The ACTS of Modern Day Apostles
February 6, 2024
Faith
February 6, 2024
Faith
A few weeks back I found myself lost in a Christian YouTube rabbit hole. I’ve been there before, learning about some obscure verse that requires interpretation to really grasp. I find myself going to the ends of the internet sometimes to make sense of what I’m reading in the Bible. Filled with history, the Bible, to an uneducated layman such as myself sometimes requires a bit of clarification. At this point, I’d moved well beyond clarification into something more like intrigue. As I settled into to watch and learn, this pastor was doing a sermon called Fire School. Having experience with the ‘fire’ of The Spirit from my own walk with Jesus, I tuned in, anxious to learn what he was teaching.
He starts off talking about revival, family revival to be exact and before long he is wearing the carpet thin beneath his feet. Walking back and forth with the power of excitement guiding his words, movements and actions. As he gets warmed up, he starts talking about open hearts and open hands, willingness to receive the Lord. I thought to myself what an incredible speaker he was, a messenger with great delivery. I was filled with excitement, and I found myself leaning forward in my seat. However, well into his speech, he begins talking about putting expectations and demands on God. I quote, “You have got to make a demand on the anointing of Lord Jesus”, “What would it look like if 150 people made a demand on Lord Jesus” “Come to the Church House with Holy expectation”, “It’s time to make a demand on the anointing in Lord God”. All of this in the name of revival.
I paused, rewound the video and watched again. Yep, he said it, he asked the entire body to make these demands and to have these expectations of Jesus. This was the first red flag of many, and as I continued to watch, sadness fell over me. He was able to quote chapter and verse and hold the audience in complete rapture, yet he was spewing deceit and lies, leaving people with only more to seek, salvation just out of grasp. The biggest lie was his emphasis on the Holy Spirit and how to use it for personal gain. I was in awe, my mouth agape, fearing for each person whose ears were pierced by his lies, misguiding the masses.
Shada backa bera be labba, dosiright shamma balla or something along those lines comes from his mouth, he was speaking tongues and claimed it to be God talking to him and giving him the perfect things to say or pray. I rewound again and again in total disbelief as people started shouting Amen and Praise Jesus. As the camera zoomed out and the audience came into view, I saw people bowing to him; and not Him. Paul in 1 Corinthians 14-27:28 is very clear:
“27If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.”
I did not see an interpreter on stage with him. I saw a man on stage encased in knowledge of scripture. The way he spoke elevated himself higher than those in attendance, his job, to give them a show, to rouse excitement, to confuse who Jesus really is. His message was clear, put demands on God. Aren’t we the ones to in service of God and to glorify God? He eluded that somehow as a follower of Jesus, you become elevated spiritually by wielding these gifts, specifically speaking in tongues. The thought that immediately came to mind was two lunch tables, one for the cool kids and one for everyone else. I prefer to sit with everyone else.
I also believe that speaking in tongues can be interpreted in other ways, not just babbling unintelligently, especially on stage. Moreover, it can’t be taught, and God doesn’t require us to speak in tongues to have His Spirit in us communicate with Him. Let me lay this out again. We are born in God’s image, we are His creation, His Spirit lives in all of us and is ignited upon accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We are simply vessels for God’s Will. God does not require any language spoken or otherwise to communicate with His Spirit in us.
As I continued watching the video, he continued speaking in tongues and claimed that he is praying prayers of perfection; a human claim. I’ve not attended seminary nor consider myself a theologian, but I’ve yet to find anything in the Bible where God is expecting perfection from us; in any way, shape or form. Further along in the video he starts talking about the gift of decision in between some more babel. I became filled with sorrow again. Even now as I am rewatching this video to write this blog a sadness overcomes me. To hear a preacher on stage talk about a false spiritual gift in a false and deceptive way was the straw that broke my back. Outside the book of Genesis, when granted free will by God, nowhere does it mention the gift of decision. Free will is the only gift of decision. Once baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit we are given the gift of discernment which has some of the same letters as decision, but not the same meaning.
The Bible is very clear about there being one Baptism. Ephesians 4:5 “5one Lord, one faith, one baptism” A reminder that Ephesian’s was written after Acts, after the church was formed. Moreover, where does Jesus talk about speaking in tongues or the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? To me, it would seem rather important for Jesus to give instruction on speaking in tongues, if this is the way for His Spirit in us to communicate with God. I’ve looked and I’m unable to find anything like this in the Gospels. However, I did find something notable in Acts 2-7:13 “7Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
This can be construed as speaking in native languages, not babel. Why else would you need an interpreter? After all, who can interpret babel when today’s concept of speaking in tongues requires you to bypass your brain, and allow His Spirit to speak? I’m left with more questions than answers and being that I wasn’t alive during Pentecost to witness the spiritual event that took place, means I’m not qualified to speak intelligently on the subject. All I have are my own opinions. But isn’t that all we have? Some may say it requires a level of faith beyond my comprehension and I counter with, “did Jesus tell you that?”
When I think back to before I believed in Jesus, which as far as timelines go, wasn’t that long ago. I imagine I could have been swept up in the excitement of what was happening on stage. I was a lost soul, looking for any answer that didn’t include my own will. I was ready to surrender, I was in a weakened state, ready to receive whatever was thrown my way. This isn’t a new concept. Deception like all things has become more intelligent just as the perpetrators of evil have. Gone are the days of Baal, Molech, Dagon, Chemosh and the Golden Calf. We are born impatient and through grace, His Grace, we learn patience. This wasn’t the case when Moses was on Mount Sinani. Growing angry, the people approached Aron, Moses’ brother, and he fashioned them a golden calf made from melted jewelry. When humans are lost, we just want to be found and when we operate on our own clock, not His clock, history shows we have no problem lying to ourselves.
We live in an instant gratification world, everything is scheduled, and anything can be had at a moment’s notice. I had a friend go on anxiety medication and with the power of the internet and virtual doctors, they went from thought to pills in under 60 minutes. Scary. Salvation can’t be delivered online; Jesus can’t be found on a Zoom call or YouTube video. He also can’t be found in the babel being spewed on a stage, especially when the tongue speaker is also the interpreter and when he follows up by encouraging everyone to come see the signs, wonders, healings and miracles at 4:00PM. The spiritual gift of discernment is powerful, and I quickly discerned that it was time to turn off the video.
When I was lost, I could have been easily deceived, and knowing myself, I would have been left seeking. Seeking what? Excitement. Excitement is the great deceiver, as it is a human ‘feeling’. We are addicted to feeling good and are insecure until we belong somewhere. When you join excitement with community, especially a ‘church’ community; inhibitions lower. Now suddenly, you have been chosen, singled out by God for goodness. You are special in every way, and don’t worry if you can’t speak in tongues, when you mature you will, just keep coming back! I want to be clear, speaking in tongues is to edify oneself and should be done alone unless you have an interpreter. When in doubt, go to the Bible and use His gift of discernment in you.
On the Walk With The Wise website, in their blog article about speaking in tongues, they sum my point perfectly. After the introduction to speaking in tongues the first heading in bold characters says, “How Do You Activate the Gift of Speaking in Tongues?” It goes on to give step-by-step instructions on how to achieve this spiritual greatness. However, the very next section heading says the following, “Can Speaking in Tongues be Taught”? I can’t help but laugh, as they answer this question with a resounding no. “Speaking in tongues cannot be taught because every spirit filled believer has their own unique prayer language.” Later in their article they claim… “Speaking in tongues is important because it allows for direct communication between your spirit and God. It should be a part of everyday life for a Christian. Paul said he prayed in tongues more than all the Corinthians.”
So, if I don’t speak in tongues, His spirit in me isn’t able to communicate with Himself? This is getting confusing and a little circuitous. I prefer to bring it back to the point of our existence. We are here to glorify God. Full stop. Seeking excitement from a stage performance is self-serving, wrapping ‘God’s Will’ around it is sinful. Use of God’s gifts to serve thyself goes against His teachings and our purpose. As a species, the masses desire being led, told what to do, not making our own decisions. Trusting in another person sometimes is easier than trusting in what He is telling us to do. Discernment isn’t decision. Discernment is knowing right from wrong, when to engage, and when to disengage. To discern isn’t to seek excitement, it is to sift good from evil.
He doesn’t need anything beyond belief to communicate with us. He lives inside us and inside His Word. Don’t be deceived. If you are lost, find yourself in His Word, not in another human expounding signs and wonders. The excitement will leave you, the dopamine harder and harder to ramp up. Before long you will feel less than, and your sense of belonging will fade away. Just as an addict seeking the next high. God doesn’t leave you wanting more, He is perfect after all, and when He fills your soul with His spirit, He fills it to the brim. The gift of decision isn’t a spiritual gift, it’s smoke and mirrors. God gave us free will, nothing more. If you find yourself obsessed with worship, be mindful of what exactly you are going to worship for. The experience or to glorify God? Then use discernment and engage free will to decide if it’s where you need to be. His Spirit in you, in perfect silence will guide you to truth.
