Perspective: Say What?

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Say What?

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (NRSV)

If I sing but don't have love

I waste my breath with every song

I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise

If I speak with a silver tongue

Convince a crowd but don't have love

I leave a bitter taste with every word I say

From "The Proof of Your Love" by For King & Country

It was around nine o'clock in the morning, on the day of a Jewish festival called Pentecost.  Jesus' Disciples were gathered together in their meeting place.  It was ten days after they watched with amazement as their rabbi and messiah ascended into the sky and disappeared into the clouds.  Suddenly, they heard the sound of a mighty rushing wind which blew through the whole house.  The Spirit of God then appeared as a fire, and a tongue of fire descended on each of them.  Suddenly, full of the Holy Spirit, the Disciples ran out into the streets and began speaking in languages they did not previously know.¹

The phenomenon of one's spontaneously speaking in a language that one did not previously know is sometimes called glossolalia, which literally means "speaking in tongues."²  Nowadays, speaking in tongues is commonly associated with people from Pentecostal churches.  People like myself who do not hail from Pentecostal traditions generally think the practice is rather strange.

In the early 1900s, at the beginning of the modern Pentecostal movement, people debated whether those who spoke in tongues were speaking existing human languages or rather some unknown divine language.  Most Pentecostal theologians of the time agreed that people speaking in tongues were actually speaking human languages.  Furthermore, speaking in tongues was understood to be a call to be in ministry with a specific group of people.  For example, if a person spontaneously started speaking Hindi, even though she had never studied that particular language, then it was understood that God was calling her to become a missionary in India.³

This particular understanding of speaking in tongues is consistent with the story of the arrival of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  Jesus had previously told the Disciples that they would soon receive power to take His message of hope throughout the world.  On the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came to the Disciples, Jewish people from many different nations were in Jerusalem, and each heard one of the Disciples speaking his or her native language.⁴

Nowadays, many who speak in tongues do so, not to be in ministry with people who speak other languages, but rather for their own edification during times of prayer and worship.  For many, to be able to speak in tongues is proof that the Holy Spirit is indeed at work within them.  Of course, some also come to the conclusion that people who cannot speak in tongues are not true Christians as they must not have the Holy Spirit at work within them.⁵

It seems that, in the days of the early church, the Christians in the city of Corinth had some similar misconceptions about speaking in tongues.  St. Paul writes to them to remind them that there are many different kinds of spiritual gifts and that they had been given these spiritual gifts not just for their own benefit, but for the common good.  Paul goes on to write that having one type of spiritual gift does not make a person better than someone else who has a different spiritual gift, for the community of faith is like a human body.  In the same way that different limbs and organs have different purposes, individual believers have different gifts and different functions in the community.  All gifts and functions are necessary for the body to be healthy.⁶

Though all spiritual gifts are important, Paul later argues that, in a community in which everybody speaks the same language, the gift of prophecy is preferable to speaking in tongues.  Though prophecy is typically associated with predicting the future, speaking prophetically is simply telling people what God would want them to hear.  After all, if a person is to speak to a community on behalf of God, then the community needs to be able to understand what the person is saying.  In a single-language community, speaking prophetically benefits everybody, while speaking in tongues only benefits the speaker unless the speech is translated into the language of the community.⁷

According to Paul, speaking in tongues is a sign for unbelievers while speaking prophetically is a sign for believers.  I highly doubt that anyone ever fell in love with Jesus by listening to someone speaking what appears to be nonsense.  In fact, such a sight would probably scare a person off.  The right word, on the other hand, can touch the heart of any person, believer or unbeliever.⁸

A few years ago, I attended a Christmas Eve service at a Spanish-speaking church.  A married couple, both of whom were pastors, delivered the sermon together that evening.  One pastor would speak for a while in English, and then her husband would translate what she had just said into Spanish.  I don't remember much about the content of the sermon that evening, but I remember how beautiful it was to see a congregation of different languages, cultures, and ethnicities gathered together to hear a message that everybody present could understand.

So is there a lesson here for those of us who don't speak in tongues and aren't really quite sure what to think about the subject?

Perhaps a joke would be helpful.

And Jesus said to the theologians, "Who do you say that I am?"

And they replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the actualization of the God-man relationship which is divine, intended truth about every man, the kerygma manifest in conflict at the cutting edge of the humanizing process, the paradigm of human perfection."

And Jesus said, "What?"⁹

I've listened to enough Homebrewed Christianity podcasts to know that those long words actually mean something, but, compared to St. Peter's answer to the same question - "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."¹⁰ - the theologians' answer sounds like so much incomprehensible babble.

Think about a time you listened to a sermon, a lecture, or a message that totally went over your head.  Now think about a time you listened to a message you thought the speaker must have written just for you.  I would suggest that the difference between these two experiences is the difference between listening to someone speak in tongues and listening to someone speak prophetically.  In the first case, you have no idea what the speaker is saying, but, in the second case, you understand all too well what the speaker is saying.  In the same way that hearing someone speak in tongues is unlikely to made a believer out of anyone, hearing complicated theological jargon or other forms of "Christianese" is unlikely to profoundly influence anybody.

Simply put, it is important that we communicate with people in ways they can understand.

A few years ago, the congregation of my church took a spiritual gift survey.  That day, I learned that my spiritual gift is knowledge (with teaching a close second).  I love to read the Bible and other religious books, and I love to listen to sermons and theology podcasts.  I soak up such knowledge like a sponge, and I find great joy in sharing this knowledge with other people through writing, preaching, and leading Sunday school or Bible study.  Sometimes I use big theological words, but I try to make it a point to define and unpack these terms, in the same way I explained glossolalia above.  Christian education is important to me, and I want people to know what such words mean.  The few times I attempted to deliver a children's sermon, I was extremely careful not to talk over anyone's head.

Though people typically read 1 Corinthians 13 by itself, it is worth noting that St. Paul's famous discourse on love is nestled within a discussion on spiritual gifts.  With that in mind, the opening words of this chapter take on an entirely new meaning.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.¹¹

Perhaps we've been gifted with the ability to speak in various languages, naturally or supernaturally, and perhaps we understand many different theological concepts.  If we don't love other people enough to try to communicate with them in ways they can understand, then we are just making noise.  Perhaps we have prophetic insights from God that the whole world needs to hear.  If we do not share these insights with others lovingly, in ways that demonstrate that we are for them and not against them, then our insights are meaningless.

Our spiritual gifts are not solely for our own benefit but for the common good.  These are gifts that have been given to us by God, but they are gifts we are meant to share with others.  It's not all about us, for we are blessed to be a blessing.  Ultimately, our spiritual gifts are provisional: they are given to us so that we can minister to the world in our own context.  Paul writes that, like many things in this world, prophecies, tongues, and knowledge will all come to an end.  Love, on the other hand, is eternal.¹²


Notes:

1. Acts 2:1-4
2. Wikipedia: Glossolalia
3. Professor Chris Green, who admits that he is a somewhat unreliable Pentecostal, explains speaking in tongues in this way on the 04/27/2015 episode of Newsworthy with Norsworthy.
4. Acts 2:5-11
5. Bo Sanders. "Speaking in Tongues Isn't What It Used to Be."  Homebrewed Christianity blog, 07/25/2013.
6. 1 Corinthians 12
7. 1 Corinthians 14:1-19
8. 1 Corinthians 14:20-25
9. Roy B. Zuck (editor).  The Speaker's Quote Book.  2009, Kregal Academic. p. 70  (Michial Farmer read this joke on a recent episode of the Christian Humanist podcast.)
10. Matthew 16:15-16 (NRSV)
11. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 (NRSV)
12. 1 Corinthians 13:8

The photograph of the flame is public domain.