A Business Manager's thoughts on tongues

Coinciding with our current Sunday series on Spiritual Gifts, Pastor Scott spent the majority of our staff meeting yesterday delving deeper into the tongues issue with the staff. As he led us in the study, several thoughts crossed my mind...

1. Grace Church's doctrinal position is based on a strict literal interpretation of scripture. I often assume that's understood, but often find that differing opinions/interpretations trace back to a difference in hermeneutics.

2. As we looked at the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, I saw some sort of relationship between the Day of Pentecost and the Tower of Babel. I don't recall reading of hearing anyone drawing any conclusions from the relationship. Here are my raw observations:

Genesis 11 -
one people
one language
one location
fear of being scattered over the face of the whole earth
wishing to make a name for themselves
the LORD came down to see the city and the tower
LORD confused their language so they wouldn't understand one another's speech
LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth

Acts 2 -
disciples were all in one location
"...and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
the Holy Spirit filled each disciple
the commotion of the noise caused people assemble
every nation under heaven was represented
each one hearing them (the disciples) speak in their own language/dialect
Holy Spirit allowed each person to hear in their birth tongue "the mighty deeds of God"
Spirit allowed them to speak in other languages

Language was central in both events and both scenarios involve a dispersion.
Genesis 11 is a physical dispersion of people while Acts 2 is a spiritual and physical dispersion of the local church.

There were significant forces of power involved in both accounts. The people power exhibited in Genesis 11, based on the scriptural account, was incredibly powerful "...and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them" (Genesis 11:6). I noted in my Bible some time ago, what could believers accomplish if we did not allow Satan to drive us apart? That small section of verse 6 amazes me. On the other side, the power of the Holy Spirit, exhibited in Acts 2 was a powerful force.

Side note: it's interesting, now several thousand years later, that Genesis 11:4 is still true of mankind today, "...let us build for ourselves... a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name..."

That's all I've got so far. No doubt it's raw and I have yet to extract anything further than these observations.

3. Before the Bible was completed, the Gospel message needed to validated or in Business Manager terms, notarized. Through Jesus' ministry and the early ministry of the Apostles, the primary purpose of signs and wonders was to notarized Jesus, His message and the message of the Apostles. Today, the Bible is our notary. Which takes us very close to being back at point number 1 listed above.