Series

I was talking with Frank Gary last week about the fact that this week I was going to be preaching on speaking in tongues, and we thought that maybe if I came in handling snakes that would be a good way to introduce this topic. Because for many people, speaking in tongues is about as weird, and as appealing, as handling snakes. If there is one thing that acts like a lightning rod in the charismatic movement, it is the practice of speaking in tongues. I know that some of you have been hurt, or made to feel like a second-class Christian because you do not speak in tongues, and I have tried to show from Scripture that that interpretation is just not right. The two great errors with regard to speaking in tongues are to say “everybody should” and “nobody should”; and almost always, the formula is based on the speaker’s experience. I have made it clear in earlier sermons[1] that speaking in tongues is not the sign of salvation, or even of being filled with the Spirit. This gift, like all the rest, is given to various people by the Holy Spirit as He determines (1 Cor 12:11). I hope that by the time I’m done this morning, speaking in tongues won’t seem quite so weird to you, and maybe it will even seem appealing.

First, let’s address the strangeness of this term, “tongues”. The Greek, glossa, literally means the organ in our mouth, the tongue, but it was used figuratively to refer to language, and we use it that way, too. An older generation in this country used to speak of foreign languages as foreign tongues; but today, we just say languages. This gift has something to do with speaking words that the speaker does not understand—a language that the speaker did not learn. Since this is a gift of the Holy Spirit, I think that a good contemporary term for the gift of tongues would be “spiritual language/s”. They come from the Spirit, and they are used for spiritual purposes.

For a long time, I was confused about the gift of tongues, because I was assuming that all the different places where it is mentioned in the Bible referred to exactly the same phenomenon, but that didn’t seem to fit. One day, a layman I know, said, “There are three kinds of tongues in Scripture,” and he named them. So I went back to the Bible to check this out for myself, and I think that’s right.

In 1 Cor. 12:10, Paul is listing some of the spiritual gifts that are given to people, and he says, “… to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.” I looked it up, and sure enough, this word translated “kinds” does mean just that—just as there are different kinds of gloves, or different kinds of games, so there are different kinds of the gift of tongues. I found at least three different kinds.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell on the believers gathered in the Upper Room. Acts 2:4, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Then they went out on the streets of Jerusalem, praising God in these other languages, which were understood by the Jewish pilgrims who were in town for the Feast of Pentecost. These people came from all over the Roman Empire, and they were amazed: Acts 2:7-8, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? [8] Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?” Luke goes on to list fifteen different ethnic groups. These people all spoke Aramaic, so they could understand each other when they came to Jerusalem, but each of them also understood the believers speaking in languages that they themselves had not learned. The disciples were all Galileans—which was sort of like our saying, They’re from Appalachia. They weren’t known for their learning, or for getting out to other parts of the world where they would come in contact with other languages. And that was just the point. These men were speaking languages they had not learned, but which others did know.

To my knowledge, this kind of speaking in tongues does not appear anywhere else in the Bible[2], but I know people who say they have heard of it happening today, sometimes on the mission field.

A second kind of “tongue” is not a known human language, but can be interpreted.

In that list of spiritual gifts that we saw earlier from 1 Corinthians 12, right after speaking in tongues, Paul mentions the interpretation of tongues as another gift that goes with this one (1 Cor 12:10). In chapter 14, he makes a big point of saying that if you are going to have someone speaking in tongues in public, there needs to be interpretation, because unintelligible speech doesn’t help anyone who hears it. 1 Cor. 14:13, “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says.” So perhaps the person who has the message from God in a spiritual language can interpret it; maybe someone else will. But if spiritual languages, or tongues, are spoken in public, there must be interpretation.

The word translated interpret here (*4,D:0<,bT diermeneuo) can mean to explain, not necessarily translate (see Luke 24:27 for an example). So we should not necessarily expect there to be a one to one correspondence between what is said in a spiritual language, and its interpretation.

I think that some of us may have been turned off by the abuse of tongues (just like with other gifts) when people did not follow this biblical guideline.

Another use, or kind, of spiritual language, seems to be for private prayer. I think that’s what these passages refer to.

· 1 Cor. 14:2, “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.” The purpose of this speaking is not to address anyone other than God; that sounds like prayer to me.

· 1 Cor. 14:14-15, “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. [15] So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.” Here is a clear, specific reference to praying in a spiritual language that we do not know with our minds.

· 1 Cor. 14:18-19, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. [19] But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.” If Paul speaks in tongues so much, but doesn’t like to do it in the corporate worship service, where is he doing it? It must be that he uses this spiritual language privately, in prayer.

· 1 Cor. 14:28, “If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.” Again, the idea is that a person could speak in a language that he does not know, and he keeps it to himself in public and addresses it to God.

So I think, on the basis of these passages, that we have good reason to say that this spiritual gift, this phenomenon of speaking in a spiritual language, can be expressed in private prayer as well as other, more public, ways. But…

One of the objections that is sometimes raised to this notion of a private prayer language is that 1 Cor 12:7 says all the spiritual gifts are given for the common good. If this prayer language only benefits the individual, how does that help everyone else?

My first comment is that the point of 1 Cor 12:7 is that the gifts are not given for the exclusive benefit of the recipient, or for selfish self-satisfaction, or in a way that puffs up the person and makes them arrogant. It doesn’t mean that the gifts don’t benefit the individual in any way. For example, some people have the gift of giving—they just love to give money to the Kingdom of God. Are they not blessed by that? Jesus said it was more blessed to give than to receive. Or the people with the gift of helps. They find a great deal of personal satisfaction and fulfillment knowing that they contributed some significant detail to a larger program, without which it would not have been as good. So I think the person who has any spiritual gift is personally blessed when they use it.

Secondly, if the individual who has a spiritual gift is blessed by it, that person is a part of the larger body, and so the body as a whole benefits . If it makes the person a better Christian, a more Christ-centered person, then the whole Body of Christ is better for it.[6]

I’ve asked Pat Steen, the former chair of our Deacon’s board, to share with us her experience with the gift of tongues as a prayer language.[7]

The church in Corinth believed that tongues was the best gift, the one that proved their spirituality, and as a result, their worship services were dominated by spiritual languages in an unhealthy way. Paul wrote 1 Cor 14 to correct the abuses, and put things in perspective. I’m going to quickly run through this chapter, and try to hit the high points. Most of the chapter is a comparison of tongues and prophecy, designed to show how much better prophecy is than tongues in public worship.

I think it is significant that in spite of the problems in Corinth that Paul wrote to correct in 1 Cor 14, there are a number of places in this chapter where he says something positive about spiritual languages, or tongues.

· 1 Cor. 14:18, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”

· 1 Cor. 14:39, “Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.”

So while we recognize that this gift, like any other, can be abused, not only should we not forbid it, we need to recognize that it is a good gift from the Holy Spirit, and that it is intended for the benefit of the individuals and the larger Body of Christ.

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 14 to correct the problem in Corinth of them thinking that speaking in tongues was “the” gift to have, and to regulate the use of this gift in that context. How should this gift be expressed in our church today?

I am much impressed by the way Pastor Doug Banister[9] describes how his church in Knoxville, Tennessee handled this gift, so we are going to adopt their approach. The guiding principle is love, which is the greatest fruit of the Spirit. Romans 14:19, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Romans 15:2, “Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” The question we ought to ask ourselves with regard to spiritual languages is, Will this build up my brother or sister? If not, don’t do it. Limit your liberty for the sake of someone else. Here’s what that means in practice in our church.

Allowing people to pray in public in tongues would often not be a loving thing to do for our guests. Sometimes we have people in the pews gather in 2s and 3s and pray together; that’s not the appropriate time to pray in tongues. We ask those who have this gift to limit their liberty to use it in the worship service.

Here I’m talking about the “kind” of spiritual language that should be interpreted. The elders of our church have the responsibility to protect the flock. Because we don’t personally know everyone who attends, if we let just anyone pray aloud or speak aloud in tongues, or interpret, it might expose our people to influence from others whose character we don’t know. This regulation is really no different from asking the person with the gift of encouragement or administration or teaching, etc., not to use it during worship. Instead, we provide other settings for them to use those gifts. We do the same with tongues. The appropriate setting for the use of spiritual languages in our church is in small groups.

In a small group, if you want to pray in tongues quietly, ask your group members if it will distract or disturb them. If not, go ahead. If it would bother anyone there, Romans 15:2, “Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up,” so just pray silently in tongues. A small group could also agree to let someone with this gift speak aloud if someone could interpret. This would be the place for a person to say, I think I have a message in a spiritual language. May I begin to share it, and if someone here has the interpretation, I’ll continue; if not, I won’t.

We do not forbid the use of spiritual languages in our church, but we do want to regulate them in a way that is consistent with love for one another, and love for our guests in worship.

[1] October 5, 12, & 26, 2008

[2] D. A. Carson, Showing the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987) p.143, says that Acts 2 is the only place in the New Testament where tongues are spoken in public and understood without interpretation.

[3] 1 Cor. 13:1, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” The reference here is clearly to the tongues he referred to in chapter 12, and there the context, with interpretation being mentioned right along with it both times (v.10, 30), seems to be this second use of tongues, which are spoken in public and interpreted.

[4] Ephes. 6:18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Jude 1:20, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” This phrase, “pray in the (Holy) Spirit” may refer to a prayer language, but could also mean, “Pray in accordance with the character and the will of the Spirit”. Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), p. 121, says, “This seems to indicate a deep, free, and intensive time of prayer, when the Spirit takes over and controls and leads the prayers, and one can go on praying for several hours without being aware of the passage of time.”

[5] Romans 8:26-27 is often cited in this context: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. [27] And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” My problem with this is that this passage seems to say that it is the Holy Spirit speaking/praying for us (presumably to God the Father), rather than us doing the speaking, praising God, or interceding for someone else.

[6] See Carson, p.35.

[7] Since I do not speak in tongues, I refer to writers who do.

Zeb Bradford Long & Douglas McMurry, Receiving the Power (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1996), p.129ff. list these:

a. A way to learn to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit puts this desire in you to speak in an unlearned language, you have to decide to go along with it, to speak what appears to be childish nonsense, trusting God to form the sounds into words that are pleasing to Him.

b. An invitation to enter the Kingdom of God like a little child. It forces us to crucify our need to be intellectually respectable, properly “adult”, and worldly wise.

c. A trans-rational way to let the Holy Spirit pray through us (Rom 8:26).

d. An inner melody or flow of life that keeps us in touch with God at an intimate level.

e. The only way to “pray without ceasing”. It is a great boost to the authors’ prayer lives when they get up early.

f. It opens us up to the influence of the Holy Spirit in praying for healig, in counseling, or leading groups of people. It sensitizes us to the leading of the Spirit.

g. An effective means of spiritual warfare, especially when under attack, or involved in deliverance ministry.

The authors give two other benefits of spiritual languages that are not reserved for a private prayer language:

h. When spoken publicly and interpreted, the message can be a prophetic way of edifying the whole gathered body. This use of tongues is often praise to God, rather than addressed to people, as prophecy is.

i. In evangelism, tongues can help us cross a language barrier by enabling us to speak a foreign language better.

Green, p.212ff. suggests:

a. It opens a new dimension to our prayer life, with more liberty and passion and endurance.

b. It enables us to praise God at a depth unknown previously.

c. It allows the human spirit to pray even when the mind cannot understand. It can bring a profound sense of the presence of God, and lead, as a result, to a release from tension and worry, and a deepening love and trust; a deep sense of being in harmony with God.

d. It proves to be a powerful instrument for the Lord the Spirit to use in spiritual warfare or a ministry of deliverance.

[8] Carson, p.113f.

[9] Doug Banister, The Word and Power Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), p.120ff.