Fascinating read my friend. I grew up in a movement that was primarily continuationist in theology but cessationist in practice. Speaking in tongues has always bewildered me a bit but I love hearing stories from people who have experienced it in an authentic way. Thank you for being very transparent and open about your lack of certainty around this issue. I think that honest read is much more refreshing than the alternative.
Thanks for your kind words. I’ve become increasingly suspicious of certainty around anything having to do with how God must (supposedly) work. And I’m trying to model that with my own vulnerability. And to do it without cynicism because I think we have enough of that of that in the world these days.
I’m in the same boat as Aaron here. Really appreciate your vulnerability and humility in this piece! There are a lot of spiritual experiences that feel unspiritual, leaving many of us disappointed. So I’m grateful for your willingness to share the reality.
I’m just curious, what is the context in which you speak in tongues? Trying to learn more about it!
I usually pray in tongues in my devotional time, but sometime when I stress driving and feel road rage 🙈. Sometimes I feel like I should pray in tongues more, but then I remember it’s not a numbers game. Does that help or were you wondering about something else?
And thanks for the kindness. I think it’s also worth saying that a lot of things that feel spiritual might not be.
My first experience of the Holy Spirit came at a Catholic retreat when I was 12 or 13. Then much later at 21. I was sitting alone in my home in the wilderness. I took a drag of my Marlboro red. Then something strange happened. The room felt strangely mystical and familiar. I opened my mouth to give thanks and out came tongues. No altar to kneel at, no one else even present to witness what was happening to me. The presence of God kept coming wave after wave, till I couldn’t take it anymore. In hindsight I have had the same thoughts as you about my experience. Maybe, we feel that way because God does not want us to set up an altar and live forever at the memorial of tongues. I stopped trying to make sense of an experience 30 years and trust that it is better I do not understand it all. For years I prayed in tongues daily for hours. Sometimes it felt inspired, other times it felt like a discipline and part of my rule of life. Which I have added back in. During that time the Bible came alive to me and I truly believe I came to understand Jesus in a deeper way. All things promised as a work of the Holy Spirit.
Wow. This is really wonderful and beautiful. I particularly love the specific brand and label of cigarette that occasioned it all 🤣. I still struggle a bit with wanting to understand the experience more deeply, but then I get over it 🙃.
Thank you for sharing. I think stories where the gifts are less dramatic can be helpful. Many people I speak to want “drama” every time they speak in tongues, but I think that seeing it as a “normal” part of prayer can be helpful. I grew up in an Assembly of God church that emphasized Spirit Baptism and speaking in tongues, and practiced the gifts of the Spirit regularly, but the pastor and elders were skeptical of any “funny business”…i.e. pushing people over, putting on a show with personal prophecy, etc. When praying for people to be baptized with the Holy Spirit I remember them specifically instructing people that God would not take over your body or “do it for you”…rather, it would be a welling up and we had to “put it out on the airwaves”. I’m thankful for my experience as a 12 year old as I consider speaking in tongues a precious part of my prayer life to this day and a good exercise in humility for someone who tends to be analytical.
This is a lovely comment, thank you. I love the language of “funny business.” Crazy how excesses are always lurking. Did funny business ever happen and how did the pastors handle it?
I’m a sucker for honest questions about professed certitudes. And I think Jesus is too. Without trying to pinpoint the moment of Spirit baptism, I believe the Holy Spirit can and does turn our honest fake attempts into something real.
Yeah, I was actually already thinking along those lines, but was tied to say it. I cringe when I hear people say that they were told to "repeat after me" when praying for the experience. But, equally, imitation is how we learn just about everything. Tell me your thoughts 💭
I think God is so kind, so gentle, and so good that he pays attention to what can only ever be our pathetic attempts, gives us a paternal smile and chuckle, and says “Okay, I can work with that.”
I think it’s why people’s formulas for divine mysteries and repeat-after-mes actually work. God makes them work.
I'm with you. I also just need to figure out how to encourage people to stop forcing tongues on kids at altar calls with the "repeat after me" line, while also saying God works with it. Hahaha. Anyway, this is why I'm a pentecostal sacramentalist!
Framing these things as a sort of magic might get people’s attention. We Pentecostals are susceptible to turning mystery into magic - say these certain words, do these certain actions with our bodies, etc.
Great essay! My experience with it came with a form of mild hypomanic psychosis where I had what I thought was a “vision” of Jesus standing next to me at a youth conference. It was genuine what I felt and the “voice” of tongues is always there as an internal scrambled dialogue of the spirit I suppose. It has comforted me thru some of the most difficult moments of my life when my doubts prevail. But the honest truth is it scares people. Perhaps because it makes no sense. When some of my agnostic atheist friends request a demonstration they usually go cold in the face like they just witnessed an exhibit on Riley’s Believe it or Not. They normally comment that it sounds unworldly, which is reassuring I guess. Either way, it’s meant for edification, not a freak show. But once you’ve genuinely experienced it in an authentic way, you can easy distinguish what is not. And I assure you, most of what is shown on television is questionable.
This is a lovely vignette, thanks for sharing. Truly powerful and wonderful to see Jesus standing next to you. I believe you about discernment, but I confess that I still have some doubt sometimes even as I pray in tongues—is this real? 🫣
I think when reason tries to understand, it can get in the way of edifying your spirit. I think it’s precisely because it isn’t logical that it can work to amplify your faith. There is a lot about the bible that can be difficult, contradictions and inconsistencies, but praying in the spirit transcends all of that. The bible says God is not the author of confusion. If you find yourself concerned about what people think when “all eyes are on you”, you might be wondering whether their interpretation of your own personal experience is more important than your own. I often feel that way too and don’t usually feel comfortable speaking in tongues publicly, but in rare situations when it’s necessary, it has provided breakthroughs when nothing else can.
I really enjoyed reading your essay and personal testimony of your experience. It makes me feel less…alone?
Thank you. I also feel less alone from all the comments, including yours. And you make a really good point about the difference between public and private: I grow weary of narratives that suggest all experiences with the Spirt must be loud, extroverted, and in public.
Thanksssss. Yes, "coercive" is an important and helpful word for describing some of the excesses of Pentecostal altar calls, so I owe you for reminding me of that word. I wonder sometimes why my people don't believe something as simple as "God can meet you in your seat as much as at the altar."
Refreshing. I could write so much here. In the midst of my Pentecostal upbringing, I found Jesus. However, my most intimate moments with the Lord did not take place at the church altar. Maybe due to my introverted personality 🤷♀️. I do believe in speaking in tongues but for me, the evidence of a spirit filled, transformed life is the fruits we produce.
Yeah, it’s bizarre to me that my tradition in the Assemblies of God emphasized the fruit of the Spirit so little. I think it came from a place of sincere desire to see everyone speak in tongues, but that singlular focus let a lot of really (really!) important stuff fall to the wayside.
And, ftr, my more intimate moments in the Spirit have also been in private. I wish that would have also been talked about more. Do you identify as a Pentecostal now? I’m really curious how you describe your own spiritual life.
I identify as apostolic (Pentecostal) and attend an apostolic church but I find myself hesitant to say that because there are a lot of negative associations. I think I’d rather identify as a Christ seeker rather than be defined by a religious group. I don’t believe exactly as I was raised. I sometimes get frustrated with religiosity. I strive to know Jesus and humble myself to His word. And yet I deeply believe we need to be connected to a local church body. This was an interesting question. How I identify myself!
Thanks for writing this. I can identify with it a lot! I grew up PAOC and had the expectation that I’d experience tongues just like all the teens and adults I looked up to. I purposely waiting to ask for this in earnest at our yearly Youth Convention. I responded to the altar call. Went forward. Was prayed for. And nothing happened.
I waited until summer camp. This time was was determined to “tarry” until I was filled. A long time in while my youth pastor prayed for me he said he heard me say something in tongues. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t hear of feel a thing, but I took it on faith.
My “prayer language” developed over time, but I always doubted the reality of if anything happened on that night at teen camp. It’s probably over a decade now since I’ve spoke in tongues.
I think the Spirit is more than able to move slowly 🤓 I mean, who am I to suggest how God must work with us anyway 😝?
Thanks for sharing your story too. It’s really encouraging to just be able to engage honestly with the complexity of expectations and lived experience in Pentecostalism.
Good thought. I guess I never expected that my experience would differ much from all the testimonies I grew up hearing. It seems like such a massive God encounter to them, but not for me.
I did the usual “young restless and reformed route” lol. 13ish years ago resigned from pastoring a small country church that was officially PAOC but in practice a real mixed bag community church. We decided to leave paid ministry and started attending a PCA church plant nearby. Served as an elder there, but have been slowly moving away. I think we swung too far in the cessationist direction. So, I’m not sure where I fit anymore.
I think the “church refugee” homelessness problem is real and deserves more air time. I feel it often even though I’m ordained AG. But I’m grateful for people like you who are insistent on Jesus, regardless of ecclesial context 🤓
I appreciate the honesty here. I imagine it took some strength to say what you did. I’ve never seen anyone speak in tongues, and I also attend a cessationalist (sp?) church. But I do believe it can be a real experience from God based on my reading of Scripture.
One thing that is interesting is the Bible says there should be an interpreter if people are speaking in tongues in public.
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:27–28
Are there ever interpreters? Or what is said about this verse?
Pentecostals generally make a distinction between tongues as a personal prayer language and the gift of tongues for the corporate body. In the corporate body, my movement has always discouraged the use of tongues without interpretation 🤓. That doesn’t answer what all Paul means when he says there must be an interpreter, but it’s a start.
And thanks so much for your kind words. I’ve been gaining courage over the last several years to be more vulnerable in public, so I welcome the affirmation
i think it’s going to be helpful for a lot of people. my experience in beginning to speak in tongues was far less sexy than all my friends’ stories. it began with simple obedience in my bedroom of praying for the gift and then practicing it daily over time. i believe i was baptized in the holy spirit upon conversion 15 years ago and it was only this past january that i began praying in tongues. probably half the time i feel like i’m not actually doing anything, while the other half it feels like sweet communion. your post honestly was a breath of fresh air for me having had this experience. so shoutout to you for being honest and spontaneously writing this gem. also shoutout to andy, his music rules.
A great read - also Andy’s music has been healing for me also.
To encourage you I grew up IFB and then as a young adult chose non - denom. I never knew what a charismatic was at that age but started experiencing things I couldn’t explain. So I interviewed people for my own personal sake. Not a podcast, journal, but just questioning people until I found answers that helped me.
A very common experience I learned was that some people experienced supernatural events very ordinarily. Which sounds like an oxymoron.
But I remember one story of someone experiencing being slain in the Spirit as if everyone was faking it because it felt so normal. Yet, after multiple questions and testimonies it came down to a mysterious event that could not be explained. If someone chooses to believe in Jesus and interviews the people I did, the only answer was the Holy Spirit slaying them. Yet they expressed “how could it feel so normal?” Then a pastor said so gently and wisely, “Jesus was too normal for the Pharisees to recognize- the Spirit of Jesus may meet us in ordinary moments similar to that. But we have the opportunity to choose to believe it is supernatural events even when it is revealed as ordinary.”
I am blessed by your testimony and confession. It is refreshing and I hope that my testimony blesses you as well. I grew up IFB, non-denom, and now I’m a Pentecostal. Sure a lot of folks have faked and lied about experiences but there is something about living without a breakthrough and still pursuing Jesus anyway. Which I think you make that point beautifully. Breakthrough is coming either in this life or in the resurrection. I wonder if resurrection will feel ordinary or supernatural? (That might be the title to my next article.)
As a used to be Baptist, I was encouraged to think that all pentacostals were "faking it" when speaking in tongues. It was something we rolled outlr eye about when it was brought up. A proof of group think. Good we were immune, right?
As someone who has moved past the tribalism, I've come to appreciate the practice. I don't don't speak in tongues, and doubt I ever will. I'm not Baptist anymore, but would still describe myself as born again.
Is there an element of "faking it"? Maybe... But I think the importancenof the practice is being open to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Maybe the practice tongues is just for our own benefit. For proving to ourselves that we are, in fact, open. Reaching that open state of mind, that intentional invitation is so important to relationship with God, all of God.
I think that tongues in the way that you're describing your experience is an example of liturgy. It's a practice meant to be done for the sake of doing it, allowing for us to just go through the motions. The point is to hold space, to build the discipline, to look back and "Yes, I did that. And I did it because I care, not then but overall. Over ALL the times I did it" And that's holy.
Just like singing the doxology, or reciting the Lord's Prayer, or communion. The point isn't that we're wrapped up in feeling (although it's beautiful when it happens). The point is just that we do it.
Yeah, I actually think sacramental theology bolstered my theology of tongues. There’s a lot to say there, but generally links up with what you’ve said!
Fascinating read my friend. I grew up in a movement that was primarily continuationist in theology but cessationist in practice. Speaking in tongues has always bewildered me a bit but I love hearing stories from people who have experienced it in an authentic way. Thank you for being very transparent and open about your lack of certainty around this issue. I think that honest read is much more refreshing than the alternative.
Thanks for your kind words. I’ve become increasingly suspicious of certainty around anything having to do with how God must (supposedly) work. And I’m trying to model that with my own vulnerability. And to do it without cynicism because I think we have enough of that of that in the world these days.
I’m in the same boat as Aaron here. Really appreciate your vulnerability and humility in this piece! There are a lot of spiritual experiences that feel unspiritual, leaving many of us disappointed. So I’m grateful for your willingness to share the reality.
I’m just curious, what is the context in which you speak in tongues? Trying to learn more about it!
I usually pray in tongues in my devotional time, but sometime when I stress driving and feel road rage 🙈. Sometimes I feel like I should pray in tongues more, but then I remember it’s not a numbers game. Does that help or were you wondering about something else?
And thanks for the kindness. I think it’s also worth saying that a lot of things that feel spiritual might not be.
My first experience of the Holy Spirit came at a Catholic retreat when I was 12 or 13. Then much later at 21. I was sitting alone in my home in the wilderness. I took a drag of my Marlboro red. Then something strange happened. The room felt strangely mystical and familiar. I opened my mouth to give thanks and out came tongues. No altar to kneel at, no one else even present to witness what was happening to me. The presence of God kept coming wave after wave, till I couldn’t take it anymore. In hindsight I have had the same thoughts as you about my experience. Maybe, we feel that way because God does not want us to set up an altar and live forever at the memorial of tongues. I stopped trying to make sense of an experience 30 years and trust that it is better I do not understand it all. For years I prayed in tongues daily for hours. Sometimes it felt inspired, other times it felt like a discipline and part of my rule of life. Which I have added back in. During that time the Bible came alive to me and I truly believe I came to understand Jesus in a deeper way. All things promised as a work of the Holy Spirit.
Wow. This is really wonderful and beautiful. I particularly love the specific brand and label of cigarette that occasioned it all 🤣. I still struggle a bit with wanting to understand the experience more deeply, but then I get over it 🙃.
The Marlboro Red…made me laugh (in a good way)
Thank you for sharing. I think stories where the gifts are less dramatic can be helpful. Many people I speak to want “drama” every time they speak in tongues, but I think that seeing it as a “normal” part of prayer can be helpful. I grew up in an Assembly of God church that emphasized Spirit Baptism and speaking in tongues, and practiced the gifts of the Spirit regularly, but the pastor and elders were skeptical of any “funny business”…i.e. pushing people over, putting on a show with personal prophecy, etc. When praying for people to be baptized with the Holy Spirit I remember them specifically instructing people that God would not take over your body or “do it for you”…rather, it would be a welling up and we had to “put it out on the airwaves”. I’m thankful for my experience as a 12 year old as I consider speaking in tongues a precious part of my prayer life to this day and a good exercise in humility for someone who tends to be analytical.
This is a lovely comment, thank you. I love the language of “funny business.” Crazy how excesses are always lurking. Did funny business ever happen and how did the pastors handle it?
I’m a sucker for honest questions about professed certitudes. And I think Jesus is too. Without trying to pinpoint the moment of Spirit baptism, I believe the Holy Spirit can and does turn our honest fake attempts into something real.
Yeah, I was actually already thinking along those lines, but was tied to say it. I cringe when I hear people say that they were told to "repeat after me" when praying for the experience. But, equally, imitation is how we learn just about everything. Tell me your thoughts 💭
I think God is so kind, so gentle, and so good that he pays attention to what can only ever be our pathetic attempts, gives us a paternal smile and chuckle, and says “Okay, I can work with that.”
I think it’s why people’s formulas for divine mysteries and repeat-after-mes actually work. God makes them work.
I'm with you. I also just need to figure out how to encourage people to stop forcing tongues on kids at altar calls with the "repeat after me" line, while also saying God works with it. Hahaha. Anyway, this is why I'm a pentecostal sacramentalist!
Framing these things as a sort of magic might get people’s attention. We Pentecostals are susceptible to turning mystery into magic - say these certain words, do these certain actions with our bodies, etc.
Great essay! My experience with it came with a form of mild hypomanic psychosis where I had what I thought was a “vision” of Jesus standing next to me at a youth conference. It was genuine what I felt and the “voice” of tongues is always there as an internal scrambled dialogue of the spirit I suppose. It has comforted me thru some of the most difficult moments of my life when my doubts prevail. But the honest truth is it scares people. Perhaps because it makes no sense. When some of my agnostic atheist friends request a demonstration they usually go cold in the face like they just witnessed an exhibit on Riley’s Believe it or Not. They normally comment that it sounds unworldly, which is reassuring I guess. Either way, it’s meant for edification, not a freak show. But once you’ve genuinely experienced it in an authentic way, you can easy distinguish what is not. And I assure you, most of what is shown on television is questionable.
This is a lovely vignette, thanks for sharing. Truly powerful and wonderful to see Jesus standing next to you. I believe you about discernment, but I confess that I still have some doubt sometimes even as I pray in tongues—is this real? 🫣
I think when reason tries to understand, it can get in the way of edifying your spirit. I think it’s precisely because it isn’t logical that it can work to amplify your faith. There is a lot about the bible that can be difficult, contradictions and inconsistencies, but praying in the spirit transcends all of that. The bible says God is not the author of confusion. If you find yourself concerned about what people think when “all eyes are on you”, you might be wondering whether their interpretation of your own personal experience is more important than your own. I often feel that way too and don’t usually feel comfortable speaking in tongues publicly, but in rare situations when it’s necessary, it has provided breakthroughs when nothing else can.
I really enjoyed reading your essay and personal testimony of your experience. It makes me feel less…alone?
Thank you. I also feel less alone from all the comments, including yours. And you make a really good point about the difference between public and private: I grow weary of narratives that suggest all experiences with the Spirt must be loud, extroverted, and in public.
I love this piece. And I love how gentle and subtle, rather than overwhelmingly coercive, the work of the Spirit normally is.
Thanksssss. Yes, "coercive" is an important and helpful word for describing some of the excesses of Pentecostal altar calls, so I owe you for reminding me of that word. I wonder sometimes why my people don't believe something as simple as "God can meet you in your seat as much as at the altar."
Refreshing. I could write so much here. In the midst of my Pentecostal upbringing, I found Jesus. However, my most intimate moments with the Lord did not take place at the church altar. Maybe due to my introverted personality 🤷♀️. I do believe in speaking in tongues but for me, the evidence of a spirit filled, transformed life is the fruits we produce.
Yeah, it’s bizarre to me that my tradition in the Assemblies of God emphasized the fruit of the Spirit so little. I think it came from a place of sincere desire to see everyone speak in tongues, but that singlular focus let a lot of really (really!) important stuff fall to the wayside.
And, ftr, my more intimate moments in the Spirit have also been in private. I wish that would have also been talked about more. Do you identify as a Pentecostal now? I’m really curious how you describe your own spiritual life.
I identify as apostolic (Pentecostal) and attend an apostolic church but I find myself hesitant to say that because there are a lot of negative associations. I think I’d rather identify as a Christ seeker rather than be defined by a religious group. I don’t believe exactly as I was raised. I sometimes get frustrated with religiosity. I strive to know Jesus and humble myself to His word. And yet I deeply believe we need to be connected to a local church body. This was an interesting question. How I identify myself!
Yeah, that’s entirely reasonable. When people ask me, I’m always like, “well, I’m a Christian.” 😝
Thanks for writing this. I can identify with it a lot! I grew up PAOC and had the expectation that I’d experience tongues just like all the teens and adults I looked up to. I purposely waiting to ask for this in earnest at our yearly Youth Convention. I responded to the altar call. Went forward. Was prayed for. And nothing happened.
I waited until summer camp. This time was was determined to “tarry” until I was filled. A long time in while my youth pastor prayed for me he said he heard me say something in tongues. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t hear of feel a thing, but I took it on faith.
My “prayer language” developed over time, but I always doubted the reality of if anything happened on that night at teen camp. It’s probably over a decade now since I’ve spoke in tongues.
I think the Spirit is more than able to move slowly 🤓 I mean, who am I to suggest how God must work with us anyway 😝?
Thanks for sharing your story too. It’s really encouraging to just be able to engage honestly with the complexity of expectations and lived experience in Pentecostalism.
Do you still co sided yourself a Pentecostal?
Good thought. I guess I never expected that my experience would differ much from all the testimonies I grew up hearing. It seems like such a massive God encounter to them, but not for me.
I did the usual “young restless and reformed route” lol. 13ish years ago resigned from pastoring a small country church that was officially PAOC but in practice a real mixed bag community church. We decided to leave paid ministry and started attending a PCA church plant nearby. Served as an elder there, but have been slowly moving away. I think we swung too far in the cessationist direction. So, I’m not sure where I fit anymore.
I think the “church refugee” homelessness problem is real and deserves more air time. I feel it often even though I’m ordained AG. But I’m grateful for people like you who are insistent on Jesus, regardless of ecclesial context 🤓
I think it can feel even harder when you are ordained.
🙂↕️
Quite good, and great lyric share.
Thanks, and his lyrics are generally worth sharing 🤓
I appreciate the honesty here. I imagine it took some strength to say what you did. I’ve never seen anyone speak in tongues, and I also attend a cessationalist (sp?) church. But I do believe it can be a real experience from God based on my reading of Scripture.
One thing that is interesting is the Bible says there should be an interpreter if people are speaking in tongues in public.
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:27–28
Are there ever interpreters? Or what is said about this verse?
Pentecostals generally make a distinction between tongues as a personal prayer language and the gift of tongues for the corporate body. In the corporate body, my movement has always discouraged the use of tongues without interpretation 🤓. That doesn’t answer what all Paul means when he says there must be an interpreter, but it’s a start.
And thanks so much for your kind words. I’ve been gaining courage over the last several years to be more vulnerable in public, so I welcome the affirmation
Thank you for sharing your experience!
I’m glad you found it worthwhile 🥹😊
thanks for sharing this, man
🙏🙏🙏 I told my wife yesterday that I spontaneously decided to write it so the story wouldn’t be a source of embarrassment for me anymore
i think it’s going to be helpful for a lot of people. my experience in beginning to speak in tongues was far less sexy than all my friends’ stories. it began with simple obedience in my bedroom of praying for the gift and then practicing it daily over time. i believe i was baptized in the holy spirit upon conversion 15 years ago and it was only this past january that i began praying in tongues. probably half the time i feel like i’m not actually doing anything, while the other half it feels like sweet communion. your post honestly was a breath of fresh air for me having had this experience. so shoutout to you for being honest and spontaneously writing this gem. also shoutout to andy, his music rules.
Thanks for your kind words. And your comments are an equal breath of fresh air. And yes, shout out to Andy. What a gift.
A great read - also Andy’s music has been healing for me also.
To encourage you I grew up IFB and then as a young adult chose non - denom. I never knew what a charismatic was at that age but started experiencing things I couldn’t explain. So I interviewed people for my own personal sake. Not a podcast, journal, but just questioning people until I found answers that helped me.
A very common experience I learned was that some people experienced supernatural events very ordinarily. Which sounds like an oxymoron.
But I remember one story of someone experiencing being slain in the Spirit as if everyone was faking it because it felt so normal. Yet, after multiple questions and testimonies it came down to a mysterious event that could not be explained. If someone chooses to believe in Jesus and interviews the people I did, the only answer was the Holy Spirit slaying them. Yet they expressed “how could it feel so normal?” Then a pastor said so gently and wisely, “Jesus was too normal for the Pharisees to recognize- the Spirit of Jesus may meet us in ordinary moments similar to that. But we have the opportunity to choose to believe it is supernatural events even when it is revealed as ordinary.”
I am blessed by your testimony and confession. It is refreshing and I hope that my testimony blesses you as well. I grew up IFB, non-denom, and now I’m a Pentecostal. Sure a lot of folks have faked and lied about experiences but there is something about living without a breakthrough and still pursuing Jesus anyway. Which I think you make that point beautifully. Breakthrough is coming either in this life or in the resurrection. I wonder if resurrection will feel ordinary or supernatural? (That might be the title to my next article.)
I love this 🤩 it reminds me of other conversations I’ve had about the hard line we (mistakenly) draw between the supernatural and the natural.
If God is in all and through all and in him we move and have our being, the distinction increasingly looks contrived.
As a used to be Baptist, I was encouraged to think that all pentacostals were "faking it" when speaking in tongues. It was something we rolled outlr eye about when it was brought up. A proof of group think. Good we were immune, right?
As someone who has moved past the tribalism, I've come to appreciate the practice. I don't don't speak in tongues, and doubt I ever will. I'm not Baptist anymore, but would still describe myself as born again.
Is there an element of "faking it"? Maybe... But I think the importancenof the practice is being open to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Maybe the practice tongues is just for our own benefit. For proving to ourselves that we are, in fact, open. Reaching that open state of mind, that intentional invitation is so important to relationship with God, all of God.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thanks Erin 😊😊😊 I’m also really open to the possibility of the Holy Spirit inhabiting things we’re faking 🤓
Me too!
I think that tongues in the way that you're describing your experience is an example of liturgy. It's a practice meant to be done for the sake of doing it, allowing for us to just go through the motions. The point is to hold space, to build the discipline, to look back and "Yes, I did that. And I did it because I care, not then but overall. Over ALL the times I did it" And that's holy.
Just like singing the doxology, or reciting the Lord's Prayer, or communion. The point isn't that we're wrapped up in feeling (although it's beautiful when it happens). The point is just that we do it.
Yeah, I actually think sacramental theology bolstered my theology of tongues. There’s a lot to say there, but generally links up with what you’ve said!
The mystery of faith....this is beautiful and resonates with me.
Thanks 😊 it is indeed a mystery, and naming it that is something I think Pentecostalism taught me
I don't know that I don't know that I don't know 😆