My pastor was preaching a sermon about Pentecost. He was discussing speaking in tongues. My mind tends to drift during some sermons and this was one of those times. I began thinking of how the concept of speaking in tongues is different in the story from Acts than it is in later parts of scripture and even what we typically experience today.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Acts 2:2-13
In this story it seems that the purpose of people speaking in tongues is so that people from all nations would understand their message. In today’s world, the practice of speaking in tongues seems to fall more in line with the practice of Glossolalia where the speaker uses a “prayer language”. This may be oversimplifying it way too much. It’s something that I’ve never done so I don’t understand it that well. I know I have friends who may have experienced speaking in tongues and I don’t want to discount their religious experience because I haven’t had one just like it. That said, I tend to believe that speaking in tongues in the account of the Pentecost is more beneficial to spreading the gospel and more like what we are called to do.
When I wrote this song, I was considering the words and phrases that Christians use daily that non-Christians might not understand. We talk about concepts that are familiar to people raised in the church that unchurched people aren’t going to grasp. They haven’t been raised with these stories so it’s not going to be natural for them to just accept them as the truth. For my song, I turned the idea of speaking in tongues on its head. Instead of drawing people to the joys of the gospel by telling them “good news” we confuse them with “churchspeak” and drive them away. This seems to be the exact opposite of Jesus ministry. Jesus appealed to people by feeding them, healing them and making them feel good about themselves. We try and scare people into becoming Christians instead of helping them out. The only people that Jesus ever gave a hard time were the religious leaders that thought too highly of themselves. For my song, I decided to point out that the language that we use in trying to spread the gospel matters. When we try to win people over to Christ we need to give them a reason to be Christian. They need to understand why it makes a difference for us. I need to be able to tell people how I have been fed, healed and encouraged by being a Christian.