In the sermon at church today, Rev. Lau
told us a Chinese parable about a competition where the fastest one to draw a snake wins a prize. The
fastest person saw that everyone else was way behind him so he added legs to the
snake. A moment after he completed the legs another person completed a snake,
and that other person took the prize. The person who added legs to the
snake complained saying he finished the snake faster, but everyone else laughed
and said, “That thing you drew is not a snake! They don’t have legs!”
This story is a good illustration about
when we add unnecessary things on to the gospel (Colossians 2:16-23). Rev. Lau
gave a few examples to illustrate: Chasing after “mysterious experiences” for
the sake of experiencing these experiences, and even proclaiming that people do
not receive salvation unless they’ve had “mysterious experiences”. Or, claiming
that people who drink coffee and alcohol won’t receive salvation, etc. And some
people who experienced “mysterious experiences” view Christians who never had
such experiences as second-class Christians.
Rev. Lau’s teaching is a good reminder: we
do have to be very cautious about unusual experiences, as there is a real
danger of heresy.
http://www.cabc-wr.org/?sermons=20170402-%E6%9F%B3%E7%AD%B1%E7%A5%BA-%E6%85%8E%E9%98%B2&lang=zh-hans
Back in Morling College, there was already
a discussion on the topic of unusual experiences in the TH602 class:
One of the Koreans said that they are very
enthusiastic about praying in the early hours of the morning. In the process of
seeking God, they just naturally started to pray in tongues. In my process of
seeking God, I also experienced some supernatural things. But I don’t seek God
with the intention of wanting supernatural experiences. And I don’t hold the belief
that Christians who never experienced these things are second class Christians…
It’s not by my will or my credit that these things happen – they simply just
happen!
“Mysterious experiences” is one of the many
things in life that can make a Christian lose focus on seeking God. I don’t
think there is anything wrong with experiencing a mysterious experience whilst
seeking God, just like there is nothing wrong if one is able to build a large church/ministry because God simply gave him/her such a gift to do so. We are all given different gifts and talents by God. After all, the wind blows where it wants to go (John 3:8), but we cannot grasp it. It cannot be bottled up so we can use it. The Spirit is sovereign. However, when we let
power go over our heads and start to seek power instead of God, that’s when
real dangers happen.
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