On Charismania

 

If a Charismatic person ever brings up to you the verse Mark 16:17, "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover....." 
 

This is a very common verse that they like to bring up. Your response can be, "Have you tried picking up serpents? I think you should try that one. :) Have you tried drinking deadly poison?" 
 

Don't let Charismatic people pick on you. They like to pick on people that don't pray in tongues or don't lay hands on the sick so that they will recover. They criticize anyone who doesn't do those things and say they don't have very much faith. But the fact is, that entire verse does NOT apply to them either. 
 

Some Bibles have a note that this verse was only found in later manuscripts of the Bible and not the earliest ones. Which is kind of annoying, because then you can't help but wonder if Jesus didn't actually say that. And if he didn't say that, how did it end up in the Bible?  And why did God let it end up in the Bible? 
 

The verse certainly makes it sound like everyone who believes in Jesus will speak in tongues and do these things. But the fact is, even the people who speak in tongues can't do all of it, which they very frustratingly fail to recognize. And the fact is, MOST Christians don't speak in other tongues and have never tried laying hands on a sick person to heal them. But that doesn't make them not saved or any less saved. Honestly, people need to stop fighting over this verse or even bringing it up, because it's quite possible Jesus didn't even say that. 
 

God bless!