Speaking in tongues a comfort for some, and disquieting for others

May 24, 2015

Background Scripture: Acts 2:1-21; 1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Devotional Reading: Deuteronomy 4:32-40

In 1 Corinthians 12-14 we see Paul dealing with the conflicts that were forming over “spiritual gifts,” especially glossolalia. Apparently, this was not a small or insignificant division.

Those not experiencing these spiritual phenomena were suspicious and discomforted by them. They assumed, rightly, that speaking in tongues was also experienced in some pagan religions, just as prayer, visions and prophecy are not the exclusive property of Christianity.

Like many Christians, they regarded this experience as one in which believers appear to be in the control of unseen but powerful spiritual forces, something they found disconcerting, frightening and even repulsive.

On the other hand, many who have experienced it find it both inspiring and powerful. Glossolalia is probably the primary spiritual experience for Christians identified as Pentecostals, and Pentecostalism is reported to be the fastest-growing Christian movement in the world today. Few, if any, Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox and mainline Protestants have been identified with this ecstatic practice – but there are always exceptions.

Some question the term “Pentecostal ,” a reference to the speaking in tongues that marked the Day of Pentecost in post-resurrection Jerusalem (Acts 2). Pentecost – “50 days after Passover” – was an annual Jewish observance: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from the heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

“Divided tongues, as of fire appeared among them and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:1-4).

The inclusive spirit

They spoke in “other languages” and there were people present for whom these tongues were their native languages: Parthians, Elamites, Mesopotamians. Cappadocians, inhabitants of Asia, Pontus, Phyrgia, Pamphiliq, Egypt, Cyrene, “visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs” (2:9-11). As described in Acts, it was an inclusive experience: People of different nations heard the Gospel in their own native tongue.

Over the years, I have attended several Pentecostal services, including one led by Oral Roberts and two others by Katherine Kuhlman. The services led by Roberts and Kuhlman were healing services, but in the other Pentecostal services I visited, the ecstatic speech I heard was not of a human language, but an unknown, unintelligible language understood by no one. Of course, often there is an “interpreter” present and he or she “interprets” these tongues that are not real languages.

Do I disbelieve in ecstatic spiritual experiences like glossolalia? Not so long as they unify, rather than dissolve, the unity of the Body of Christ. This was a danger Paul perceived for the Corinthian church, and in his letter to Corinth he attempted to deal with it.

I believe with Paul that speaking in tongues can be a genuine “gift of the Spirit.” But, as he discovered, “speaking in tongues” can be an experience of exclusion, particularly when it is presented as the customary experience to be sought and practiced by “all true followers of Jesus Christ.”

I recall vividly the family relative who telephoned me and pontificated that my mother would “go to Hell” because she had not experienced the Holy Spirit in Pentecostal fashion – implying that I would accompany my mother.

Spirit and mind

There is an ego problem inherent in the bestowal of spiritual gifts. People who are quite certain they have experienced the Holy Spirit and have been blessed with uncommon powers and gifts are more likely than less likely to feel and believe that other Christians should conform to their experiences.

This can also be true for those who see themselves as blessed with the gift of healing. All Christians must continue to confront themselves with the realization that their spiritual gifts have not been bestowed because they are spiritually superior.

There is another concern that is often attached to spiritual gifts, particularly speaking in tongues. With so much emotion engendered by the experience of spiritual gifts, it is disarmingly easy to either misinterpret the phenomena or unconsciously, or even consciously, force or enact the experience. The power of self-deception is as powerful as our deception of others. It is not just a concern of deception, but self-deception as well. For 60 years I have witnessed a lot of phenomena attributed to spiritual gifts: healing speaking in tongues, divine guidance, visions, voices, et cetera. Some of these I would label “faked”, “imagined,” “uncertain” and what I would call “genuine.”

I have also found that once they know that you’re open-minded on the subject, people have told me of many more inspiring experiences than I would have imagined.

I like Paul’s testimony in 1 Cor. 14:13-31, for he realizes both the Spirit and the mind are essential to the follower of Jesus Christ: “Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also …

“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; nevertheless in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (14:18,19).

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.