By Pastor Dave Farmer
Summary:
Another misconception of the Modern Day Charismatic movement is their insistence that everyone should speak in tongues. This is not supported by Scripture. In fact, this article examines the passages where Paul argues against this position.
It was in this church that one gift was being exalted above the others. The people involved in tongues-speaking were not happy unless everybody spoke in tongues. They wanted everyone to be the same. They wanted everyone to fit into their "holy mold." Paul argues against this position:
1 Corinthians 12:29
All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?
1 Corinthians 12:30
All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?
The answer to these questions is NO! There is no "yes" answer among them. To suggest otherwise is to distort this Scripture. You would have to twist it to make it say that "no" is true but not for the gift of tongues. Each question is designed to give the question a negative response. The negative ME is used in the text, and if you have ME with a question, the answer is NO. Do all speak in tongues? The answer is no. In fact, the idea itself is preposterous. 1 This is how strong the negative ME is in the Greek. 2 What do we find that is true? Our Heavenly Father loves variety.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 Expanded Translation
There keeps on being a variety of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit. There keeps on being a variety of ministries, and the same Lord. There keeps on being a variety of operations, but the same God, the One who keeps on operating all things in all.
Paul details three areas of spiritual life that make believers different from one another. (1) a variety of spiritual gifts. (2) A variety of ministries. (3) A variety of operations. I am going to take them in reverse order.
Paul writes, "There keeps on being a variety of operations." Now, if he was going to speak about God the Father and His plan [operations], what does every believer have in common with each other? What would he mention? We are all members of the Family of God (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26), and we all address Him as Father. Secondly, if we are talking about sameness and God the Father, we might mention divine discipline (Hebrews 12:6). We are all His sons, and He administers loving restraint to us all. This is what we have in common with every believer as it relates to the Father.
Again, the Father is the Divine Author of the Christian Way of Life. His plan calls for all believers to worship Him (John 4:24; Philippians 3:3), to give to the work of the Church (1 Corinthians 16:1,2), to witness (Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20), to study the Word (2 Timothy 2:15), and to pray (Ephesians 6:18). Every person who trusts in Christ as their personal Savior is placed in the Plan of God, and this is what we each have in common.
However, the Apostle is not speaking about sameness, but DIFFERENCES. We are all required to pray, but we all do it differently. One believer prays in good old King James: thee, thou, thy, etc. But another says, "Father, I've got this problem, and I want you to help me with it." We are all required to witness, but we will do it differently. There are a hundred different ways to evangelize the lost. We are all to do the same things, but not everyone will do it the same way. Have you ever noticed that no two children in the same family are exactly alike? THEY'RE DIFFERENT! I often say about my two sons, David and Nathan, "l have two ONLY sons." They are as different as night and day. However, we expect them to be so. Yet, why is it so strange to us when people in the local church do the same things as we do but differently? The Plan of God (operations) is the same for every believer, but there are various ways in which that plan operates in our lives.
We have the same problem today, "Why are people not the same as me? I love to sing, but over there is a man that seldom moves his mouth. Why doesn't he sing? There must be something wrong with him spiritually." So often, people differ from us, and we question their spirituality. Yet, PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT! When you are saved, you keep your personality. You are going to experience inner changes, but your personality remains intact. Some ladies like to wear make-up. More powder to them! Others never really get excited about preening in front of the mirror. It is a matter of personal taste. Is spirituality wearing make-up or not wearing make-up? It is neither of these! How utterly foolish the church has become. The principle is "whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)." The balancing principle to personal taste, individuality, and flair is "let your moderation be known to all men” Philippians 4:5.
Paul also says, "There are a variety of ministries, but the same Lord." Now, if we are talking about Jesus Christ and what we all have in common with Him, what could we mention? Every believer is in union with Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We all can glorify the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:31). But there are a variety of areas of service or forms of service. One believer cleans the church, and another sings in the choir, but both are in union with Christ, and both can glorify the Lord. Some are deacons, some are ushers, and some teach Sunday School, but all are in union with Christ and can glorify the Lord. If everyone was in the choir, who would they sing to? There are many kinds of ministries or different forms of service, and as we serve the Lord, we do it differently from one another, but the place we serve is in the Body of Christ.
Paul says, "There are a variety of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit." Now, if we were to talk about sameness and the Holy Spirit, what would we mention? We have been regenerated (Titus 3:5), permanently indwelt (1 Corinthians 6:19), baptized (1 Corinthians 12:12, 13), and sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). This is what each believer has in common with the Holy Spirit. What do we have that is different? THERE IS A VARIETY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS! Not everyone possesses the same spiritual gift. This is the misconceptions of the Corinthian Charismatic Movement. They were wrong, and so is anyone else who pushes this false system of spirituality.
I do not believe that the gift of tongues is in operation today. Even so, I submit that what is said here was just as true in Paul's day as today. How can the Charismatic Movement strive for everyone to speak in tongues? Their blindness and arrogance are astounding. The Scripture is clear, yet they insist that everyone who is spiritual is to speak in tongues. They even go so far as to publish books on "How To Speak in Tongues," Author Rich Yohn writes:
Several Charismatic books give procedures on how to speak in tongues. The reader is told to start with a very simple sound and then to repeat it several times. As he repeats it, he should increase the tempo. 3
Is this how the Spirit of God works? "l would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, there are a variety of spiritual gifts." As Dr. Unger so aptly points out:
It is a pure unscriptural fabrication of modern glossolalic movements that tongues may and ought to be manifested by every believer who can rightly claim to have had a New Testament baptism in the Holy Spirit. The whole point of the apostle's discussion in 1 Corinthians 12 is that every believer has a spiritual manifestation through some particular gift (vss. 7, 11, 27). However, in their distribution the Spirit acts sovereignty, distributing to each individual (believer) exactly as he pleases (vs.11). The apostle does not leave the matter here. As if anticipating modern error, the Spirit of God declares, as definitely as language can declare that all Christians were not to speak in tongues in the early church, and certainly not in the Twentieth Century “Do all speak in tongues? (Greek, All do not speak in tongues, do they?)” (vs. 30). The answer expected in the Greek is No! 4
Summary
It is not a gift given to every believer; it is not the norm for the Christian Way of Life, 1 Corinthians 12:14, 10, 30.
Because all spiritual gifts are the bestowments of grace, no spiritual gift should give anyone the idea that they are better than any other believer, 1 Corinthians 12:11, 14-26.
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Endnotes
1 The Greek verb LALEO, "to speak," is a gnomic present, which means the action continues without time limits. This statement was true in the past and will remain in force forever. In the active voice, God the Spirit produces the action of the verb, which means He never intends to distribute the gift of tongues to everyone, not now, not ever. The indicative mood is the declarative for a dogmatic statement of doctrine.
2 μή - negative particle, not. ‘μή is the negative of will, wish, doubt. If οὐ denies the fact, μή denies the idea’. Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature: a translation and adaption of the fourth revised and augmented edition of Walter Bauer’s Griechisch-deutsches Worterbuch zu den Schrift en des Neuen Testaments und der ubrigen urchristlichen Literatur. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979. p.515.
3 Rick Yohn, Discover Your Spiritual Gifts And Use Them. Wheaton, Illinois, Tyndale House, 1974, pp.117,118.
4 Merrill F. Unger, New Testament Teaching On Tongues. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kregel Publications, 1971, pp.86,87.