WHAT LANGUAGE DO WE SPEAK?
In just a couple of weeks Sharon and I will be in Corinth, Greece, the place where all of this church business happened. It occurred to me that at some point I will need a bottle of water from time to time and will have to ask a merchant for said water.
How will I ask for a bottle of water, I wondered? I have studied Greek in the past but that was the dead language form of Greek and almost useless for today’s Greece. There will be no other recourse for me except to speak in English. So then I wondered if I speak English and the merchant does not know English whether he will look at his co-worker and ask in his own language, “What’s he talking about?” And will the co-worker turn to him and respond, “I don’t know it’s all Greek to me.”
Probably not.
Even when we speak the same language we have trouble understanding each other. The other day I was going to meet our Conference pastor at Schellenberg’s for lunch and have some soup. He called that morning to ask if we were still on for that day. Yes, I told him, but it had occurred to me that Happy Earl’s was open and we could also eat there. Perplexed, he wondered where we should meet then. I didn’t get it, I told him the same place of course. Later he told me that he didn’t know what Happy Earl’s was. Then I realized that I had not explained that Earl’s was an extension of the restaurant we were already going to. Same language…no comprehension…failure to communicate.
We may think we are speaking the same language in the Church but we will be surprised to find that some of what we say and do is all Greek to newcomers or the uninitiated. The situation in Corinth was a matter of using and abusing the gift of tongues which has no bearing on us. The application however is worth looking at: Are we speaking a language in the Church that everyone can follow?
1. Speak the Language of Love
Peter spoke to us last week of the supremacy of love and how without love a gift is nothing. Love is the ultimate goal of every Christian. I can say this confidently because as Peter pointed out so well, we can substitute the word “love” for the name of “Jesus.” Jesus is our great focus in life.
Paul concluded chapter 12 saying “eagerly desire the greater gifts…” and now builds on the love theme together with this idea: “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy” (v.1).
The supremacy of love continues. Christians are to be motivated by the love of God and the example of Jesus in all that they do. This includes the language of the church. In Corinth the sign that was lifted up as the evidence that the Holy Spirit was at work in their lives was the ability to speak in tongues. You were considered a very spiritual person if you could speak a language that you did not learn but came from the Holy Spirit. To which Paul replies, no, the language of love, the language of Jesus shows that you are a very spiritual person. Desire spiritual gifts, he says, but not tongues as much as prophecy. Let’s take a brief look at the difference:
a) What tongue do you speak? A tongue is a language. That is what the Greek word actually means. I speak English; that is my tongue. When the Bible refers to the gift of tongues it speaks to us of that amazing event when at Pentecost the disciples came out speaking languages they should not have known. Through the Spirit some are gifted with that same ability. Paul describes it here: “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” (v. 2). We also have here the problem: speaking in tongues is not for speaking to fellow Christians, unless as in v. 5 it says, tongues are interpreted.
b) Who Prophesies? While tongues are an amazing gift and an affirmation of the Spirit’s presence, Paul raises prophecy above tongues as a gift to be desired and used in the Church.
We may think of prophecy as being the predicting of the future, which it has been, but it is not the essence of the gift we know today. Ray Stedman said that the gift of prophecy “…is basically explaining and expounding of the mind of God…it is applying the world view of God to the circumstances of men, so that men begin to see what is happening in their lives in terms of what God understands them to be.” Stedman believed that expository preaching fits that definition. Some would disagree with Stedman because his definition leaves out anyone who is not a preacher. Michael Green defined prophecy as “a word from the Lord through a member of his body, inspired by his Spirit and given to build up the rest of the body.” By this definition anyone can here can be a prophet. I believe that Stedman and Green are both right. Prophecy can be heard in preaching and in personal encounters.
Speaking prophecy to each other can be as simple as calling a brother or sister in the Lord and sharing a verse with them that Jesus has laid on your heart. It could be a message for that person. (Years ago a lady phoned me from Thunder Bay and gave me Ezekiel 37:14 – she didn’t know why).
Paul explained that prophecy “…speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort” (v. 3). The word strengthening is a building-up word. It pictures a house that is being built on a strong foundation. As we struggle to tear ourselves from the old life of sin we need to be built up in the new life of Christ. We need a word from someone that will teach us who we are in Christ. The word encouragement gives the sense of coming alongside and supporting you, steadying you. And the word comfort offers us the idea of empathy, putting yourself in the place of others to feel with them and to offer God’s love and ever present help.
Some of us do this from the pulpit and some of us do this with that wonderfully timed phone call and word of assurance. Both are absolutely needed and the gift begs development among us.
Above all, we must remember that prophecy has one ultimate goal: Revelation 19:10 tells us “…the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus” (NLT).
Which is better for the Church? To speak a language no one understands or to speak so that all may be built up?
2. Speak to be Understood
To further solidify his argument for prophecy over tongues, Paul gives several analogies in verses 6-12. We will simply read this passage since it speaks for itself. (Read 6-12).
These words take us back to the previous passage where Paul already said: “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” (13:1).
Likewise if I go to the piano and plunk out a few notes in any random order who is going to be blessed by it? Who will be built up by this cacophony of noise?
If we speak in church to be understood, if we speak the language of love, we will want people to receive our testimony about Jesus. We don’t want them shaking their heads or leaving in disgust because they don’t understand us. This is what tongues does – it confuses people. Incidentally, Paul touches on another language the church uses in his example: music.
Does our music speak the language of the people? Does it speak to our seniors? Does it speak to our younger set? Does it speak to the community? What does it say in any case? If we speak to be understood and if we speak the language of love, we must consider what love is asking us to do in this very divisive element of the Church. To whom are we speaking?
3. Speak to Build Up the Church
Paul assures us that our first priority is to build up the Church. The end of v. 12 says, “…try to excel in gifts that build up the church.” What we say and how we say it are first of all to be instrumental in unifying the believers.
For the sake of the Church, Paul wrote, “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says” (v.13). His reasoning is that your brother or sister in Christ can hardly say “amen” to what sounds like babbling in their ears.
When I was training as a pastor in the City we made it a point not to speak Low German from the pulpit. Even words used in jest would not be understood by the non-German members of our church. In order to keep from alienating them, even our jokes were English only.
There is nothing wrong with German. It is a wonderful part of our heritage. There is nothing wrong with the gift of tongues either. Our common language, however, is the language of love. And Love speaks so that all who want to worship can say “amen” and understand. That means sometimes we have to sacrifice our desires for the good of the whole body. Whether we preach, pray or sing, Paul argues for intelligent communication.
“But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (v. 19). Some would say that tongues are a personal gift for use in the home and in private prayer. The Bible never says that. All of the gifts of the Spirit are given for the common good of the Church. Paul even then still says that he would rather we speak so everyone in the congregation can be blessed together.
4. Speak to the Hearts of Unbelievers
If our top priority is to build up the believers through the language of love, a very close second is to speak to the hearts of those who do not believe. The mission of the Church is not solely to nurture itself, it is to speak and live a message of Jesus Christ that challenges unbelievers and their worldview.
Paul says something very strange here: “Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers” (v.22). Why this is strange is because the next verses say that an unbeliever will think we are crazy if we all speak in tongues. So how is that a sign for unbelievers? He also says that if we all prophesy, the unbeliever will be convinced he is a sinner and turn to God.
It seems that Paul wants to nail down this argument completely concerning tongues. Let’s erase the confusion here by starting back at verses 20-21. “Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. In the Law it is written: ‘Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me,’ says the Lord.”
Paul quotes Isaiah at a time when Jerusalem was in danger of being conquered by the Assyrians. What Isaiah envisioned if Israel did not repent was the crumbling walls, the people in chains and a foreign tongue being spoken in the streets of Jerusalem – Assyrian. This would be a sign of God’s judgment on the stubborn Israelites who would not turn from their sin and unbelief.
On the day of Pentecost this vision was fulfilled. The streets of Jerusalem were filled with thousands and thousands of people, many of them Jews. What they heard that day were the disciples speaking strange, Gentile languages they had never learned. It was the sign to unbelieving Jews that God was going to take this Jesus, his message of love, from Israel and give Him to the Gentiles.
What some would say then, and you can decide if you want to accept this teaching, is that the purpose of tongues was to be a warning to unbelieving Jews that God was turning to the Gentiles. Paul may have spoken to the Jews in tongues when he entered their synagogues as a sign to them to change their ways or lose their favored status with God. Read the book of Acts and see, the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, received the Spirit while Peter was preaching and they spoke in tongues. It was a sign to the Jews of Jerusalem that Gentiles were receiving their God. It happened again in Ephesus the same way.
If we today we all begin speaking in tongues it would not have the same effect. It may be a marvelous experience though some would not speak in tongues and they would wonder if they are not spiritual enough. Unbelievers would leave with a vow never to return.
On the other hand, if we prophesy and people hear the Spirit of God speaking the mind of God there is a greater opportunity for conviction. This what Paul hopes for: “…if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!’” (Vv. 24-25).
Do we desire this in our church? We may be talking about being culturally relevant or about being a church that has a message for today’s people in today’s times. We may be challenged to ask ourselves, is this church for my unsaved neighbor who has some real issues with life, some problems? Or do we want to keep this little club all to ourselves and close the doors to the uninitiated?
If we truly want people to know that God is among us we must speak the language of the people and speak directly into the hearts of believers and unbelievers alike. That language is the language of love. This language permeates our music and our prayers, it infiltrates our “hellos” in the foyer, and it seeks a way into hearts and homes of those who need a touch of grace. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
A Word of Prophecy
My nephew Kevin is a drummer. He’s like his dad in that way, but Murray would admit that Kevin is even better. I went to hear Kevin’s band practice up in the barn one time and was blown away…literally. I think they call it thrash music and personally I could call it trash music. It was so loud and so fast it literally drove me from the barn. I realized though, that my hasty retreat may have hurt his feelings.
Kevin has moved to Edmonton now to pursue his band aspirations and maybe get a record deal. As a show of support I gave him my cell phone number and told him to text me with updates. Recently he did and told me that they did get a nibble on a record deal. So I told him I was praying for him. He surprised me by saying he prayed for me too and for my family. I was blown away, again.
Some would say we have huge wedges in our church here today. There is a hint of unforgiveness in our midst. More than a hint. Some would say that the wedge revolves around music and worship. I know that our elders among us would love to hear more hymns and to worship like we did in “freya” (that means “the old days”). I understand that more and more. Culture dictates that we sing contemporary music and appeal to the seeker. I understand that too. There are no easy answers to these and other wedges in our church.
One thing I do know and that is Paul calls us to prayer. Pray that we may interpret our times. Pray that we may have our biases revealed and transformed into God’s desires for His Church. Pray that we may speak His language to a dying world that needs to see people who love each other. Then they will say “God is really among you!” AMEN
