Twisting Tongues

Chaplain Richard Moyer

Tongue Twisted

A brief glimpse at the gift of tongues today

The following are sections of the essay in Philemon Training AC.

     Can you remember the first time you heard the tongue twister, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A pack of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?” Everyone would try to say it the fastest without error. But no matter how hard you tried, eventually the phrase became twisted often with unrecognizable words.

Tongues of Pentecost

And no matter how hard one tries to explain and justify the current use of charismatic tongues in today’s churches it just doesn’t make sense. Only when the Scriptures are twisted to fit the practice of this gift do any of the explanations support the use of tongues.  

   Whether or not a believer speaks in tongues is not as important an issue for me as it is with others. I have the utmost respect, love and compassion for all my fellow believers in Jesus Christ. But like everything we do in life pertaining to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit there should be biblical support.

      The typical evangelical explanation for the gift of tongues is that it is viewed as a “wholly mystical ability that somehow operates in a person’s spirit but utterly bypasses the mind.” (Charismatic Chaos, John MacArthur, p.220) With this explanation for tongues there is very little clear scriptural support to substantiate that this gift is for today. Rather it is often experiential evidence that is used to justify its presence. Thus, its practice becomes its reason for existence and its use.

       The big picture then and now is that tongues were a privileged gift of the early church to reach the unsaved, starting with the Jew, and to the world around. It, however, became an arrogant flaunted means of self-aggrandizement and a division in the church. And in the grand scheme it was a very insignificant aspect of the unveiling of the body of Christ.  

The true adherent will want to know why it is so bad to speak in these languages, even if not supported by Scripture. They will retreat to the pragmatic theology we see in today’s church, if it works, it must be right. But if the ultimate end of the practice is harmful, should we continue to use the idea- “if it works why mock it?”

     They were not to be seeking the celebrated, showy experiential gifts, but to demonstrate the love that Christ showed by His dying on the Cross of Cavalry. Do not crave the applause of men, the popularity of being a spiritual giant with all gifts, but rather, be a self-sacrificing servant who carries his cross and bears the burdens of others that they might find Christ—the more excellent way.

       If tongues are not for today, and they are not being practiced as mandated by the word of God, and they are not mystical heavenly languages, and in their aberration can cause more harm than good, why has Christ not stopped them?

    Thus, we must conclude that if tongues are for today, then the one with this gift must prove through Scriptures a reason for the new significance of this gift that ceased 1,900 years ago.

    If tongues are not for today, and they are not being practiced as mandated by the word of God, and they are not a mystical heavenly language, and in their aberration can cause more harm than good, and historically, biblically and theologically they have been shown to have ceased, why have they not stopped?

     Just as in the Corinth of the early church, just like the modern age phenomena such as hula hoops, pet rocks, Nintendo games, etc. this gift has been the great imitator in today’s churches. It has become a pragmatic means to a practical end, being a large well attended successful church that can be controlled, influenced and marketed for its mystical experiences and uncontrolled group dynamics that allows its adherents a brief escape from a cruel hostile world. That will sell!!!

      I cannot answer that for anyone but myself. After years of ongoing study, I cannot endorse its practice. But I do not make it an issue, unless of course someone wants to discuss it. And then I provide what I have learned and let them decide.

      With the Bible being completed, with years of study on the topic and with the evidence that this gift causes more dissension in the church than unity, I cannot truly say that the gift is for today.