There has been an article posted on Charisma magazine's site about the fall out of this guy's abrupt pronouncement. The article includes a hearty look at the discernment of charismatics and the embracing of this "revival" in particular. There are several telling statements. One thing that Andy pointed out to me and just kinda made me frustrated was this:
They sensed something amiss when he wore a T-shirt with a skeleton on it. They wondered why a man of God would cover himself with tattoos.I find it appalling that this guy is called into question about bones and tattoos, but not terrible theology. There are other really sound arguments that J. Lee Grady makes in his post, however to quote that people had a problem with Bentley because of his tattoos and clothing choices is just sad. The comments are nestled in a larger paragraph that explains how people were reacting to Bentley's statements regarding angelic visitations and tackling people during prayer. I mean, the dude is wacky and so was a lot of what was going on in Florida at the "revival". But why is it that Christians (in particular) have this aversion to people with tattoos and the fashionable sense of skulls and skeletons? I realize that some people's hang ups are do to the stereotyping of people with tattoos being criminals or pirates (when was the last time you saw a real pirate, and Johnny Depp doesn't count). I know godly men who have tattoos. And I know that they love Jesus and are being used by Him to reach others and to glorify Himself with their lives.
John Piper has a great post on his blog about testing revival with doctrine.
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1 comment:
It always annoys me when people make those kinds of assumptions (tattoos = non-Christian), and aren't able to give a valid argument for their position, through expositional reasoning, using passages in the Bible as references. I have mainly seen this in the area of music. SO many people assume that Metal cannot be Christian, when it, in fact, has the potential of being a lot more biblical than CCM, because they can deal with a lot more touchy topics, and can say it in a way that would be censored out by CCM record labels. People often think less of me when they hear the music that I listen to. Tattoos is probably the second greatest offense in this manner. If I am going to make a pledge for life (becoming a Christian), I would consider getting a tattoo, simply to show that I am committed to the cause, and that I am willing to bear it's mark until my death.
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