Debbie’s Second Problem With My Answer
Okay, said Debbie, but besides the people who think they speak for God, how about the ones who say all God’s Spirit does is make you talk funny and fall down.
That Debbie. She always has a point.
Let’s take the falling down part first. Called “slain in the Spirit,” it involves involuntarily falling in a heap. It’s not in the Bible, and I don’t know much about it, but I’ve been in groups where people all around me were dropping like flies while I stood, perplexed and solid as an oak. So, I dunno.
On the other hand, “talking funny,” known as speaking in tongues, IS in the Bible, so attention must be paid. It’s one of many gifts God’s spirit gives to Christians. Others include teaching, preaching and administration–abilities given to help others. Most people get multiple gifts; part of growing up spiritually is understanding which gifts you got and how you’re supposed to use them.
Some folks who speak in tongues think it gives them some kind of superiority. St. Paul slapped that idea upside the head 2000 years ago with a whole chapter in his first letter to the church at Corinth, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, if I don’t have love, I am nothing,” but the attitude persists.
While many people find great joy in speaking in tongues, that’s never the whole story. If your entire understanding of God’s spirit is about speaking in tongues, you’ve missed it.
God’s power is about a whole lot more than that.
