I never said the gifts didn’t exist. My issue is with those who seek after them as a sign of ‘super spirituality’ and hold over others. That itself is a sin.
God chooses which gifts (and not all of them) to which believers for the edification of the Body. I have never seen edification from speaking in tongues just holier than thou-ness.
And you are reading WAY more into that verse than what it says.
Perhaps you’ve been looking in the wrong direction or at the wrong vessels.
Then we can agree on that in the least... and that those gifts DO in fact include tongues in some form or fashion. What do you suppose that 'form or fashion' to be? Can you define it?
[...] My issue is with those who seek after them as a sign of ‘super spirituality’ and hold over others. That itself is a sin.
Without agreeing with the assertions against Quix personally, I would agree with the premise wholeheartedly. But the same statement, to be fair, should apply broadly to all the gifts, and not just tongues. Surely there is just as much tendency to take any of the gifts and use them poorly in precisely the same fashion. Or to push the point further, any aspect of faith could be used as poorly. Probably the most common 'holier than thou' comes in the form of preachers and church ladies... so much so as to gain credence in comedy skits... My point being stones/glass houses, etc (not pointed at you particularly).
Whole false systems have been born of that 'holier than thou' schtick , as you undoubtedly know in your battles with Mormonism. So why so visceral a reaction to seeing it among those who are charismatic? Rather, one should expect it there just as much as it is everywhere in Christendom.
God chooses which gifts (and not all of them) to which believers for the edification of the Body.
I have often thought about how exactly those gifts are received... I do not subscribe to the notion that they are exactly hierarchical, meaning that one MUST obtain tongues to attain any other (albeit those with greater gifts have a tendency to have experienced the lesser ones in my observation). My own experience with tongues did not come first.
I have never seen edification from speaking in tongues just holier than thou-ness.
My own experience differs - Tongues - and I am speaking of the 'gibberish' that seems to be the offense here - have always come upon me in humility, and with a fair amount of embarrassment, even though I have never spoken in tongues in public, and have always only been standing before YHWH (alone) when they have erupted.
For me, and YMMV, it happens after I get a very good 'hook' when the Spirit comes down... Like my mouth is broadcasting at 28.8 modem speed and my soul is plugged into broadband... My mouth just can't keep up. What is coming out of my physical face winds up being gibberish. But I know what I am saying in prayer, even though it is far beyond the means of 'saying' at all... almost beyond the concept of thought itself.
I am sorry if I cannot describe the experience very well... It is the best analogy that I have at my disposal. I doubt that I will ever speak in tongues in a public setting, because I never have been overcome by the Spirit in public - For me it takes a ton of prayer and something akin to concentration on praise to get to that point. But neither can I fault those who seem to be able to get there easier than me.
And you are reading WAY more into that verse than what it says.
I am not relying wholly upon that verse alone. There is a fascinating bit in Matt 13 after Yeshua is asked why he speaks in parables... and a multitude of comparisons between children of darkness and the children of light - it is the wicked generation that will seek for a sign and not find it - the children of darkness as it were.... it is not saying that the children of light will seek signs and find none.
If it did, it would go against the preponderance of writings which say the children of light will know, and will see... even knowing the time of the end (like 1 Th 5).