Speaking in tongues...What is the role of the speaker? The hearer? God?
I received the following note from a dear friend, in response to the last reading. I am not attaching a name, but this is such an important message I feel I must share it:
"Jim, the gifts of tongues has always confused me, but I will share this one thing. My grandmother used to go to the barn for what she called, "Intercessory prayer." On two occasions she spoke in tongues in the barn.
When she witnessed this to her church, they promptly removed her name from the membership roll. She didn't care because as she told them, "You can't remove my name from the Lamb's Book of Life." When I read it in the Bible, I didn't feel she was wrong, because she never spoke this in the church, and without looking it up, doesn't it say that speaking in tongues in the church is edifying yourself and not the church?
This part I will only share with you. I'm very uncomfortable whenever I have the occasion to be in a church that speaks in tongues. I was told by one of their members that I was probably under conviction. I DO know the difference between being under conviction and being just plain leery.
If I've confused you, now you know how I feel. LOL!"
In the first paragraph we see a church denying the gift, and unbelievably, punishing someone for sharing how God had blessed her...removed her name from the rolls?!?! In the second paragraph, we see a church not necessarily, but almost necessarily, requiring that believers speak in tongues, or that there is something wrong if you do not.
Friends, the gift of tongues is documented in Scriptures:
"(Jesus) said to them, Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,..they will speak in new tongues..." From Mark 16:15-18
And it is clear that not everyone has the gift:
"Do all speak in tongues?" From 1 Corinthians 12
Certainly the church must discern the Scriptures, and discern what gifts people are blessed with. And certainly there are areas of Scripture that are not as obvious in meaning as others. But so often, 'the church' has a blatant disregard for obvious Scriptural teaching. In just the last year I have seen these things happen:
When asked to pray for a pastor's daughter, and inquiring if he would like someone to come in and anoint and lay hands on the girl, we were told, "We don't do that at our church." Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. From James 5
Someone else asked me not to use the words 'born again', because their church did not 'use that language'. "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. " Jesus' language from John 3. (find these or any other passages at www.Biblegateway.org)
Friends, it is not a matter what you and I think about any any Scripture. And it is not a matter of what any pastor or teacher or professor thinks about any passage of Scripture. There is Truth. What matters is not one's opinion, but that we wholeheartedly seek the Truth.
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Questions:
1. What thoughts or feelings does this reading raise?
2. Have you ever seen a difference between someone's teaching and the Scriptures?
3. What do you do about that?
INTERESTING THOUGHTS:
"We are the Bibles the world is reading;
We are the creeds the world is needing;
We are the sermons the world is heeding."
Billy Graham
"Our seminaries today are turning out dead men."
Leonard Ravenhill
"Courage is contagious.
When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened."
Billy Graham
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