Tag: tongues

Spiritual Gifts

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 14.

Our reading today continues Paul’s writings on spiritual gifts which he began discussing and listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. In this chapter he primarily focuses on speaking in tongues and prophesy. These spiritual gifts have become a controversial topic in the Church today with some taking a cessationist view that these gifts have stopped due to interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:10 saying they pass away when “perfect comes.” They interpret “perfect” being the completion of the Bible and that those spiritual gifts were only given to the first apostles so the Bible could be completed. They believe now that the Bible has been written Scripture teaches they have stopped because they aren’t necessary anymore. Continualists do not believe these spiritual gifts have stopped. They believe the “perfect” referenced in 1 Corinthians 13:10 to be the coming of Jesus again which has not yet happened, so thus these spiritual gifts are still alive and active today.

Let me just say this discrepancy in beliefs among the Church and Christians on this topic is not a salvation issue. Those believing both views will go to Heaven if they confess their sins and believe Jesus died on the cross for their forgiveness and was raised on Easter. Let me also say that although this is a controversial topic, I am writing on it because I believe http://biblejournal.net is just that..a journal of everyday Christians to share their thoughts and what they feel God may be laying on their hearts related to Scripture. So..here we go.

In my observation (and I’ve probably heard others say this before), one interprets Scripture by a combination of the following….

  • What you feel the Holy Spirit is teaching you and laying on your heart through reading it
  • Other Scriptures on the same or similar topic
  • What pastors and spiritual leaders who you respect for consistently following God’s Word say on the Scriptures and topic
  • Your personal experiences related to the topic and how you’ve seen God move or work related to it in your life

Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, VA preached on this topic back in December of 2024 which you can find here using this link  https://cornerstonechapel.net/teaching/20241208/ . Pastor Gary interprets Scripture in a way that makes him a continualist. He references Pastor John MacArthur who is a cessaitonist and even had a 3-day conference on the topic. Pastor MacArthur is someone who I have also listened to sermons as a resource for my past Bible Journal writings. From my experiences, both follow God’s Word in their teaching..they just have a different interpretation on the Scripture for this topic.

If you are a fellow Christ follower who holds a cessationist view, meaning you believe these gifts are no longer active, please don’t hold it against me that after using some of the above methods, I would call myself a continualist. If we both believe in Jesus, that’s all that really matters. And yet again, http://biblejornal.net is just a way our writers to share what’s on their heart.

My interpretation after reading these Scriptures and listening to Pastor Gary are that things are not yet “perfect” as 1 Corinthians 13:10 says they will be when these spiritual gifts pass away. I can look around and see that things are far from perfect and although the Bible teaches us a lot about God’s heart, will, and plan..there is still a lot we don’t know that only God does. I don’t know it all or how understand all that is going on in the world around us. Do you? My interpretation of perfect is when Jesus comes again, not with completion of God’s Word in the Bible.

The other reason my interpretation of these verses is that these spiritual gifts are alive and have not yet ended are my personal experience. About 6 years ago I made a decision to step away from one half of a dual role I served in my company. This was a big decision. That one half of the dual role was the reason we moved from the Springfield area to the Bloomington area in 2011, and for many years I thought that role was the role God was calling me into to impact many others throughout the rest of my career. For various reasons which I won’t go into here and through prayer and experiences, I began to believe that may not be the case. While I felt it was the right decision to step down from this role, there was still uncertainty and fear of if this was the right decision and what was next.

When I went to tell my Managing Partner in Champaign I was stepping down from this role one early morning in late 2019, my wife was the only person who knew. I had told no one else. As I drove back to Bloomington-Normal to meet with a newer financial representative I was mentoring in the role I was stepping down from, my mind was elsewhere still wondering what was next for my family and me and our future. Had I made the best decision? When he sat down he said he wanted to tell me something before his coaching session started. He said he doesn’t tell many, but he has the spiritual gift of prophesy which was not for him and his life experiences, but to share with others. He said for many years he has observed these prophetic visions come true. He told me God had laid it on his heart during his prayers time that morning that he didn’t know exactly what, but that I was going to have a major change or promotion in my career and what I did with my company. He said whatever that change was, it was going to be a really good thing and that I would be able to bless others and blessings would come to my family in this new role. It was all I could do to keep it together. When he left that coaching session which was supposed to be for him, I broke down into tears. I was so humbled God gave him that message to deliver to me to give me peace and affirmation that my decision was the right one.

While there are always challenges that come with change, it has been clear he was correct and the change in roles has not only been good for me professionally but given me more bandwidth to coach my kids’ teams and get involved in other charitable and church and mission type work for His glory that I may or may not have thought had the time for previously.

The purpose of my writing today is not to convince you to be a continualist when it comes to spiritual gifts, but just to share with you my personal interpretation through some methods you also might find helpful to interpret Scripture and my experiences. Most importantly, my prayer is that we listen to God’s voice and the ways he may be speaking to us through His Word and through others.

Tongues and Tebowing

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 14.

I must have looked at the schedule of dates, chapters, and writers nearly five times just to make sure that my day to write and topic was 1 Corinthians 14 on speaking in tongues. Yes..the schedule was the same the fifth time I checked as it was the first! Thankfully, a few weeks ago my brother in Christ, David LaFrance told me about Pastor John MacArthur’s Grace to You app which has sermons on every chapter in the Bible, and it had 4 on this chapter alone. In listening to a few, I didn’t feel quite as inept and nervous to write on it, not only because of John’s teaching and clarification, but also because John said this chapter was without a doubt the hardest to understand in 1 Corinthians and maybe the Bible. He also said he has read close to 50 books on this chapter and the topic of speaking in tongues and no two authors fully agreed on everything. That was my sigh of relief you just heard that I don’t need to get everything just right, and I just needed to pray for guidance and attempt to do my best.

John gives some great context in that the Corinthians were seeking a state of ecstasy, not only in their own homes and personal time with God, but also while in the church and around others. They were looking for an out of body type experience. It is also important as we read this to understand that John states the word “prophesy” was not used to describe predicting the future until the Middle Ages. In fact, merriam-webster.com defines prophesy as “to give instruction in a religious matter.” It also gives the word preach as a synonym. This is what Paul was referring to. John also states that the purpose of the church is to edify people about God. Merriam-Webster.com defines edify as “to instruct or improve…” If we understand these two definitions, then we can more clearly understand in 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 what Paul is saying in that preaching and using your spiritual gifts within the church is to help others more clearly understand and to glorify God is what is important. Being in your own state of ecstasy by speaking in a tongue no one can understand is not right because it helps only yourself. In fact, John  MacArthur goes as far as to say that if you use a spiritual gift only for yourself it is a sin and you are prostituting that gift given by God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 that especially within the church, it is much better to preach because you are helping others.

Some may ask about Acts 2 where the Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and many spoke in tongues. John clarifies this is different because when the Holy Spirit truly comes like in Acts 2, everyone understands each other and the different tongues/languages which are being spoken. In this instance, God is being glorified and edification occurs because everyone understands each other. In Corinth, each individual was speaking a tongue/language which no one else could understand in public in the church. John MacArthur also interprets what Paul is saying to be the singular word for tongue which is also translated as gibberish. No one can understand gibberish, except for the one speaking it, so it is not used to help others better understand God.

So, how can we put this into context within our world and lives today? As I mentioned in our introduction to 1 Corinthians two weeks ago, not too much has changed. We still live in a society seeking ecstasy and personal experience. We are encouraged by others, advertisements, and entertainment sources to do whatever feels good to you, and it is all about you. I could just say one word that sums this up..selfie. However, I will say two words that amplifies even more the gravity and depth of our self-centered nature and the all about me world we live in…selfie-stick.

Paul tells us here in 1 Corinthians 5,12, and 26 that it’s not about you. The purpose of the gifts God gives us is to build up the church and the purpose of the church is to bring beauty to her bridegroom, Jesus. Just a few days ago we studied 1 Corinthians 10:31 which says, “So whether you eat or dink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” And then in 1 Corinthians 10:33, “just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they might be saved.”

Let me use on example of the gift of athletic abilities and sport. I have heard many Christians even criticize Tim Tebow for his outspokenness about his faith, thanking God in interviews after victories, and for “tebowing” after a touchdown. I once read a book where Bobby Knight was quoted as saying he didn’t have his teams pray before games because God didn’t want his team to win more than the other team, and God was not going to parachute down and make a basket for them when they needed it. I think many Christians take this posture and for example, think it’s wrong to mix sport and faith. They think athletic gifts are just athletic gifts and not for God’s glory and that when Tebow thanks God after winning a game that he’s saying God wanted him and his team to win more than the other team. I didn’t used to like it when athletes thanked God after victories as well. However, I missed the point. Tim is not saying God wanted his team to win more. What Tim is saying is that it’s not about him. God gave Tim the gift of athletic ability in order to glorify him and not only is Tim thanking him for these gifts, but most importantly, he’s actually using these gifts to glorify God, spread the Gospel, and model the love of Christ so others can see and will be drawn to Christ’s love by what he does both on and off the field.

Just like speaking in a tongue (gibberish), what good is the gift of athletic ability if you are only using it to benefit yourself and for your own selfish desires and not to bring glory to God and bless others? I’m very passionate about the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The FCA’s vision is “to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.” Tim embodies this. He is impacting others for Christ through sport and the athletic abilites God his given him just as God is instructing us to do in 1 Corinthians 10 and 1 Corinthians 14.

Let’s learn from this and ask ourselves today the following questions. How can we use the gifts God has given us (and he’s given us all gifts) to glorify him? How can we spread the Gospel as Jesus instructed us in Matthew 28:19? How can we help others know him and his saving grace on the cross wherever he has placed us whether that be in our home, neighborhood, athletic field/court, and yes, even our workplace? How can we make wherever we are a mission field for him and his glory?