Last sunday night, we hit cult heights. In addition to moving into a dangerous urban area...
SIDE NOTE: to all parents of twenty-somethings who got withme to ask me, "is this a safe move for my son/daughter (moving into this neighborhood)":
I WAS SINCERE, BUT I WAS WRONG. THIS NEIGHBORHOOD IS NOT AS SAFE AS I THOUGHT. I AM SORRY IF YOU FEEL BETRAYED OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. IT'S ROUGHER, TWO BLOCKS DOWN, THAN I KNEW.
end of side note
so, in addition to moving people into the urban to live... in addition to sharing a strong message of unapologetic, "follow Jesus radically, no matter the cost"... in addition to sending two to Kenya, where the AIDS epidemic is ravaging... in addition to believing in the stuff of the New Testament accounts to be NORMATIVE for the Church...
...we now have a septigenarian who has forced the issue of speaking in tongues, prayer language, singing in the spirit, etc...
yep, for those who were not there, Mr. Weiss shared a burden to have more "singing in the spirit" in our meetings, last Sunday. he shared his opinion that this was a neglected practise: the use of glossalalia during musical interludes--speaking in tongues/singing in tongues, and making up songs of adoration in English, spontaneously... He shared that we should honor the Scripture in 1 Cor. 14 where it says, "I will sing with the understanding, I will sing with the Spirit..." by spontaneously worshipping God with tongues during our singing times...
Then he really crossed the line, eh? He says, "let's do it now." and so I fires up the old 2-chord medly background on that black beauty of mine and we all tries to sing our hearts out.
Was it wrong?
Was it forced?
Did you hate it?
Did you feel something?
I'd like you to know that this stuff is real. I'm afraid that some of you might feel offended by a slight to your sense of pride or dignity... You need that.
Others might feel afraid. Afraid that if you don't do this--speak and sing in tongues--that you're somehow less loved, less Christian, less anything.
That makes me really freak out. Look, if this experience shook you from confidence in the Lord's love for you, I'm really freaked out about that. You need to know, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS TO BELONG TO JESUS! Love the Lord your God and serve Him only! follow Him unreservedly!
More later...
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I also read:
ReplyDelete1Cor 14:27-28
Where we are given the clear instructions for the use of tounges in the Church.
"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 interperter, the speaker should keep quiet in the Church and speak to himself and God.
So while a quiet, personal prayer language is encourage earlier in the text, speaking or singing outloud in an unknown language is expressly fobidden. The singing if of specific concern, as
1) There was no interperter
2) It was likely more than three
3) There was no taking of turns to keep the worship orderly (see verse 40).
For as much as 1 Cor 14:26 has been spoken of, the next two verses have been avoided.
Do you remember that scene from The Apostle -- Robert Duvall's character (a pentecostal tongue speaking preacher) is on the run, and he comes to a small river town. He looks across the river and sees the catholic priest blessing the boats as they go by. He mutters to himself "Well, padre, you do it your way, I do it my way, but we both get the job done." That's not to say that anything goes -- it rather illustrates the spirit I think I hear in this post -- that some are led to speak in tongues in worship, some are not -- and it shouldn't really freak folks out. And as the previous comment points out -- it isn't some crazy ecstatic thing that just uncontrollably blurts out -- it can be compatible with decent and orderly worship.
ReplyDeleteRussell
thanks for two good comments. Justin, I don't believe today that the use of glossalalia in worship times is "expressly forbidden", but I do think that it can be ostentatious and confusing... I agree that worship should be orderly...
ReplyDeleteI will continue to "flow" musically, during our times of worship. I often feel the Spirit leading me to provide opportunity for reflection and the use of charismata during our singing times, and now much more so...
I am afraid, however that ungifted or uninitiated people may be stumbled through any pushiness or ostentation in the use of these gifts. I will be urging that we not allow that to take hold in our hearts...
again, thank you both so much for taking the time to comment!