Here is where most Charismatics depart from scripture. Grady is right that there is a private prayer language and a gift for the church. The problem is the gift for the church is foreign languages. Without stating it, he is advocating for the gibberish tongues as the church gift and oh by the way, it could also be foreign languages. Wrong. It was foreign languages, and it still is today. We of course do not see this much in America anymore because the gibberish is what is taught. Similar to prophecy, we are taught to empty ourselves and just allow the flow of baby babble. Then usually the person waits for someone to pretend to translate and if it does not come, they translate themselves! Why be biblical if the entire manifestation isn't anyway? So, does tongues still exist? Of course, but it is the foreign known languages. Many early missionaries testified that they were given this gift to be able to communicate with the indigenous peoples they encountered. I shudder to think what might have happened if they approached them with "ashondamambadadondra."
"The apostle Paul told the Corinthians: "Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts" (1 Cor. 14:1a). God wants His gifts flowing through us, but He never forces us to use them. He is looking for availability, courage and surrender. As we prepare to celebrate Pentecost on June 5, please allow the Holy Spirit to jumpstart His power in your life in a fresh way." - J. Lee Grady
The bottom-line beloved is the true gifts are sorely lacking in churchianity today. The purpose driven models do not encourage them because there is little money in it. Regardless, there is a showy spirit in Charismania that demands people look at individuals instead of God. People cry out vague warnings and call it prophecy. They spit out indiscernible babble and call it tongues. All it really does is shift the focus of the service to the individual. To show they are more spiritual than everyone else. If you do not have this baptism yet, then you are treated as spiritually inferior. I was in a charismatic service once and counted 17 active flaggers during one song! They obscured the worship leader to the point we thought she was raptured. God is rarely the star in a Charismatic service. That is because His gifts are largely abused or ignored. There is no wisdom. There is very little knowledge. There is virtually no discernment. This Pentecost I pray we realize this road is unsustainable. It is however prophesied about in scripture. It is the broad path that many follow and it only leads to destruction.
Reverend Anthony Wade - May 30, 2023
