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Most Pentecostal and Charismatic churches believe in tongues speaking. We do not believe that this beautiful gift of the Holy Spirit ended with the foundational apostles. Thus, we continue to speak them as the Holy Spirit gives utterance.
However, there is no doubt that tongues spoken by many believers today are mere self-made noisy babbles. Many church people, in this age, create their own tongues and speak them during church meetings just like what actors and actresses mimic in movies.
This is a serious self- deceptive problem in the church today. Unfortunately, many church leaders do not realize it. They think their congregants speak Holy Spirit-inspired tongues. There are certain things we must understand about tongue speaking to avoid deception in the church.
If a person speaks in tongues but lives a habitual sinful life, then, his tongue speaking is questionable. What I am saying is that he who claims to pray in tongues by the Holy Spirit must also glitter in holiness and righteousness. He must live a life of faith through love (Galatians 5:6).
A person who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and speaks in tongues must also manifest the fruit of the same Holy Spirit in his life. If you speak in tongues you must also manifest love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control for people to see.
If you pray in tongues but you are unfaithful in the things of God or you find it difficult to forgive those who wrong you, then, you are a baby in Christ or a hypocrite. When Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, spoke in tongues in Acts Chapter Two, but failed to be faithful to God in Acts Chapter Five concerning payment of money to the church, they died.
If all the tongue speaking that goes on in our churches, homes, parks, prayer camps, and retreat centres are uttered by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Christians will not be less influential as is the case in our work places, communities and nations. Demons will be denied freedom to operate in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, the monotonous tongues most people speak are just self-created noisy babbles which are meaningless and powerless in the realms of the spirit.
If we understand that God is not mocked and that we reap whatever we sow, then, we Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians must wake up from our slumber, critically examine the genuineness of the tongues we speak, repent of our sins and trust God to regenerate us and anoint us with the Holy Spirit.
By this, we may speak in genuine tongues inspired by the Holy Spirit for edification, spiritual equipment and utterance of mysteries to God when praying or worshipping.
By James Quansah
