One of the events I try to attend is the annual meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. Each year scholars of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement gather to present papers, engage in dialogue, fellowship, and worship. This year SPS met at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. The campus is beautiful and the University students and staff were excellent hosts.
I heard many great presentations on ecumenism, theology, and biblical studies. In fact, these were among the best I’ve heard at an SPS event.
One of the benefits of attending SPS is the opportunity to meet and dialogue with renown scholars from around the world. This year I was honored to hear and meet Larry Christenson, the apostle of the Lutheran Charismatic movement.
Christenson presented a paper entitled “Perplexed by Tongues” in which he shared a profound testimony (click the link to read the paper). As he shared, I wept.
In the early days of the Pentecostal movement many churches were perplexed by tongues. G. Campbell Morgan referred to the Pentecostal movement as the “last vomit of Satan before the return of Christ.” After a century of renewal it appears that as the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement has become ecumenical, new generations of Pentecostals are being perplexed by tongues. With an overemphasis, and some past abuse, it is popular among some younger Pentecostals to question the validity of the phenomenon.
As Christenson was concluding his presentation he acknowledged that many Charismatics seemed to be placing less emphasis on tongues-speech. He said, “If we lose tongues, we lose the renewal.” I heard the alarm in his voice and thought it ironic that a veteran of the Charismatic movement – a Lutheran – was calling Pentecostals to once again embrace tongues-speech as a priceless gift and sign of the Holy Spirit.
