&h=350&fv=]

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Really appreciated this interview with Adrian Warnock & Matt Chandler on how embracing the charismatic gifts plays out in Chandler’s life and ministry. The big ideas from Chandler:

  1. No one swings from chandeliers
  2. Any word that someone may have received is brought privately to the elders
  3. They pray over it and determine its veracity
  4. Sometimes it’s brought out to the congregation, other times it’s not

In short, they’re seeking to handle these kinds of things—like a personal word, a dream or a vision—very, very carefully.

They’re obeying Scripture’s commands concerning such things. To “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).

I tend to approach the charismatic gifts very cautiously, probably as an overreaction to being around a number of people who tended to not test but blindly accept. For me, it’s always interesting and helpful to see how others are approaching them.

What about you? What’s your background on this issue?

Do you think the charismatic gifts are active today and for everyone?

If so, why? If not, why not?

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Aaron Armstrong

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Aaron is the author of Awaiting a Savior: The Gospel, the New Creation, and the End of Poverty (Cruciform Press, 2011). He is a writer, serves as an itinerant preacher throughout southern Ontario, Canada, and blogs daily at Blogging Theologically.
  • http://msy316.wordpress.com Michael Young

    Hello,

    To answer your question, I believe in “gifts of the Spirit” but I also believe they shouldn’t be taken lightly. They should be viewed with much discernment and prayer. But I also believe that if a prophesy or a “word” isn’t pointing to Jesus Christ, it most likely needs to be discarded. “…For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” Rev 19:10

    But, that’s just my personal opinion. I’m no theologian or biblical scholar.
    Thanks for the post!

    • http://hardwords.wordpress.com Aaron Armstrong

      Great answer, Michael – well said! Thanks for coming by and commenting today. I hope to see you around a bit more.

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  • Alen

    I would not say gifts associated with the Charismatic movement such as healing, miracles, prophecy, and glossolalia (tongues) have ceased with 100% confidence though my original background was more dogmatic on that point. I believe it is possible that the gifts are still around but definitely not to the same degree as was in the early church.

    Of all these gifts the most abused one would be tongues. It is in no way practiced as instructed by Paul to the Corinthians. The chief point being that there should be an interpreter. Throughout the NT we see tongues referred to as actual languages that people spoke yet all these are disregarded for a hyperbole statement about angelic tongues.

    I have yet to see in my experience any of these gifts performed biblically. I would not be surprised if these gifts were more prominent in countries where to access to the Bible was limited. It is not uncommon to hear conversions in these situations to be on the side of the miraculous, i.e. signs, visions etc.

    The reason for that is tongues, miracles and healings are used as confirmation of the message of God’s messenger. We see that in the OT prophets, the Lord Jesus as well as His apostles. All this occurred in a context where the full canon of scripture wasn’t readily available. I think today in a similar context God could very well do the same.

    Overall its just speculation on my part as to whether they are still current, but from what I’ve seen it doesn’t look likely.

  • Mark

    Who is Matt Chandler and why should we care what he says, thereby investing our time to watch this video?

    • http://www.bloggingtheologically.com Aaron Armstrong

      Chandler’s the pastor of the Village Church in Highland Village, Texas, and an extraordinarily gifted Bible teacher. I’ve greatly benefited from his ministry over the last several years.