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Posts Tagged ‘tongues’

Be Alert!

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2010| 5 Comments »

Paul exhorts the Ephesian believers to pray and to pray often. This is nothing new. What strikes me today is his additional caution to “be alert.” For what? There must be potential danger in the prayers of the spirit, those deeper prayers, the ones that emanate from the union of Holy Spirit and true me.

Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

I started my Christian journey way back in the seventies. This was the time of explosive faith when many believers began seeking the signs and wonders [Acts 2:43]. What started on Azusa Street in 1906 with ecstatic spiritual experiences and the birth of the pentecostal movement, found mainstream acceptance in the charismatic movement that crossed all denominational lines. In both cases, the most conspicuous sign was speaking in tongues, officially known as glossolalia.

No different than my other faith contemporaries, I was speaking in tongues like the rest of them. To speak in tongues for long periods is like chanting or meditating, it clears the mind and allows the spirit to roam freely within. There is a strong feeling of communion with God. I have nothing particularly negative to say about tongues except for some of the abuses that have come out of this phenomenon as well-meaning people have attempted to “interpret” or “translate” tongue messages proclaimed loudly in public [see I Corinthians 12:9-13]. I am less confident of an accurate interpretation that seems to always start the same way: “my children, my children . . . ” or something like. Anyway, how does one interpret things of the Spirit in our 3-D world? I think that’s tricky. But, that’s for another time to consider.

Here’s my point: I assumed this scripture reference to “pray in the spirit” meant we should pray in tongues (many people began referring to tongue speaking as “praying in the spirit,” a more accessible phrase for those who disdain tongues as authentic in any form). And yes, tongue speaking would be included in this exhortation. However, what about the second part of the admonition, “with all kinds of prayers and requests.” I take the word “all” to heart here and believe the Spirit is to under gird and author ALL prayers, whether they are written down, flashed in fear, supplicated petitions, or anything else.

A prayer without Spirit participation has no power and presents no danger to the “dark world.” [Ephesians 6:12] It is only when we engage the Holy Spirit and our own personal spirits in prayer that there is a need to “be alert.” This is where the true place of battle is raging, where the true enemy plays and where the evil of our world is birthed.

I’m thinking there is a particular call on believers who are living in relative comfort compared to the rest of the world. We cannot expect those who are faithful and yet starving and struggling for their daily unmet needs to enter into this type of warfare. We, the wealthy, who have warm homes, cars, food for holiday feasts, and designer clothes, have no excuse for standing on the sidelines of this kind of prayer. I have allowed my busy life to excuse me. This cannot continue.

I want to be “in the game” as they say in sports lingo. I want a reason in my life for Paul to warn me to “be alert” in prayer. (And I don’t mean staying awake.)

Today is the last day of my food fast. After eighteen days, I have also come to the end of the book of Ephesians and I see clearly my charge for this upcoming Advent season and beyond. I began this fast journey when I recognized for the first time how my words and behaviors were grieving the Holy Spirit. The solution is working together with the Spirit in prayer, from within, authentically radiating love and faith and God, supported by practicing the presence and breaking open the barriers that evil causes pain, suffering, and isolation in our world. Amen.

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Puttin’ on the Brakes

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Can you imagine a time when everyone in a gathering was so fired up for God that they had to be admonished to “slow down,” to take turns, to be polite? Everything from music to words of knowledge to prophetic utterances were common place. What happened?

I Corinthians 14:26b, 33
When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. . . . For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

I guess, in the “name of order,” habits developed. I’m trying to remember a saying about traditions. It’s something like, “the first time you do something, it’s a novelty, the second time you do it, it’s repetition, and the third time, it’s tradition, locked in stone.” How many families have traditions that got started accidentally? And once they’ve passed the “three times” mark, how do you stop them?

Church services are no different it seems. Repetition and tradition have ruled the roost for so long in church that it’s nearly impossible to envision a “new order.” Solomon knew, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” [Ecclesiastes 1:9]

When the Charismatics emerged in the 1970’s, they were determined to break the mold and get back to the old ways. They took the Corinthian verses about the manifestation of the gifts and church leaders encouraged their flocks to sing in the spirit, prophesy in the spirit, speak in tongues, interpret, etc. I know because I was there, singin’, dancin’, and prophesyin’. Those were exciting times. But then, things got a little out of hand. Bold people got carried away and it seemed like they had prophecies and tongues every week, every service, every opportunity. And more often than not, the utterances were relatively generic or downright anemic (not unlike newspaper astrology – fits for anyone). After awhile, even I started to cringe whenever I heard someone start in a loud voice, “My children, my children . . . ” Most of these prophetic statements were less than enlightening.

And so, after awhile, one by one, these wild services started putting on the brakes. Pastors had quiet conversations with the self-anointed prophets and tongue speakers and “in the name of order,” everyone settled down to a standard: praise songs, worship songs, a prophetic utterance or two (maybe a tongue and maybe an interpretation, but they all sounded the same), greeting one another, announcements, fund-raising (I mean, offering), more music, and then the sermon. I guess we were saving the best for last?

Eventually, the “wild” churches became equally traditional and tame as the very churches they tried to break away from.

I think this is one reason for the interest in the old forms like liturgy, praying the hours, celebrating the church calendar, weekly and daily communion, meditation, contemplation, labyrinth prayers, and so on. You want order? That’s well thought out order.

But, is it any better? There’s no better or worse to any of these traditions really.

Another trend is “house churches.” Of course, these have been popping up here and there for years, so it’s not really that new, but the popularity of home churches is gaining momentum. In some cases, it’s a push back from large churches, traditions, and the like. In other cases, they are an outgrowth of the “small group” movement where folks from bigger churches have discovered they can enter into more meaningful relationships in weekly meetings with fewer people. But I have a feeling, traditions and “order of worship” have developed in these settings as well.

So, what’s the answer? Don’t know.

I have some kind of an “ideal” in my mind. But it’s just that, a dream: church as koinonia, where people know each other, love each other, and care for each other. And flowing over koinonia, the vertical relationships with God who covers a multitude of sins and mistakes. And flowing out of koinonia is service together to help those who cannot help themselves. How big can koinonia get? I don’t know, but I doubt it’s much bigger than Jesus’s example of the twelve. Anything outside of that is just friendly fellowship.

One thing the Catholics did right was the parish concept: people worshiping together who live together. Koinonia is no different. We must be able to participate in one another’s lives.

I asked a friend the other day, “If disaster happened, where would you run?” He said, most people go home. But face it, the family unit is too small and isolated to face true disaster. And in many cases, family is dispersed as well. Can I run to my church? At this point, it’s 25 minutes away by car. My neighbors? I have lived on the same block for twelve years and although I can name six or seven families, that’s my limit. Would we turn to one another in the face of danger? Would a type of koinonia develop from need on our block? Would we approach disaster the same way without a shared faith?

Lots of questions today. Lots of dreaming.

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Spiritual Languages

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Tongues, or spiritual languages, are a mystery. Anyone who says they are not, probably hasn’t experienced them. I think it’s intriguing that a person’s spirit can both sing and speak.

I Corinthians 14:15
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.

I’m not interested in the controversies of whether to use tongues or not or whether they are a sign of the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” or the arguments that say tongues are “no longer needed in this age.” There are books a plenty that have disgorged on these topics. But I can share something of my own experience.

I came to my faith in Christ in December, 1979. Tom, who introduced me to the Bible and challenged me to read it (which is how I came to that Truth), followed up his introduction in the ensuing months with much talk about the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” At the time, I had no idea this was not the norm. Since I knew so little about being a follower of Christ, it didn’t seem odd that I wouldn’t know about this either. He said I simply had to ask for it in prayer, and so I did. Nothing happened. Oh well.

Then, about a week later, during prayer (and in those early months, prayer was downright fun), I found myself no longer praying in English but in Latvian, the language I grew up with as a child. Now, that may not seem like a miracle to most people, but anyone who knows about languages, knows it’s a “use or lose” situation. The less one speaks, the less one is able to speak. I had been totally disconnected from my parents’ native language. And yet, here I was, speaking fluently in prayer. I didn’t even care about “tongues” then; this was way better.

After some weeks, I discovered the Latvian was a gift of sorts and with it came a deep healing as I prayed about my father, who never did learn to speak English. Through prayer, I was able to sort out my grief, disappointment, anger, and sense of abandonment at a father who died when I was only nine years old. By praying in Latvian, I was able to speak through God to my father. I forgave my father and clearly heard my God answer, that He would never leave me or forsake me [Hebrews 13:5]. I met “the Father” part of God in a clear and significant way in those first months of my faith journey.

Days after that, the Latvian morphed into one of those mysterious “tongues.” No effort, it just happened and I reveled in it. Only in later months and years did I discover contentiousness about this phenomenon. But I never cared about those who belittled the capability. I had already experienced something authentic and meaningful and nothing would take that away from me. And since it was clear that spiritual languages are for personal growth and devotion, that was all that mattered to me. I am no more or less spiritual because of it and yet it has enriched my prayer life.

I have been in corporate settings where group singing has manifested in tongues. When it was genuine, it was quite lovely and mesmerizing. When it was forced or triggered by the determination of a leader or practiced by tradition, I found it hollow. In any event, it’s not something to be performed. Singing in the spirit is another form of personal prayer.

“. . . 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.” [Romans 8:24]

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