SPEAKING OR BABBLING IN TONGUES

The issues of speaking in tongues have plagued traditional christianity for decades with church splitting and division that cause acrimony and disunity. This is to be expected as people who play with fire will eventually be burnt by it. This short blog intents to answer some of the controversy surrounding the issues of speaking in tongues or more appropriately called, babbling in gibberish tongues. The former is biblical but the latter is another man-made theology that has it root tracing all the way back to the tower of Babel (confusion) from where the English word 'babble' comes from.

People who babble in gibberish tongues have no idea what they are talking or even doing. As speaking in tongues is listed as a spiritual gift, then babbling in gibberish tongues is a violation of 1 Cor 12:1 which states, 'Now conserning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be IGNORANT.' Obviously, what the tongue babblers are doing is contrary to what the Scripture is teaching as it is not God's intention for people to be ignorant or unable to understand spiritual gifts. Simply put, they are exercising the 'gift of confusion' by confusing people, both believers and non believers alike! Such a practice is common among idol worshippers whose trademark is confusion, with its root originated from the Mystery Babylon Religion. During the time of the Apostle Paul in Corinth, pagan temple prostitutes were among the gibberish tongue babblers. Perhaps those who are adamant on such practices should research their ancestral lineage!

Much like banks' toxic assets, they are repackaged and resold under the Christian brand with the Charismatic logo tagged onto it! Under the aura of fear, eloquence and emotional mesmerisation by nothing more than snake charmers in staged settings, gullible and naive people are led to undergo and practise such spiritual charades without even understanding what it's all about. They were told simply to exercise faith and trust God and viola! they're spirit filled! Truly, the white horseman of the apocalypse is charging ahead to slaughter like the knight templar, all in the name of Christianity.

It is true that all believers must have the Holy Spirit indwelling them in order to be saved for eternal life (Romans 8:9,11). But must all speak in tongues? The Apostle Paul asks some rhetorical questions in 1 Cor 12:29-30, 'Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?' The answer to each of these questions is obvious and does not require a degree in theology to understand. Disciples of Jesus Christ are known by their fruits (Matthew 7:20) and by their love for one another (John 13:35). Nowhere in Scriptures is it mention that they are known by their speaking in tongues, let alone babbling in gibberish tongues. It goes to show that the propagators of gibberish tongues to the mass congregation are doing so outside the ambit of the Bible!

The next question to ask is, 'What exactly is speaking in tongues?' Simply put, it is speaking another known human language unknown to the speaker. For example, I neither speak nor understand the Tamil language, and if God would give me the gift of speaking in Tamil to bring some of my Tamil friends (who can converse and understand only Tamil) to salvation, He would endow me with the gift of speaking in the Tamil language to reach out to the Tamil folks in our midst. This was what happened at Pentecost when devout Jews from every nation under heaven heard them speak in his own language (Acts 2:5-6). 1 Cor 14:22 clearly states that tongue is a sign for unbelievers and not for believers. In fact, the word 'unknown' in 1 Cor 14 is in italics, meaning that the word was added by translators but not in the original Greek manuscript which is the true inspired Word of God!

Many Christians, especially those from the Pentecostal camp, believe that to fall backward after being prayed for to receive the 'gift of tongues' is to be 'slain by the Holy Spirit'. Some were even coerced to move and roll their tongues in rituals that often fringed on the bizarre. But examples abound in God's Word that those who face the Lord or His angels fell forward like Abraham did, and so was the soldier when he confronted Jesus to arrest Him. However, while those who faced the demons fell backward like those who were demon possessed. Man loves to seek exciting thrills and experiences to spice up their lives. The music and drumbeat of the Pentecostal's Holy Ghost meetings are often a draw for those seeking the mysterious and unknown like 'speaking in tongue' and 'miraculous healings'. But such is not the way given in Scriptures, for man's way is not His way. That is why many fall prey to deception.

Speaking in tongues is a gift that only God can dispense as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). But thrill seeking men are trying to invoke the gift by playing all kinds of spiritual poker games to lure and entice the uninitiated. They become mere pawns in the hands of Satan whose sole purpose is to confuse and deceive so that they will fail to inherit the kingdom of God and hence no eternal life! The end result is that all participants are being deceived as the demonic forces lay hold of their victims like the lamb being led to the slaughter. In these days and age, this gift should be few and far between as modern communications and interpretations render it almost unnecessary. There has to be a purpose for God to invoke every gift but in most 'Holy Ghost' meetings where I had attended, I see no purpose for the clairvoyance other than to exalt the preacher. The Lord Jesus warned of the severe punishment to be inflicted upon the unprofitable servant who will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30)- if they still have them! Indeed, their end shall be according to their works (2 Cor 11:15a).

It is ironical that man will seek what God never tells them to and not to seek what God wants them to. There are only two pre-conditions to receive God's Holy Spirit - to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38). By this the Word of God means genuine repentance, going through proper water baptism as a sign of death and resurrection and being laid hand upon with prayer by someone with the proper authority in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is as simple as that but man complicates the whole process to push their own agenda. 1 Cor 12:13 should be correctly read as, 'For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.' Most translations use the preposition 'by' is incorrect as the Holy Spirit baptizes no one. It is Jesus Christ who baptizes His disciples with the Holy Spirit as the means of baptism!

The Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 16:18, 'I will build My church' , note that He did not say churches. So how do all the divided and disunited churches of the Pentecostal Movement fit into the scheme of things in Christ's church? This is a question that many Pentecostals would rather avoid to concentrate on 'flowing with the tide' while the going is still good. Such flirting with spiritual poker games could well land them on the wrong side of the great divide come the day of reckoning!

Remember, the Church is called out of the world to live the way God teaches, as written in the Bible. No one has the right to do as he/she pleases. The Church started on the day of Firstfruits called Pentecost in June A.D. 31. Never has such supernatural display occurred before or since. The Greek heard the 120 speaking the Greek language. The Parthian heard the same 120 speaking the Parthian language and the Medes heard the 120 speaking the Medes language! Most of the Pentecostals failed to understand the truth about the Holy Spirit and also what is true repentance, conversion and baptism. Sadly, many will continue to worship Christ in vain as they failed to obey God's commandments (Mark 7:7-9). Since a leopard cannot change its spot (Jeremiah 13:23), many who are already hooked are unlikely to change their ways. But hopefully, it will prevent others from being misled onto this spiritual deception!