by Robert Turner<\/p>\n
The current wave of ascetic utterances, “speaking with or in tongues”, which has swept parts of the country and made inroads among some brethren, is directly related to the increase in a subjective approach to authority. External authority, exemplified in the written word and approached objectively, has been eroded by “no pattern” arguments and replaced by an appeal to majority practices. Even “good judgment” looks inward, and is not “good” at all when it ignores the divine revelation.<\/p>\n
One of the early fruits of such thinking is a rejection of hard-core, straight-line Bible preaching. Those who try to blend “direct spirit” operation with scriptures may contend that these must be “spiritually discerned” – and smugly conclude that you must not “have the spirit” since you do not “see” them as do they. But recent claimants are more – likely to pride themselves in their “spirituality” which finds “unity in diversity.” If we remove the idea of God’s word, sufficiently understandable to all, and to which all are subject, we have no standard for unity in “the faith”, and all truth becomes relative.<\/p>\n
Who or what can test the “feelings” of another? None – nothing! The one making such claims may be happily satisfied but his hope is subjective, wholly within himself. I would not deny that he had a feeling but would insist that its interpretation must be measured by a fixed standard, the truth taught by the apostles and prophets of the New Testament (John 4:6).<\/p>\n
When we cut loose from this mooring, we are adrift on the sea of human wisdom. There are no limitations except as they are self-imposed, and the person who accepts “direct spirit guidance” in one field, may go (or encourage others to go) to the extreme of “tongue speaking.” Once we step beyond the influence of the inspired (Spirit-breathed) word, that direct influence becomes a matter of degrees, with little to control our imagination.<\/p>\n
Isaiah wrote, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? On behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?\u00a0To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them<\/strong><\/em>” (Isaiah 8:19-20). God is no respecter of person but deals with each of us by appealing to common faculties. Each can hear, learn, and come unto God (John 6: 45). As free agents, we may reject His word, or we may “see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and understand with our heart, be converted, and healed<\/em>” (Cf.\u00a0Matthew 13:15-16). This is not only the process of becoming Christians but also for growth and development as children of God (I Peter 2:2).<\/p>\n Such basic principles are so completely scriptural, and so much a part of preaching once common among churches of Christ, that it seems absurd to have to repeat this for brethren today. Ours is a “new” generation, and woe to him who is tied to the party, instead of to Christ.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Robert Turner The current wave of ascetic utterances, “speaking with or in tongues”, which has swept parts of the country and made inroads among some brethren, is directly related to the increase in a subjective approach to authority. External authority, exemplified in the written word and approached objectively, has been eroded by “no pattern”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,142,141],"class_list":["post-49122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-speaking-in-tongues","tag-tongue-speaking"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87273,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-used-to-be-just-like-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":49122,"position":0},"title":"I Used to Be Just Like You","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary W. Summers One of our members had a brief discussion with a man whom he seldom sees. In the course of the conversation, the man effusively praised \"speaking in tongues.\" When told that he did not practice such, the man told him, \"I used to be just like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21101,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-wish-you-could-experience-speaking-in-tongues-first-hand\/","url_meta":{"origin":49122,"position":1},"title":"I wish you could experience speaking in tongues first-hand","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been reading your sermons for years and using some of them in my own examples. I enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas on the Scriptures. The one thing that you are missing in the text about Speaking in Tongues is the experience of hearing it first hand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18563,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/speaking-in-tongues\/","url_meta":{"origin":49122,"position":2},"title":"Speaking in Tongues","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Acts 2:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I received several questions in recent days regarding speaking in tongues \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People wanting to know what it was, what is the heavenly language, what is the unknown tongue \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But probably more than anything else, they want to know if you must have the gift of tongues\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4892,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/miraculous-spiritual-gifts\/","url_meta":{"origin":49122,"position":3},"title":"Miraculous Spiritual Gifts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew Bassford Many of you may well have had, as I have had, the experience of talking Bible with somebody who believes that the miraculous spiritual gifts of the first century continue today.\u00a0Let me be honest with you, brethren. It is difficult to find success in studies with such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10535,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-speaking-in-tongues-and-prophesying-similar-gifts\/","url_meta":{"origin":49122,"position":4},"title":"Are speaking in tongues and prophesying similar gifts?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: With talking in tongues, some of the time it says they talked in tongues and prophesied. Was that part of talking in tongues, or separate? I always get confused. I know in I Corinthians 14:22 mentions reasons for each, but I don't know if they are separate. Answer: Speaking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10447,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-balaams-donkey-speaking-in-tongues\/","url_meta":{"origin":49122,"position":5},"title":"Was Balaam’s donkey speaking in tongues?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was speaking in tongues done in the Old Testament? The reason I ask is that talking in tongues is nothing more speaking in a language not known to the user. I know it won't be a critical or applicable statement, but didn't even a donkey speak in tongues with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}