Friday, December 14, 2007

Vignettes from the TBN Appearance: Part 2

McKissic: “I think it’s emotional prejudice, because tongues has been associated with poor people…Pentecostal people…sometimes uneducated people. And so, people who… into academia and sometimes put letters above the Spirit and the Word, have decided that we’re…tongues…we’re too embarrassed to deal with the tongues issue."

I was born on the last day of the 1960s as the third of four children to a small household in Lake City, Arkansas. We attended Bethabara Baptist Church out on Cane Island, a used-to-be community less than 200 yards from the East levee of the Saint Francis River.

Bethabara Baptist Church was a typical rural Southern Baptist congregation. The attendance rarely topped 100. The racks contained both the Baptist Hymnal and the Heavenly Highway Hymns. We had Dinner on the Grounds (which sometimes featured Raccoon and Dressing). People said "Amen!" and sometimes they shouted it. The church loved good gospel singing. The preaching was often emotional, pointed, and loud.

Poor and uneducated…these are great adjectives to describe the entire spiritual foundation of my early life. Pentecostal, it was not. No speaking in tongues. No people falling out. No cartwheels. No "Thus saith the Lord" anywhere but in the Bible.

So, imagine my surprise to learn that I am prejudiced against myself, my family, my heritage, and the people who first introduced me to Jesus—that they were prejudiced against themselves!

Pentecostalism will frequently claim that people who differ with its view of the spiritual gifts are operating out of an elitist motivation. I find the argument ironic: It seems like a pretty elitist claim to me when one alleges that the folks across the aisle have abandoned the Spirit and the Word in favor of academia because of embarrassment. It smacks not of emotional prejudice and intellectual elitism, but of charismatic prejudice and glossolalic elitism.

10 comments:

FBC said...

This is part of why McKissic's views do not deserve a get out of jail free card. There are other things that bother me as well, but I'll wait until those discussions come forth. It's ironic that an ornate TBN set on which a number of frequent guests that are under congressional investigation for their extravagant lifestyles is used to denigrate Southern Baptists for their emotional prejudice.

Anonymous said...

Bart,

Let's see: Dwight made rejection of sign gifts based on 'emotional prejudice'. Miller offered a similar socio-economic reason for rejection as I recall. Camp made the reason 'Fundamentalists' who believe God the Father, God the Son and God the Bible. Hogue just indicated it 'silly' to reject such.

With that, I am...

Peter

volfan007 said...

the day after i bought my new jaguar car, i quit being emotional in my worship. the day after i bought my beach house in the bahamas, i quit saying, "amen!" the day after i bought my wife and me matching thong, bikini swimwear and matching robes that cost more than my first house, i quit singing in church.

of course, i'm just kidding. i too find it ironic that all of this was said on the rich, ornate tbn set where many preachers and singers get up to sing and preach in $1,ooo suits.

david

Tim Rogers said...

Brother David,

The sight of you in a thong bikini was too much for my mind to take in. But to imagine you lying on a beach in back of the beach house in the Bahamas, with your Jaguar sitting in the driveway with your thong bikini shinning... I just have to sign off right now so my sides will stop hurting from the laughter.

:^)

Blessings,
Tim

Tim G said...

david,
If it is between your bikini and a $1,000 suit - I will have to take the suit. Calling one in now - can I get you one or two?

:)

volfan007 said...

boys, boys, boys,

i have a sunburn where sunburns shouldnt be. :)

david

Bart Barber said...

Thongs? [shudder]

David, can we stick with spotted goats and moon goddesses?

Anonymous said...

It's quite fun to see the jokey 'us and them' on here. It reminds me alot of a TV show I saw recently on TBN . . .

Meanwhile in Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, China ...

Scott Gordon said...

Alex,

Relax. Take a deep breath.

TO ALL,

I am now more concerned about Tim Rogers and those flashy pink shirts!

;-)

By Grace Alone!

volfan007 said...

alex,

what scott said...except double.


also, alex, dont you think the soldiers and the people in iraq, afghanistan, sudan, and china joke around. you know, it kind of helps people feel better. proverbs says that a merry heart does good, like a medicine.

david