Maybe I'm not seeing this right but I also know that when one talks to another person about Jesus we need to define which Jesus we are talking about. Are they talking about Jesus of Nazareth,the Christ or are they talking about a different Jesus?
If one doesn't ask the right questions then can one be sure the two of you are talking about the same Jesus? If those questions aren't asked then is the other person talking about the JW,the Mormon,the good teacher,good example or the Santa,Jesus? It seems to me that asking the right questions about the source first makes more sense then finding out later we have gone off half cocked and wind up in a place we do not want to be.
And can anyone name one prophet of God that really wanted to be a prophet? I know the New Testament says to desire that gift but who in their so called "right mind" really wants that? I think the Old Testament prophets realized what it really meant. to be a prophet.
Let me try to give you a better answer, Sarah:
Parable: Johnny obviously had musical talent. Even from age 3, he would sit at the piano in the family room, making up songs. One day, when Johnny was 5, his father held a "consolation gathering" for 85 year old Aunt Rose. Rose had lost her husband exactly one year ago that day, and had been sad ever since. As the adults sipped tea in the dining room, Johnny pounded away in the music room. A particular melody grabbed Johnny's fascination, and he played it over and over, louder each time. Suddeny, Rose dropped her tea, and made it to the music room as fast as her legs would allow. She stood in the doorway crying, exclaiming "He's only five, how could he know the song my husband and I courted to 65 years ago?" This had a profound effect on Johnny, and he often asked his parents about it for years to come.
Ending A. Johnny is now a PhD psychologist, who teaches and researches about channeling reincarnated spirits through music.
Ending B. Johnny is now a bereavement counsellor, and has helped countless people deal with grief over loss. In his spare time, he plays old songs on the piano at retirement homes, where the residents take much joy in feeling like children singing along with the songs they grew up with.
Questions:
1. What happened when Johnny was 5? Was it reincarnation? Channeling? ESP? Coincidence? Or did Aunt Rose just hear what she wanted to hear? Was it God? Was it satan?
2. When Johnny asked about it, what did his parents say that made Johnny choose either ending A of ending B as his life story.
The interpretation: Musical talent is like the groans that cannot be expressed in speech in Rom. 8. The piano is like the human speech apparatus. It is a collection of gadgets that give expression to musical talent. Babbling is like hitting keys at random. Tongues is a real melody (the words for the music are the interpreter's ministry). Just like real life, not everyone can play piano, even if they have musical talent. Aunt Rose is like the people at Pentecost outside the upper room. Ending A is many of the ministers we are seeing on these youtube videos, whose job is is to prove something regardless if is consistent with the word of God or not. Ending B is the millions of followers of Jesus, who try to use their tongues to build the Body. Question 1 is the subject of many threads at CC, and clearly Zone and I do not agree on the answer. Question 2 is the key question, because Johnny's parents are every pastor whose young sheep think/have/want the gift of tongues.
In 40+ years, I have heard only three kinds of tongues. This is very subjective, and I suspect others will disagree, but here is how I separate them:
Real tongues feels buoyant, uplifiting, exciting.
Mimicked tongues feels scrubbed-down sterile, devoid of purpose.
Demonic tongues makes my spine crawl, and makes my adrenoline pump, because my wife and I have to deal with them on several occasions.
And to your final question. Neither I nor my wife cared if we ever got tongues. When God gave it, we took it.
