Pastor Jack Hayford shatters myths about
"tongues"--one of the most misunderstood of charismatic
experiences.
By Jack Hayford
It only has to happen once, and you
remember.
I was at a national gathering of Christian
leaders, one which by invitation included
the whole spectrum of evangelicals:
charismatics, Pentecostals, traditional
evangelicals, mainline Protestants. I was
young in the ministry, still unoriented to the
nuances of interdenominational gatherings,
so I wasn't ready for what happened
when I introduced myself to a well-known
minister.
"Jack, it's good to meet you," he
said. "Where do you minister?"
"I'm in youth ministry with the
Foursquare Church."
Sudden silence.
The hand gripping mine went limp as the eyes
above a wan smile turned to find
somewhere else in the room to go.
An abrupt "Excuse me," and I was
left standing alone--rejected because I was
"one of those people" who speak
in tongues.
The memory's pain has long since been
handled, and the unwitting injurer of my
soul forgiven. The good news is that it's
far less likely to happen among the broad
mix of Christ's body today than when the
icy moment slapped my face those many
years ago. But the sobering fact is that a
peculiar thing happens in some people's
minds when they learn that you speak in
tongues.
Unfortunately, a few fanatics are all it
takes to to create the ugly stereotypes.
Because somewhere, sometime, someone
"screamed in tongues at the concert" or
"shouted praise to God in the middle
of the wedding," the caricature of a
charismatic as being "a half-bubble
off-center" lurks in the minds of many people.
Any number of things foster caricatures of
charismatic believers. But like most
caricatures, aside from the slightly comic
exaggeration of features, significant
factors are usually overlooked.
When the apostle Paul said, "Though I
speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love" (1 Cor.
13:1), he was approaching the subject of
charismatic gifts in a corrective, yet
constructive way. Had we the opportunity to
talk with him further about the blessing of
spiritual language when we are loving, I
cannot help but believe that he would have
affirmed that people who speak in
tongues are not merely tongue speakers.
There is so much more about us--just as
there was so much more about Paul, the
self-announced all-time speaker with
tongues (1 Cor. 14:18).
For my own part--and I think I represent
millions of ordinary Christians who enjoy
the blessing of a spiritual prayer
language--I am more than just a tongue speaker.
For the benefit of all who are open to the
Holy Spirit's fullness, I would like to list
some traits that I share with other
tongues-speaking believers and debunk a few
underlying myths.
1. Though I speak with tongues, I am an
intelligent person. By intelligent, I mean
reasonable, coherent, rational--as opposed
to mindless, scatterbrained or gullible.
I'm not appealing to the ability to explain
the theory of relativity. I'm simply
affirming that, though I speak with
tongues, I haven't taken leave of my mental
faculties.
Nor do I take leave of them when I speak
with tongues.
It's a mistake in nomenclature that some
writers have described speaking with
tongues as irrational speech. Worse yet,
many have proposed it is not a language,
but only gibberish.
To pass such judgment is to presume the
observer knows every one of the earth's
nearly 6,000 tongues--not to mention the
possibility that beyond this planet a few
heavenly languages may be spoken. To indict
tongues with the charge of gibberish
is also to acknowledge one's ignorance of
the innumerable times that tongues
spoken by Spirit-filled people have been
recognized by hearers.
The exercise of tongues is an intelligent
act!
Not that the language is known, but that the choice to speak is known (1 Cor.
14:15), the Person being spoken to is known (1 Cor. 14:2), and the content of
what is spoken is sometimes perceived
after the fact (1 Cor. 14:13).
Though spiritual language is not irrational
speech, it may be described as
suprarational: It is not an aberrant or
ignorant exercise, but it does exceed the limits
of the mind's unaided capacities.
2. Though I speak with tongues, I am a
sensible person. A sensible person is one
who possesses practical good sense and the
ability to resist the absurd or foolish.
I wish that every person who has ever
spoken with tongues realized that to do so
was not an invitation to "la-la"
land. God hasn't ordained that our experiences in
the supernatural are an exit pass from the
realm of the natural, the mundane or the
practical.
I've encountered only a few who supposed
this, but it's doubly painful each time.
It's painful because of the instances of
raw inanity or outright stupidity that have
masqueraded in the name of the Holy Spirit.
It's also painful because once such
things take place, they seem to become
indelibly etched in the memory of all who
witness it or hear about it. Dumb things
done by a charismatic are usually chalked
up to his or her being a tongues speaker,
rather than noting that the same person
without tongues would probably have done
the same dumb things!
3. Though I speak with tongues, I am a
fallible person. Perhaps few accusations
are more unfounded than the oft-quoted
criticism of people who claim a new
experience of the Spirit's fullness:
"They think they're better than everyone else!"
Within the circle of my associations,
nothing could be further from the real feelings
of charismatic believers: We do not feel we
are better than other Christians, but we
do feel we are better Christians that we
were before.
A genuine work of the Holy Spirit at any
dimension in a human soul will inevitably
deepen our perspective on Christ's
character and Christian purity. This will bring a
progressive humility with a heightened
awareness of sin and a greater readiness to
confess and renounce it.
The truly Spirit-filled experience will
more than likely align with Christ's experience:
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted by the
devil" (Matt. 4:1). Spirit-fullness is
a pathway to a more direct conflict with our
adversary than before.
So a person who
chooses to move into the Spirit-filled exercise of spiritual language should be
characterized by more dependence on the Lord--not less.
The realm of spiritual vitality is the
realm of spiritual warfare. They're the same
arena. And any notion of infallibility
needs to be dashed to the ground because it's
the surest way to fail: "Therefore let
him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall"
(1 Cor. 10:12).
Perhaps the greatest battle of my spiritual
life took place at a time I had made my
deepest commitment to move in the realm of
the Spirit's fullness. Early in my
ministry, though my marriage was strong and
my commitment to Christ was solid, I
slowly but definitely began to find myself
in an emotional entrapment. My
involvement with a woman of equal
dedication evolved into an affinity that in time
moved from friendship to a near- adulterous
infatuation.
During those dark days of a temptation to
which I never surrendered, I wrestled
long in prayer against the emotional
tentacles seeking to drag me into sin. I would
often cry out to God, frequently with
surges of the spiritual language gushing forth
in intercession for my own helplessness. It
is to the praise of God's grace that I
was spared the loss of my integrity, my
marriage, my ministry--my life!
That experience clearly demonstrates two
things: (1) Spirit-fullness is no guarantee
of infallibility. (2) Spiritual language is
a mighty resource when in warfare against
sin.
4. Though I speak with tongues, I am a
growing person. Possibly nothing thwarts
Christian growth more than the
pretentiousness of supposed "attainment," however
piously manifest.
Jesus described our relationship with Him
as vine-to-branch, and in doing so not
only promised growth but demanded
fruitfulness. The religious posturing He
encountered in ancient Jerusalem was the
embodiment of the nothing-but-leaves fig
tree He cursed outside the city. Because
His feelings about fruitlessness are clear, I need to keep available to His primary
method of assuring growth and fruit: "pruning".
I propose that every Spirit-filled believer
welcome the ceaseless ministry of our
Lord in this respect. Unfortunately,
nothing is truer of our religious traditions than
our tendency to become excess baggage
rather than fruit-begetting disciplines.
The test of my growth will ultimately be
measured by the regularity of my having
been pruned--my "holy habits"
scrutinized under God's fiery gaze, my "convictions"
subjected to His modifying mercifulness,
and my "doctrines" kept shapable by the
Spirit's work in enlarging my understanding
of the Father and His Word.
A growing person will never become a bigot,
for he or she knows there is much to
learn. Nor can a growing person ever be
satisfied with the status quo, for the
"onward call" continually sounds
from above where our Great Shepherd calls us to
higher ground.
5. Though I speak with tongues, I am a
dependable person. A mild heresy among
a few supposed charismatics claims that the
fullness of the Spirit licenses a basic
unpredictability in every facet in life.
Some people believe that if they possess a
"who knows where I'll be next"
attitude, then they are "tuned in to God."
Such an idea becomes an attempt at
spiritualizing irresponsibility or
undependability, allowing a person to
explain any late arrival, any unpaid bill, any
neglected duty or any overlooked obligation
with the words "The Holy Spirit
seemed to lead me to..."
The whole of the Scriptures breathe of a
consistency between spirituality and
dependability. Late payments are not
necessarily unchristian, nor are late arrivals,
but the dependable person deals with such
eventualities in a responsible way that
doesn't blame God for mistakes.
But praying in tongues can make a
difference, however. Time and again when I am
in prayer--praying "with the
understanding" as well as "with the spirit" (1 Cor.
14:15)--reminders, clarifications or
practical guidance comes to mind. Such
Spirit-given direction enables me more
dependably to fulfill relational expectations,
vocational pursuits or spiritual goals.
6. Though I speak with tongues, I am a
sinful person. To acknowledge this is
neither to build a case for future carnal
intent nor to argue for a casual indifference
toward sin. It's simply to state what
should be obvious: No spiritual experience
renders any of us above the touch of sin or
beyond its reach.
The Holy Spirit has been given to make us
holy--it's His first name! But His
sanctifying presence, as powerful as it may
be to assist me in resisting sin's efforts
at invading my life, is only as purifying
as my will is to let Him have full sway. In
writing a group of people he addresses as
Spirit-filled (Gal. 3:2), the apostle Paul
points out the way to ensure a walk of holiness:
"Walk in the Spirit, and you shall
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh; and these are contrary
to one another, so that you do not do the
things you wish" (Gal. 5:16-17,
emphasis mine).
A few years before his death, Pentecostal
leader David du Plessis was asked a
very pointed question by a young man:
"Dr. du Plessis, could you tell me about
how old I'll be when improper
thoughts--especially about women--won't tempt my
mind any longer?"
Dear David, whose fidelity to the truth was
legendary, looked squarely into the
eyes of the young man. "Son,"
said the 80-year-old minister, "when I get that old
I'll let you know!"
There's something about the honesty of that
response that commends the greatness
of a leader who felt no constraint to
pretend piety.
Only in heaven, and ultimately in our
resurrected bodies, will there be no potential
handle for sin to manipulate us. Until
then, "walking in the Spirit" is the pathway to purity, and it is certain that a daily walk
of ceaseless prayer in the Spirit can only contribute to that sin-mastering way of
life.
7. Though I speak with tongues, I am a
biblical and Christ-centered person. The
charismatic Christian's commitment to
Christ and the Scriptures seems to be
assailed with sufficient frequency that I
feel a peculiar defensiveness.
Statistical evidence indicates that (1)
Pentecostal/charismatic ministries total more
converts than any other sector of
Christianity today, (2) the number of
Pentecostal/charismatic missionaries total
far more than half of all Protestants
today, (3) the central message of this
group is "Jesus Christ and Him crucified,"
and (4) the sole authority for our
proclamation is the eternal Word of the Bible.
Notwithstanding this objective evidence,
carping critics suggest a lack of
conviction regarding these priorities.
With regard to Christ and His Word, I've
rarely met a person who entered the
realm of exercising spiritual language but
that these matters are soon brought up,
usually in words like these:
- "Since I opened to this dimension of
the Holy Spirit's work in my life, Jesus has become so much more precious to me:
worshiping God has become so much more vital."
- "I don't know how to explain it, but
since I received my spiritual language, the Bible has opened up with a new clarity and
depth to my understanding. I can't get enough of it--I love the Word of God."
Exactly how speaking with other tongues
enhances the matter of understanding the
Scriptures or loving Jesus Christ is
probably a matter of speculation. But it is clear
that both the Bible and God's Son are
central to the Holy Spirit's present program.
He breathed the Bible into existence, and
He glorifies Christ at every opportunity.
So it's not surprising that those who speak
as the Spirit gives utterance are
Bible-centered, Christ-centered people.
8. Though I speak with tongues, I am a
happy person. One of the things that
seems to unsettle many observers of
charismatic people comment is our
exuberance and expressiveness. Some
Christians find it less than sufficiently
reverent if a person becomes genuinely
happy about God, or worship, or church
services--as though to be happy is to
reduce the meaningfulness of these matters.
More than a few critics hint that such
excitement can only be present if people are
shallow. They suggest that the reason for
happy charismatics is that we haven't
really captured the weightiness of true
godliness, or that we don't adequately sense
the greatness and grandeur of the Almighty
God.
I must admit that I am cautious myself. It
makes me uncomfortable when people
clap too much or laugh too readily in
church settings. As a pastor whose approach
is very positive and often flavored with
humor, I still am watchful against the
intrusion of either a silly or giddy
attitude rising among those I lead. But the
triumphant joy so frequently witnessed
among most charismatics is not usually due
to a reckless or shallow mind-set, though
we all have observed such unfocused
giddiness at times.
Of course, there are times for deeply sober
moments as well, and no thinking
person would deny the wisdom of making
occasion for meditative worship. But
silence is not a synonym for reverence,
just as I am not proposing happiness as an
equivalent of holiness.
But both silence and happiness--reverence
and joyfulness--deserve a place in our
gatherings and in our lifestyle as
believers. People who have lost their laughter have
usually begun to take themselves too
seriously and God's grace not seriously
enough.
9. Though I speak with tongues, I am an
average person. Salvation was never
intended to breed a race of supersaints.
Yet it has unfortunately not been
uncommon for a few charismatic people to
fall prey to the notion that
"supernatural" means something
other than "human."
A generally unspoken but nonetheless
present myth says: "If you get all God has
for you, you'll become a member of a
super-race of Christians, whose mission is to
move throughout the planet like
extraterrestrials, stunning mankind with your
accomplishments."
However, redemption and spiritual
enablement haven't been designed to make us
superhuman but to make us truly human--the
kind of creatures God created us to
be. The redeemed, Spirit-filled Christian
is a marvelous dichotomy, a paradox in
motion, where both the finite and the
infinite meet.
It's a thrilling thing to "taste of
the powers of the world to come" (Heb. 6:5), for the
incredibly mighty power of the living God
courses through us at times, with waves
of Holy Spirit power that are a foretaste
of eternity. These momentary invasions of
our ordinariness make for wonderfully
extraordinary possibilities, and flashes of
glory often distill in real miracles. Yet
we also often find ourselves groaning amid
present sufferings, longing for the moment
at Christ's coming when "this mortal shall
put on immortality and this corruptible
shall put on incorruption" (1 Cor. 15:51-
53).
To live in this holy tension between two
worlds requires a rare balance, always
contending for God's supernatural grace to
find a conduit through our frail vessel,
while at the same time refusing to deny our
fundamental humanity or to dabble in
the vanity of self-exalting
pretentiousness.
10. Though I speak with tongues, I am a
hope-filled, trusting person. Though
charismatics and Pentecostals differ widely
on how faith works, they agree that a
person who prays with the Spirit is often
directing that prayer toward impossible
situations--convinced that "all things
are possible to him who believes" (Mark
9:23).
It is the conviction that the Holy Spirit
enables intercession that prompts readiness
to face the impossible in faith: "We
do not know what we should pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit Himself makes
intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts
knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
because He makes intercession for the
saints according to the will of God. And we
know that all things work together for good
to those who love God, to those who
are called according to His purpose"
(Rom. 8:26-28).
These verses present three great truths:
- We all regularly face "things"
we don't know how to pray about (v. 26).
- The Holy Spirit will dramatically assist
in prayer at such times (v. 27).
- By this means, God's purpose and power
are introduced into the situation
(v.28).
Conclusion: Things that otherwise wouldn't
have "worked together for good," do
now, because Spirit-inspired intercessory
prayer has intervened. A different result
has become realizable than would have been
the case if the circumstance were
merely surrendered to the course of this
world, to human wisdom, to theologized
passivity or to hell's workings.
No sensible Christian, however convinced in
the power of faith, is arrogant enough
to claim to have "mastered"
faith. There is no one who has a magic key or perfect
insight, so the fruit of our faith-filled
prayers is not always what the human mind
would dictate. And that's when the highest
level of faith takes over--the faith that
trusts God's faithfulness even when it
appears that our prayers haven't won the day
(at least not as we would have defined
"victory.").
There are no formula answers, nor are there
any guaranteed results. But the record
is very clear on one thing: A great many
prayers for unusual or miraculous manifestation of God's power are answered!
They are far too many to be written off as coincidental.
As an infant I was the victim of a birth
defect that the physician said would take my
life before I was 2 years old. Yet I was
healed after a prayer request was sent by a
relative to a church near where my parents
lived. Further, as a 3-year-old child, I
was stricken with polio. After the medical
community had done the best they could
do and it wasn't enough, again I was healed
as a result of "the prayer of faith."
In each of those cases, as with multiplied
millions like them, many of the prayers
involved praying both "with the
spirit" and "with the understanding." Can you see,
then, why I perceive a special beauty in
spiritual language?
Though I speak with tongues, I don't always
witness the miraculous or see the
result I might have preferred, but I am a
hope-filled and trusting person
nonetheless. My hopes are founded in Christ
and rooted in God's Word of promise, and my trust is unshaken when
answers seem unseen, for abiding assures me that my Father's unchanging wisdom, love
and mercy is in operation- -even when I don't see it.
Truly Charismatic
To open to the beauty of spiritual language
does not require you to become a
wild-eyed fanatic, a rigid proponent of
faith, a drone preoccupied with health or
wealth, or a giddy dupe running from one
televised service to another.
Charismatic isn't a stereotyped lifestyle
managed by a pop theology or a
manipulative leader. It's a biblical,
Christ-centered, sensible, hope- filled, happy,
trusting application of God's promises for
today.
To be truly charismatic is to enter a dimension of Christian living available
to people who sin, fail and suffer, yet seek God's holiness, depend on His grace and
believe for His presence and power in the middle of their tough times.
Speaking in tongues--or any other spiritual
gift--is not unbiblical or outmoded, not
a status symbol or a substitute for
spiritual growth. Above all, spiritual language is
not divisive. When the beauty of this
exercise is scriptually understood and wisely
employed, it is a pathway of blessing for
the entire body of Christ.
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