Quote:
Originally Posted by Sister Truth Seeker
May I ask a question here about tongues....what would you think if you never heard your pastor speak in tongues? Would you think he didn't have the holy ghost, was shy, was embarrassed, or what would be the reason do you think for that?
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That's a good question. I think it has something to do with a nuanced meaning of "speaking" and "hearing."
In the Bible those that came with Peter "heard" the gentiles speak in other tongues (
Acts 10) even though the gentiles were not "
speaking to" Peter and his companions. The gentiles were praising God.
We also will inevitably hear people
speaking to God whenever we join in corporate worship. We are in fact, overhearing or listening in to a converstaion between people other than ourselves.
When a message in tongues is given, there is an expectation of an interpretation. The message in tongues is spoken to all those who are gathered together.
Whenever someone speaks into a microphone, they are by default, speaking to everyone within the sound of the mic. If they are intentionally broadcasting a prayer between themselves and God then they must be doing so for a purpose. If its is a prayer then the purpose may be so that eveyone gathered can say "Amen!" to the intentions of the prayer. If it is in tongues, and there is no expectation of an interpretation, then the speaker appears to the rest of us as if he were a "barbarian" and he is "speaking to the air" (
1 Corinthians 14:4-22).
For many people this smacks of an undisciplined practice and of course everyone then wonders, "What would an outsider think?" (
1 Corinthians 14:23).
Many people take
1 Corinthians 14:4, in a very exacting way. And these people then are troubled by someone who stands up and edifies himself in front of others. It smacks of egotism in the minds of many. It is far better to avoid this practice and take what little time we have together to edify the church as a whole. There is plenty of time to edify oneself in the remainder of the day.
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