I've only been a Christian for five years (and boy has it gone quick!) so I decided it's about time to get those pressing theological questions answered. What better place to do it than the blogosphere! My intention is not to offend but to get others' opinions and of course voice my own as well. I want to venture beyond tradition and see what the Bible has to say...easier said than done perhaps but I pray we can all (myself included) look at this with open minds.
The first issue is........the gift of tongues. Does this get your tongues wagging? :)
For the first couple of years I hadn't thought much about it. I go to a fairly conservative church and we have discussed tongues in certain sermons (1 Corinthians 14 for example) but I wouldn't have a clue if anyone I know speaks in tongues. I know of one person who thinks it's all dodgy because they went to a church where the pastor said, "Right now everyone start speaking in tongues" and the whole congregation started babbling non stop and stumbling around everywhere. There was such pressure to speak in tongues that this person's friend felt quite ashamed that she didn't and kept trying and trying until she spoke in tongues. Which raises the point - do some people fake speaking in tongues because of pressure from other Christians or to get acceptance by their church?
Another person I know asked a very good question - what is 'speaking in tongues'? Is it an unknown language that the person themselves doesn't know but can speak (like Harry Potter being able to speak in Parseltongue) or is it the gift of suddenly being able to speak to others in another language eg. French? I decided to have a look through the Bible and find out.
In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, what seemed to be tongues of fire descended upon the apostles and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Jews from many nations had come to Jerusalem and each of them heard the apostles speaking in their native language. Therefore, it appears the gift of tongues enabled the apostles to speak the gospel in other languages so that others could hear it in their native tongue.
1 Corinthians 14 goes more into the gifts of tongues and prophecy and their use in the church. Verse 2 says that those who speak in tongues, speak to God and not to men because no-one else understands them. Paul goes on to say that the gift of prophecy is better because it edifies the church but tongues edifies only the individual. Verse 14 says "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful." Does this mean that the person who speaks in tongues has no idea what they are saying? Paul says in verse 13 that the tongue-speaker should pray that they will be able to interpret what they're saying. Chapter 12 lists different spiritual gifts, one being speaking in different kinds of tongues and another being the intrepretation of tongues. I was always under the impression that if someone were to speak in tongues in church then there must be someone present who can interpret but some of these passages indicate that the speaker can also interpret what they say.
Another thing I heard was that the gift of tongues is spontaneous ie. the individual will suddenly just start doing it at any moment and cannot stop themselves. After reading 1 Corinthians, I disagree with this. Paul seems to be advocating orderly worship - 1 Cor 14:28 says "If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God." Which begs the question - how do you know whether an interpretator is present or not?
From reading these passages, I'm convinced that tongues is a good gift from God and one of the many gifts of the Spirit that God gives us for the building up of his church. What I don't like is when some Christians go about saying that you can't be a Christian unless you speak in tongues because tongues is a sign of having the Holy Spirit - if you don't speak in tongues, you don't have the Spirit. It's black and white to them. I had a tradesman come to my house about six months ago and I soon found out he was also a Christian. He was a very friendly guy and we were soon having a good chat but then the conversation became all about tongues and I could not shift it from there. This guy went to a church where to become a Christian, you had to have spoke in tongues at the point of conversion and he used Acts as an example saying that everyone who became a Christian in Acts spoke in tongues. He asked me how I knew I had the Spirit if I didn't speak in tongues. I mentioned 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 27-30 which shows we each have the same Spirit but different manifestations of the Spirit such as gifts of healing, wisdom, prophecy, tongues, faith etc. In 1 Corinthians 14:5, Paul says to the Corinthian Christians, "I would like every one of you to speak in tongues but I would rather have you prophesy." This implies that not all of them speak in tongues. I also had a look through Acts and not all converts speak in tongues or at least it is not mentioned whether they did or not. Acts 2:40-41, 4:4, 5:14, 8:36-40 (Philip's conversion), 16:14-15 (Lydia's conversion) and there are probably heaps more which I can't be bothered listing. Most of all, Ephesians 1:13-14 says that those included in Christ when they believed the gospel were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit which is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. Emma and Peter arrived a bit later and continued to discuss these things with him.
This guy wasn't convinced by any of these verses. His mind was already made up and I can't be bothered arguing with people for the sake of arguing. We parted on good terms and I could tell he still wasn't convinced I was a real Christian. But I'm convinced. Later on I looked at the website of one church which has their statement of beliefs. In the 'How to become a Christian' section, it says that people should pray for Jesus to fill them with the Spirit and they should start speaking in tongues. In brackets it says (not in English).
The point of this post is to hear from other people in the blogosphere. I'm not convinced that all Christians need to speak in tongues but I do wonder why in some churches, everyone speaks in tongues and in other churches, nobody does. Is it a case of 'birds of a feather flock together' or something else? I want to get beyond what our churches/denominations teach and see what the Bible says. Do YOU speak in tongues? If so, perhaps you can answer the 'what is it' question? Should we all WANT to speak in tongues? I know of some people who pray very earnestly for the gift of tongues. I'm not sure what their motivation is but is it a gift all Christians should want?
Comments?
2 comments:
i dont have time to post a comment now (as it is likely to be long) but I will try to remember to at a later date.:)
Middo
good grief you opened a can of worms there! i think most people are going to have long comments. ill just add a couple of points. i dont think ALL christians should be asking for the gift of tongues - if so, whats wrong with all of us asking for the gift of service or mercy? also, im tired of meeting some christians who withing 5 minutes of meeting you, ask if you speak in tongues, and then continue to say that your not a christian if you dont. this is so ruining to many relationships. i worked at a certain cafe for 5-6yrs and had strong relationships with non-christians there, and they were starting to ask questions, we got new owners of the cafe who proceeded to tell everyone they were going to hell, and that i wasnt a christian. they ruined the 5yrs of work i had spent building relationships with people in the space of 5 minutes. and that has not been the only instance. maybe these people are gravitated to me or something! i have no time for people who accuse me of not having the holy spirit because i dont speak in tongues. i dont have a problem with people who do. but i expect an interpreter.
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