Always thought (even when I believed all the Bible to be inspired) that what is commonly known as speaking in tongues was at the least seriously odd. At one place I used to attend, during worship, someone broke out in "tongues" - utterances unintelligible to me, and then the pastor's wife "interpreted". The interpretation went something along these lines:
"I am here with you"
"You are my chosen people"
"This is my chosen church"
"I love you"
Mmm hmm. With that kind of endorsement, I'm sure no one would be thinking about leaving that particular flock!
At another church, again during worship, someone broke out in "tongues" and in the uncomfortable silence that followed one could hear a penny drop. No interp, just a break in the worship with some gibberish that no one seemed to understand.
Even though I do not believe the story is legit, an in context reading of the first NT case of this in Acts lends itself to understanding that the people were actually speaking in known languages, and were being understood by other people who did not have knowledge of those languages.
I notice there are tutorials on *how* to speak in tongues on youtube. Interesting.
One of the ironies of some who proclaim the evils of division among believers is that the doctrine that "tongues are a sign", which I so often see as an advertisement for pentacostal type churches is actually very divisive in itself. It's a way for certain Christians to compare themselves to other Christians and make a certain distinction:
" Tongues are a sign. I speak in tongues. I have the holy spirit. You do not. Neener neener. I'm one of God's chosen ones. I'm legit. "
ointing:
Love in action, right? :wink: I've seen this attitude and the fruit of it on more than one occasion.