Control

Growing up in a Pentecostal church, moves of the Holy Spirit were not foreign to me. It was not uncommon to be in a service in which men and women spoke in other tongues nor was it odd for those tongues to be interpreted via the same Spirit. I watched young and old alike leap, dance, or even spin under His control.

I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at youth camp when I was 10 years old. I had been seeking for some time this gift that I was told would give me power and boldness to live for Jesus, something that I knew I needed even at a young age. In the 18 years since that initial outpouring I have realized what makes this experience so unique. Speaking in tongues was not about what is said or done. It is about relinquishing total control to God. Yes, seeking the Spirit is about receiving boldness to be His witness, but it is also about handing ourselves over to whatever He has. It is saying, "I give You control over what I say, what I do, and where I go."

I attended a Christian university for one semester when I was 18. We were required to attend chapel services twice a week. During one of these services, a popular preacher brought a sermon on the Holy Spirit. During her "altar call" she instructed all those who had not spoken in tongues to come forward. On her count, all those who had gathered were to begin moving their mouths and forcing out random noises-she called this "speaking in tongues". Those who did not do so to her liking were subjected to the speaker moving their jaws up and down for them. This was the first time I encountered this type of instruction on the Spirit, but it was not the last.

Recently, I have become troubled as I hear of this type of teaching being thrust upon our young people. I know of popular preachers and youth gatherings that lure teens and collegiate age participants, leading them to believe there is a true working of the Spirit happening, but when they arrive, it is nothing more than a conjured up spell being cast on our most influential.

The unfortunate truth is that these kids don't know what a real move of the Spirit is. They haven't seen real out poutings in their local churches brought on by prayer and fasting, so they buy into this idea that He will fall on them if they just work something up. They are raised only on stories of how God used to move, so when they find someone full of charisma and a room of people speaking gibberish, they think "this must be what the old people talk about!" They have confused an alluring message with an anointed speaker. They have traded revival for riotous events that are no more spiritual than going to a concert.

Let me make this clear: you cannot be taught, prodded, or coerced into speaking in tongues. These efforts all point to man being in control of what comes out of your mouth. The moment man is in control, God is no longer in control. If God isn't in control, then it is not His Spirit speaking.

Acts 2, which gives an account of the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit makes it clear that they "began to speak in other tongues, as the SPIRIT gave them utterance." (v. 4 KJV, emphasis mine) They did not begin speaking on their own accord. No disciple stood up and said, "when I count to three start moving your mouths."

Why do I care so much? Because my heart breaks as I watch young men and women I know have a calling on their lives buy into a counterfeit doctrine. I see them not seeking the true Spirit because they accept an exciting movement in His place. I see them travel long distances to hear falsehoods taught, come home claiming to be filled with a new anointing, and never live a different life. They come back just as depressed, just as bound, just as empty as they were before, except now they have a false sense of security about their walk.

It is my prayer that we would see a true revival in our local churches, so that our youth and children would know what a real move of God looks like. I want them to see men and women weep in the presence of God. I want them to see miracles. I want them to see houses of prayer, in which the Spirit comes not by fog, lights, or loud music, but by an earnest invitation and desperation of the congregation. They have to know what a true move looks like or they will continue to be deceived, and if they don't have the power of the Spirit in these last days, I don't know how they will survive.