Speaking in Tongues

“Speaking in Tongues”
 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church – Sunday, Oct 30, 2016
Text: I Cor 14 // Series: Unleashed: Living & Walking In the Gifts of the Spirit

I will sometimes get asked “Is Jericho Ridge a charismatic church?”  To which I response “yes, most definitely”.  To which my inquirer will sometimes respond “But I thought you / we were Mennonite Brethren!”  If I think the person has a sense of humour, I’ll usually say that we’re “Menno–costal” at which point I’ve either got them laughing or they are totally mad at me.    

An article I was reading this week in Direction Journal rightly suggests that what’s happened in this discussion is that the word charismatic has been adopted and taken by most people to mean those churches who speak in tongues, believe in gifts of healing and miracles.  And then people begin to divide the world into charismatic and non-charismatic churches.

But you see the question “is your church charismatic?” is a trick question because the Greek word charismata, is used 17 times in the New Testament and it always refers to and means a gift of God’s grace.  So really, when you define it that way, every church is a charismatic church IN THAT they are to be places where the Spirit works by His power and through His gifts.  The question isn’t charismatic or non-charismatic, it is more “what gifts of His grace has God given our family here at Jericho and how do we discern and develop and deploy them? 

That’s the heart behind our current teaching fall series, UNLEASHED: Living and Walking in the Gifts of the Spirit.  We’ve been moving through and discussing everything from what is a Spiritual gift and why do we want them to delving deeper into specific gifts like prophecy, healing and today we’re going to talk about what is perhaps the most misunderstood gift: Speaking in Tongues.       

As we jump into this, there are a few things I want to say right off the bat.  First thing is to acknowledge the amazing diversity of opinions on tongues.  I mean there is TONS of debate on this grace gift.  What is it?  Why is it given? How should we use it properly if at all?  And so as we dig into a few key biblical passages, I want you to take a deep breath and simple acknowledge that diversity exists.  Not only in the church globally & historically but also within this room.  This is not a hill to die on BUT it is something helpful to discuss because if we are simple silent on this or other topics or gifts, we can create a church culture where people are sitting back and saying “OK, you say Jericho is a place where all of the gifts of the Spirit are welcomed BUT you don’t talk about speaking in tongues so how do I know if that gift is welcome here?”  One of our values is authentic community; we want you to bring your gift in an authentic way 

Today we’re going to proceed in threes.  So we have 3 Biblical passages to look at, 3 big questions that come up in these texts, 3 possible manifestations of the gift of tongues & interpretation of tongues, and then, to keep our theme consistent, 3 applications points.  So I guess that‘s really four sets of 3’s.  But I digress!  Let’s jump in and look at 3 Biblical passages that deal with the gift of tongues.

One of our core questions as Anabaptists is to ask what did Jesus say, if anything, on this topic.  And you might be surprised to discover that Jesus did address this issue.  Turn with me in your Bibles or on your devices to Mark 16.  In his last words on earth to his disciples, Jesus says in 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the Good news to everyone.  Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.

1. Jesus in Mark 16:17

“These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new tongues...” (languages)

Fascinating to think how much airtime the Great commission gets in sermons and discussion yet in some circles how relatively little we talk about the fact that Jesus anticipated that His followers would experience and express this gift. 

Going forward into the book of Acts, chapter 2, we have perhaps the most noted expression of this gift recorded in the Biblical record.  It’s on the day of Pentecost, the believers are all gathered praying and suddenly…

2. The Apostles in Acts 2:4
   1. “And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability…”

People from all over the world were “bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.  They were completely amazed “How can this be?  We are from 15 different language groups mentioned and yet they each heard them speaking in their own languages about the wonderful things God has done!”

One of the things for us to pay attention to here is that one of primary evidences of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts is the capacity for bold witness.  You see friends, when we are filled with the Spirit of Jesus; we are empowered for a purpose.  You have been given a charismata a gift, for a purpose – that purpose is to point to Jesus.  And so in Acts 2, as the believers begin to speak in other languages, conviction falls on the hearers and they are led to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  Fascinating that that tongues here served a powerful evangelic purpose! 

[if time] In my own experience in Cuba… prayer w group of pastors.  I’m praying in English and they are hearing in Spanish.  People begin to ask about God.

Let’s look at our third text…  We’re not going to read the whole thing but a significant chunk of New Testament real estate is devoted to a discussion of the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues.  At the end of his discussion,   

3. Paul I Corinthians chapters 12, 13 & 14

“Don’t forbid speaking in tongues.”  (14:39)

We’re going to come back to parts of this passage but I want us to remember, Paul is writing to answer specific questions the church in Corinth asked him and one of those questions seems to be the same as we have “what about tongues? 

When it comes to the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues, I think there are 3 BIG Questions that we should be wrestling with.   

Big Question #1: Is the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues..

1. For nobody, somebody or everybody?

There is a group within the church that are known as “ceasationalists” – They argue that the miraculous gifts, including tongues, were given by the Spirit to demonstrate original apostolic authority and thus, once the church was founded they were no longer needed.  They would look at a passage like I Corinthians 13:8 were it says “prophecy and tongues shall cease” and they will say “see! Tongues has a shelf life and we’ve passed its’ best before date!”  Now, if you keep reading in I Cor 13, we see that this text is talking about when we actually get to heaven and see Jesus face to face and thus our need for prophetic revelation and special knowledge will yes, cease in that we will have full knowledge!  But I just want to highlight that there are Christian brothers and sisters who believe that tongues is not a gift for today so no one should seek it.    

At the other end of the spectrum, you have some branches of Pentecostalism that suggest (either explicitly or implicitly) that the gift of tongues is the primary evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit and so if you don’t speak in tongues, then you are not really filled with the Spirit.  But look with me at I Cor 12:7, 10-11   

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other…  Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, [various tongues] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have....”(I Corinthians 12:7, 10-11)

Then at the end of the chapter, the Apostle Paul clarifies even more

“Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!” I Corinthians 12:29-30

Here’s his point.  We all get gifts.  No one person gets all the gifts, no one gift gets given to everybody.  So to say that if you have not spoken in tongues, that you may not be a real Christian or walling in the fullness of the Spirit is hurtful, and I think has created a lot of weird stuff in the church (like people pretending to speak in tongues so they can fit in with their charismatic friends or be accepted in those circles).  Remember our definition of a spiritual gift: anything that can be used as a resource for ministry or an occasion for God’s grace to be shown.  So our goal here at Jericho is to help unleash what God has given you, not dictate or declare that He’s given all of you one particular gift.  So the answer to question one is NOT nobody (we’re not cesationalists), not everybody, which means that we believe that some people here will experience and express gifts of tongues.   

This brings us to our Big Question #2…

2. Is tongues an earthly or heavenly language?
   • “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”     (I Corinthians 13:1)

Paul says he was caught up into heaven and so he’s in a better position than you or I am to speak about what he saw & heard but even with that experience he’s not definitive on whether tongues is a heavenly or earthly language: he’s on again about his main point: that LOVE not gifts is to be our highest goal! 

But remember Acts 2 - clearly there is a relationship between the gift of tongues and human languages because we see that the disciples are given the ability to speak in languages they did not naturally learn.  What possible use could God have to do something like that?  I’m going to invite Steve Nicolle up.  Steve and his wife Ali are members with Wycliffe Bible Translators, recent proud recipients of the Permanent Residency cards for life and work here in Canada.  Steve, can you share with us a bit of your story and experience working with languages?

In Acts 2, the result of the outpouring of the Spirit seems to be supernatural understanding.   This mirrors Steve’s experience with human language and leads us to our third big question: 

Big Question #3 – Public or Private Usage?

Some advocate that tongues is strictly a private prayer language others point to I Cor. 14 and the correctives that Paul gives as indicators that tongues has a place in the public, corporate life of the gathered faith community.  So which is it?  Public or private?  Well, listen to the weight towards the private usage…

“For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious...         A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally…” (I Cor. 14:2,4)

In this example, tongues can be a means of prayer directly to the Lord, it strengths you, builds faith, Romans 8 talks about it being used for the purpose of intercession where we don’t know what or how to pray and the Spirit stirs up a sense of connectedness with God’s Spirit.  Now, this expression of tongues doesn’t need the gift of interpretation because it’s addressed to God not other people.  When Paul says that he speaks in tongues more than all of them, this is what he is referring to.  So it’s not so much about ministry to others but about your private relationship with God…  so there’s a place for that. 

Now, on the other hand, the other description of the gift of tongues in I Cor. 14 is a much more public description.  Look what Paul says in 14:26-28

• “When you meet together… one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you. 27 No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they say. 28 But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately” (I Cor. 14:26-28)

So clearly, Paul seems a place and value in the public usage of tongues in a corporate worship setting IF it is paired with the gift of interpretation.  One thing to keep in mind was that Paul was mostly writing these letters to churches like the one in Corinth who met in homes.  I appreciate the way that Ben Schafer talks about this on his blog “Yearning Hearts Journey”.  He suggests that a healthy way the gift of tongues can find expression in a congregational setting is that a person “may get an impression that God wants to speak through her or him in tongues. Then they will (appropriate to the setting and after consulting leadership) start speaking in tongues in front of the group or church, expressing what God puts in the heart of the one who speaks. Meanwhile, others in the room will ask God for an interpretation (those with the gift especially, but it's also a good circumstance to find out if you have the gift by asking, too). The one giving the speech will pray for an interpretation too (1 Cor 14:13). After that, someone will interpret (explain) the meaning of the speech to the group or church”.  In this way, the public expression of tongues is like the gift of prophecy but with the additional step of needing interpretation. (http://yearningheartsjourney.blogspot.ca/2012/04/biblical-foundations-speaking-praying-in-tongues.html)         

So we’ve actually touched on 3 possible manifestations of speaking in tongues…  And I think this is why we sometimes get confused about it. 

1. Speaking / Understanding Tongues (Acts 2)
   • Public context with unbelievers present

Doesn’t require interpretation – the Spirit is doing that for the purpose of evangelism or the advance of the Kingdom.  This is what seems to be going on in Acts 2 or in the case of Steve’s experience.  It’s also what Paul is saying in I Cor 14:22 – that speaking in tongues can be a sign for unbelievers!

Then we have…

2. Praying in Tongues (I Cor. 14:2,4)
   • Private intercession, edification, worship

Requires no interpretation, it’s to be strengthened and speak to God.  I Cor 14:14 Paul says that when this is happening to him, his spirit is praying but he doesn’t understand with his mind what he is saying.  But this is where Paul says “I’m going to do both – praying with my mind and praying with and in the Spirit”

So, we have speaking/understanding tongues, praying in tongues and then,

3. Prophesying in Tongues (I Cor. 14:26-28)
   • Prophetic message for edification of the church

Requires gift of interpretation; less common not because it isn’t valuable or that Jericho isn’t charismatic, but Paul notes in the same chapter that often prophecy is a more direct means of encouraging, comforting and strengthening the entire church.  In 14:19 Paul says “in a church meeting, I’d rather speak 5 words understandable word to help others than 10,000 words in an unknown language or tongue”.  So by separating out these expressions of the gift into three unique manifestations, I hope it helps to bring a sense of harmony and purpose to the gift of tongues and interpretation in the life of the church & individuals.  But as is our practice here at Jericho, we don’t teach for information, we teach for transformation – we need to wrestle not just with “that was interesting” but we want you to press in and ask the Lord “not what do you want me to know about this but what do you want me to do about it?”

So here I might suggest 3 possible take aways areas of taking theory and translating it into practical application.  

1. Free Yourself from Prejudices, False Expectations or Dichotomies
   • Move from “arms crossed” to “hands open”

The gift of tongues has a TON of baggage!  I would venture to guess that a lot of us came in this morning with perspectives and judgemental attitudes or hurt feelings…  So today God may be asking you to let some of that go.  If you are an arms crossed “this gift is ridiculous” person, I would challenge you not to despise this or really any of the gifts that the Spirit may want to give you or those around you.  The challenge here is to remain open to His work. So you may need to spend some time searching your heart and repenting of words spoken against brothers or sisters who have this gift and whom you have sat in judgement over.  Yes, there have been abuses and inappropriate uses of this gift – that’s why Paul had to spend a whole chapter on it!  But don’t let that be a barrier to you.  Keep an open mind, an open heart and open hands (physical posture in worship)

2. Not a substitute for praying with our minds
   • We are invited to pursue both

The last verses of I Cor 14 are helpful here “don’t forbid speaking in tongues but be sure that everything is done properly and in order”.  Our desire is to press into prayer more fully and deeply and that’s why this Saturday, elders, staff, ministry leaders are all gathering for a prayer workshop.  We want to pursue listening to God and each other more intentionally and that exercise will involve our minds as well as our hearts, our spirits.  We are integrated, whole persons and so our interactions with God and with each other should flow out of that.  Some of you may over-emphasize the mind, you need to open to pursing and letting God move in ways that may not be fully intellectually appropriated.  This is hard for you, I get it.  So don’t hear us saying in this series that that isn’t important or valuable.  But also know that that God often does things that may not appeal strictly to our rational, cognitive linear biases.  Tongues are one of these things.  “The ability of praying in tongues is given to enhance our prayer life, not to limit it. It's an addition, not a substitute.” 

3. Pray and ask God for it
   • Getting something as a gift doesn’t mean you don’t have to learn how to use or activate it

This is true of each of the gifts of the Spirit that we have been discussing.  God wants to pour out his grace and goodness into your life and into His church in wonderfully rich and diverse ways.  But sometimes, we have not because we ask not.  So today, maybe you need to spend some time asking God for a gift.  Maybe it is the gift of tongues; maybe it’s another gift – mercy, or the gift of salvation, or gift of repentance, or gift of faith to believe for His miraculous work in your life and situation in a super-natural way.  That’s why we have prayer team (Constance, Curtis, Meg, Wally myself) available for you at the sides and back.

As Ron and the team come and we prepare to respond in worship in song, maybe you want to take and opportunity today to ask God for wisdom on how to active a gift or how to use your gifts well in this season of life.  Maybe you are facing a challenging situation at work or school – we would love to stand with you and pray for and with you.  We’re all growing in this together and when I say this, I mean we are all growing in our understanding of what it means to life and walk in the gifts of the Spirit undergirded by and sustained by His LOVE and grace.  PHOTO: I Cor 14:1 – Let Love be your highest Goal

Let me pray for you and we’ll sing three songs of response together.