Sorry for the long delay in this series. I have no good excuse. I want to start by responding to some of the comments on the last part of the series.
Over on the myspace posting, Jessica Rodriguez reiterated that the spiritual gifts are for all believers, and for our time. She also mentioned a point I forgot: that while the gifts are accessible to all believers, we do have individual aptitudes in different gifts (so Chris Barber might be able to interpret tongues at all times, I might have four distinct prayer languages, Andrew Kidd might have all kinds of crazy visions, and Ken Hoffert might be so massively prophetic it takes about a week for a word he speaks over you to connect to what you know about yourself. These aren’t real-life examples at ALL).
On the blogger posting, Steve McLain asked some questions. From the story I had last time, we found that the experience of birthing was a sign from God that he was birthing something new in our region. We saw a little of that immediately, and some is still coming into being. As for why we don’t all see a lot of this happening here and now, I can’t completely say. There are a lot of factors, many of them historical in nature. Some of it is our materialistic society, some of it is a lack of hunger for the gifts, some of it is a lack of teaching, some of it is just timing. And then there’s a whole level of spiritual warfare to it, too. For a good description, see this blog post. As for being a primarily intellectual believer, I know what you’re going through. I lived that way for years. And it was a tough experience changing to how I am now (and it’s not done yet, either). Emotions, as well, come and go. Both emotions and intellect are good, but most of all, we need the Holy Spirit to transform us. And that work is more underway in all of us then we even know. God is faithful. That is what we hold to. And I really do believe that God has placed the desire to write this series on me to remedy a lot of this for many people I know.
Okay, we’ve now reached the moment you’ve been waiting for: the actual discussion of the gifts themselves.
As my starting place, I’m going to share my knowledge of what is simultaneously the most useful of the gifts and the most contentious of the gifts: tongues. And, of course, I have a couple of rabbit trails to run down first.
The first is minor. I really dislike the moniker “speaking in tongues.” In American English, the word tongues is no longer a common synonym for languages. So a better name for this gift for us would be “speaking in other languages.” Thus, I shall start a revolution, right here, right now. Let’s all use meaningful words and just call this the gift of languages.
The second rabbit trail is more major. There has been a lot of teaching in some circles that if you don’t have the gift of other languages then you aren’t saved. This is absolutely wrong. The presence or the absence of the Holy Spirit shows the state of our salvation:
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13b-14, NIV).
However, the gift of languages is not a sure-fire sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Many are the believers who for whatever reason do not manifest any of the gifts. Many are the people who fake them. If we really feel the need for a “salvation test,” try this instead:
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:18, NIV)
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:19-23a, NIV)
Okay, end of rabbit trails. Onto the meat of this writing. The primary source for our knowledge on the gift on languages is 1 Corinthians 14. Of course, because Paul is correcting the misusage of this gift and persuading the Corinthians to seek to prophesy during their meetings rather than utilize the gift of languages, we can lose track of the information about the gift of languages. Allow me to extract this information.
“anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God.” (1 Corinthians 14:2a, NIV)
“no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.” (1 Corinthians 14:2b, NIV)
“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself” (1 Corinthians 14:4a, NIV)
“I would like every one of you to speak in tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:5a, NIV)
“Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.” (1 Corinthians 14:10, NIV)
“if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” (1 Corinthians 14:14, NIV)
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.” (1 Corinthians 14:18, NIV)
“In the Law it is written: ‘Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me,’ says the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 14:21, NIV)
“Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers” (1 Corinthians 14:22, NIV)
That’s a lot of verses! I want to emphasize that this gift is important. When you use it, you edify yourself, and to such a degree that Paul (reflecting the heart of God) desired that every person in the Church utilized this gift.
From what I have gathered, there are three uses for this gift. This first use is the primary usage. This use is for communication with God. It is a form of prayer. You pray in a language not known to yourself, but known to God. As Paul wrote, you utter mysteries with your spirit. This is useful because normally we pray out of our minds. However, our minds are not yet fully redeemed. They are prone to distraction, forgetfulness, and the inability to know what to say. Our spirits have been redeemed. They are in communion with the Holy Spirit, and are directed by Him to pray what is needed. The gift of languages facilitates this process. Experientially, your mind is blank when you use this gift. That is what Paul meant when he said the mind is unfruitful. But, as he continues, this provides you with the opportunity to pray twice at the same time! In this usage, it is common to hear people refer to a “prayer language.” Often, it seems that the language (or sometimes languages) you speak when you use this gift are personal languages, known to just your spirit and to God. This means it is impossible for anyone else to know what you are praying, even demonic forces.
The second use of the gift of languages is to share a message for the body as a whole. In this context, there will be a translation. This is a less common usage, and I’ve only seen it used once. During one of the TAG nights long ago, we had an open microphone. Joylyn was led to share a message using the gift of languages. So she grabbed Krisann to interpret (even though Krsiann had never done that before). Afterwards, Chris Barber confirmed the interpretation. At this point, I cannot remember the message (though there might be a tape floating around). This is my only exposure to this use of the gifts, so I can’t really say much about it.
The third use of the gift of languages is missionary in nature. In some cases, missionaries have instantly learned whole new languages without any training, and are able to immediately go out into the field (this was common during the Azusa Street Revival). In other cases, the gift operates just like in the first use, but instead of a personal prayer language, an earthly language is spoken. This allows a message to be given to a native speaker of this language.
Okay, now that I’ve shared my knowledge about the gift of languages, I want to move onto even more useful ground. I want to help activate this gift in you.
To do so, first of all, ask God for this gift. If you need, spend some time asking for the desire for this gift. Then, if at all possible, get some people who operate in this gift to pray over you in their prayer languages while you take the next step.
The second step is to do it. This gift involves speaking; so open your mouth and start speaking. Don’t speak a language you know, though. Speak either random sounds, piece together bits from various languages you know, or if you must, just repeat “Halleluiah.” While you do this (or prepare to do this) you will be assaulted spiritually. You will be told that you cannot do this, that you will look stupid, that your language will be just meaningless sound, etc. These will seem to be your own thoughts. They are not. Disregard them and step out in faith. If you have people praying over you, listen to their languages a bit. Maybe try and emulate them to start speaking.
Now, out of at least 15 people of whom I know the circumstances of their activation of this gift, all but three successfully used this method. One other received the gift spontaneously. Of the remaining two, one had problems stepping outside known language (even the Halleluiah bit was just speaking known language to him). Of the last, she didn’t have the benefit of having people praying over her, which set her at a disadvantage (why her assuredly passionate efforts didn’t help her despite the disadvantage, I don’t know). So you can have confidence that you can receive this gift.
If, however, for whatever reason this strategy doesn’t work, please persevere. I’ve been told that at the time of Aimee Semple McPherson, believers would hold “tarrying parties” for up to three days to activate this gift. While that doesn’t seem to be necessary in our time (their efforts broke through some kind of spiritual barrier), the attitude of perseverance may be.
Once you’ve activated this gift, you can speak in your prayer language at will. And, even though this is fully a work of the Spirit, your ability with it will improve with practice. So practice! When I first began using this gift, I was told to pray only in my prayer language for a week. I recommend this practice to gain familiarity with the gift.
Please be cautious in your use of this gift. While it is useful and good, many Christians do struggle with it. So please be aware of your circumstances and act out of love for those who may struggle with this gift.
Finally, if you need people to pray over you for this gift, please contact me. If you are close geographically, I’ll be more than willing to fill that role. If you are distant, I will help you find some people to pray over you.
3 comments:
You did a good job with describing the gift of "languages". For someone that has no experience doing or seeing these gifts, I understood very well. I also appreciated the scripture. You made it a point to eliminate all the correction for focusing on the actual gift and its nature which worked really well for what you were trying to explain.
Now, my personal feeling on this gift is a little mixed. On the one hand, I want it a lot, but on the other I feel ashamed and stupid when I imagine myself with it. I think this might be spiritual attacks. I just realize where I am, who I am supposed to be, and what others will think of me if I try for this gift. Yes, I said try, because the simple act of trying to receive it seems absurd to me. I'm struggling with so much doubt lately anyway. I feel very burdened and distant--perhaps more distant than I've been in a long time. My mind is my worst enemy I suppose. It is so critical that I grow afraid to scrutinize the Bible. I'm terrified that it's not going to hold up and that I'll be left with nothing...a decision to search for some new truth in the absence of what I once thought to be truth. With all this doubt plaguing me I hardly feel capable of experiencing any gift. I feel grossly inadequate as a Christian because I barely believe it's true. Sometimes I feel it's a thread I'm holding onto anymore. Depressing, I know, but I still pray and I still seek. I'm not giving up, just growing weary of questions without answers. That's the problem, I suppose, with being the one everybody else goes to with the questions--there's nobody there for me to ask.
Phew. I'll be praying for you. And I must say, I know exactly what that kind of mental assault is like. I've gone through it several times myself. On the intellectual side, may I point out that CS Lewis, who was proabably the most intellectually honest man of our age, when he was an atheist found enough truth in the Bible that he converted to Chritianity. In his own words he was "the most reluctant convert in all of England."
As dar as the fear of shame, well that's a whole topic I should maybe adress in this series. Becuase very often, wit these gifts, you are out of control of your actions. Which is hard, but to some extent necessary, to break the cords of self-sufficiency we place around ourselves.
And don't be afraid to take some time praying this out. Even when I first greatly desired this gift, it took me months to ask for trusted people in a safe environment, who had this gift, to pray over me.
Again, I will keep you in prayer. God will bring you through.
Thank you friend.
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