Thursday, August 18, 2011

Tongues?

Since we're still running low on You Ask, I Answer questions, for now I'm going to just answer them on Tuesdays.

So, today I'm going to link you to this article, Tongue Talker, ask you to go and read it, and then come back and tell me what you think.

I agree deeply with the author's perspective on the gift of tongues, and I loved what she had to say.

It's definitely the gift of the Holy Spirit that I have wrestled with the most.  In my mind, it's the "weirdest", the hardest to understand, the one that scares me because it's basically impossible to control.

I'm not sure I can even answer the question of whether or not I speak in tongues.  I think so?  Maybe?  Sometimes?  It's happened once or twice, I think, in a sort of quiet way.

And yet, there is a part of me that finds deep beauty in the idea, and hopes that the gift of tongues grows in me.  There is something deeply enticing to me in my soul having a language all it's own to talk with Jesus.  It's the same part of me that has always clung to the deep promise that the Spirit will intercede for us with groanings beyond words.

So, tell me what you think.  Do you speak in tongues?  Is it part of your faith tradition?  Do you think it's weird? Scary? Beautiful?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Posted by Lisa at 6:28 am
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4 comments:

Amy Nabors said...

Growing up Baptist speaking in tongues was looked upon as something strange. Now that I'm older and have learned more about it for myself and not through the lens of another I see where it is a gift. My only question would be is it something that should be done in public if there isn't someone to interpret? I don't have an answer and am just curious about that aspect of it.

3:39 pm, August 18, 2011
Lisa said...

I would tend to believe that in a public "from the front" sort of setting, there should be some sort of interpretation.

I have at times had people pray over me in tongues in a more private setting, without interpretation, and have felt comfortable with that, though, since my Spirit could sense the depths of those prayers. In some ways it was similar to have friends from overseas praying over me in their own mother tongues that I don't understand - where I can sense their heart if not the exact meaning of their prayers.

11:11 pm, August 20, 2011
Anonymous said...

I do speak in tongues (only when I'm on my own) and it is not part of my (former) faith tradition. For a long time I found it rather weird and scary...
In my new church it's 'normal' to speak in tongues, but in a 'good' and not exaggerated way. I aggree with you that it's a great feeling to have a language that only Jesus understands. It was a few years ago, after some very hard weeks (personally) when I read an article about praying in tongues (and how you can receive that gift). There was this deep longing in me for a lot of months to talk to Jesus in that way but nothing happened. So that night I was laying in my bed and my soul longed for Jesus, his love, his spirit... The Holy Spirit showed up, I kind of had an "Holy Spirit encounter" and I opened my mouth (just as I had read in that article :-)) and out came some words I didn't knew/understand... So that's how it all started... I still have "problems" to speak in tongues when everyone else is speaking it in a service or something like that... I like speaking it privately or in my spirit quietly. But I'm ok with that, and I'm sure Jesus is too. ;-) It's a difficult topic in the different churches here as well.

8:29 am, September 02, 2011
Lisa said...

How fascinating that tongues seems to be a universally difficult topic for churches, regardless of creed or country...

so much to think about...

and yes, I know all about that deep longing for Jesus, and the sudden encounter with the Spirit :)

10:09 pm, September 02, 2011

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