Bethel Senior Pastor: Why Charismatics Shouldn’t Feel Superior to Other Denominations
Eric Johnson, senior pastor at Bethel Redding, cautioned his charismatic community against feeling superior to other streams or denominations in a recent sermon. Instead, he urged them to learn from one another and cooperate in unity.
Johnson said, “Every stream thinks they’re a river. So it’s important that we’re actually learning from our brothers and sisters in other streams. Why? Because they’re carrying something that we do not have. They saw an aspect of God that we do not have. … It’s funny how critical we are of other streams when it doesn’t look like your stream. Do you understand? It’s a different stream. That’s the whole point.”
Johnson said that Jesus embodied all aspects of five-fold ministry, but later “split up the fivefold so not one person can have all five.” He did that to force believers to work alongside others and cooperate with the different streams. When believers refuse to do that, Johnson said, it demonstrates arrogance.
“‘Well, they don’t worship long enough’ or ‘They don’t teach about signs and wonders and miracles’—when you have that attitude approach, it’s very arrogant,” Johnson said. “It’s very superior. I wish they would talk about signs and wonders. But I’m not going to let that bother me. Why? Because they’ve got a message on evangelism that we need, or they’ve got an insight on communion that we need to have.”
Watch the video to hear Johnson’s full remarks.
