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My awesome daughter, Gemma, is eight months old. She is absolutely the greatest part of our lives and my wife and I find something new to laugh at as she makes fresh discoveries everyday. ”What can I put in my mouth? Can I move my hands like that? Is that the dog making funny sounds? What else can I put in my mouth?” Lately, G has been pulling up on the furniture to stand up, mostly to grab for the forbidden remote control or iPhone or something else too valuable to get baby slobbered, which are apparently the vary things that attract said baby slobber. Nonetheless, this latest discovery has been interesting to watch. She puts so much effort into accomplishing her goal and it makes me wonder what is going on in her head. I imagine it goes something like this: forbidden object spotted, army crawl to the couch, figure out how to get from my stomach to my knees, reach up as hiiiiiigh as I can and grab on tightly to as much material as I can, pull with all my strength and try to avoid the head bust if I slip, now that I’m semi-up work my feet to where they are underneath me, whew… now to that remote!
A couple of thoughts about this whole process of watching my daughter learn to stand and walk make the wheels in my head rotate a little faster. Firstly, it is ironic how she always wants the things she cannot have. If I put one of her toys, decked out in all sorts of colors, shapes, noise-making devices, and all other supposed baby-attracting bells and whistles, up on the couch, she will look at it with half a glance and then look for something else that is more interesting and usually, more forbidden. Why does she work so hard to pick up something that she knows she will get in trouble for grabbing, chewing, consuming, or playing with, especially when her dad has given her a toy that was made for her to play with and enjoy in all its fullness? Secondly, I do not expect her to walk on the first attempt at a step. I have no doubt that soon she will be hauling on all two’s going ninety-to-nothing, but I know that it will happen with many falls, scraps, bruises, and scars to vouch for her accomplishment, and I will be proud of every single attempt that she makes. The craziest part is this makes scary sense to most of us. Do we not go after things we know our Father has forbidden us to chase with laborious effort and a crooked smile? Do we not skip over the great blessings and gifts that He gives us only to run to things that feed our sinful nature and lead us into destruction? At the same time, the Father loves our every attempt at the next step, whatever that step may be. We will undoubtedly stumble and fall and sometimes we might get scrapped up or even scarred, but with each fallen attempt we are one step closer to getting it right. But also undoubtedly, our Father is proud of every single step. He is good. He is loving. And He calls us His own. He looks on us as proud parent looking upon his child learning to walk, looking past the falls and bruises to the end result. His love overcomes us, overwhelms us, and sustains us. Let us chase after the good things our Father puts in front of us, learning to walk in His ways and in His truths, overcoming the failed attempts by getting back up and taking another step, eventually to run towards Him with all of our effort going ninety-to-nothing.
This post is a direct result of a conversation within my small group community that occurred Monday night. We talked about what it meant to live prayerfully and were discussing Jesus’ instructions on prayer in Matthew 6, when an interesting subjected arose. “What about when people pray in tongues in a service and no one can understand them? How is that different than ‘babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words,’ in verse 7?”
Thus, the topic for discussion is what exactly is the gift of tongues and how is it appropriate/inappropriate in worship.
Before I dive into scripture, I must confess that this subject is both deeply troubling for me (because I don’t enjoy controversy), yet very close to my heart. Monday night, I came clean and outed myself as one who has a prayer language; call it what you want–praying in tongues, speaking in the spirit, whatever–I call it my prayer language.
The story of this phenomenon began when I was 17 years old and a junior in high school. One Saturday night, I was intensely praying in my room and all of a sudden these words, seemingly gibberish and incomprehensible, fell out of my mouth in one, long strand. I, being the Baptist boy I was, became afraid and felt I had done something wrong. I immediately went to bed and even asked forgiveness from God for what had happened as a just-in-case-it-was-wrong thing. The next Wednesday at our youth group, we had a guest speaker from Canyon, TX, come and speak. As a part of the band, I was there early and me and this speaker sat down before the service and began to talk about God. He paused for a second and stared down at the table we were at, then said the most impacting words I had ever heard as a 17 year old kid. “Kyle, God wants you to know that whatever you experienced this past week was real and it was from Him.” I will never forget that experience.
I have never really talked about that experience or other experiences with my prayer language to people. For me, it is a very personal thing that is, and for the most part, will remain between me and God.
So, the discussion on Monday was uncomfortable and challenging, as I came out and confessed that I do pray in a prayer language in my personal devotion and time with the Lord. This came as a shock to many in my community group and my prayer for us is that it will at least stir up some good conversation about the things of the Spirit.
I spent about four and a half hours, coffee in hand of course, in the library yesterday researching and digging up everything I could find (in 4.5 hours) on the subject. Here is what I found.
The main text I’ll exegete is 1 Corinthians 14. You can read it HERE.
In this passage, Paul is talking about the building up of the church using prophecy versus using tongues.
“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]
one
We must understand first that Paul recognizes this phenomenon as a legitimate part of church life and as a spiritual gift from God. He mentioned this gift in chapter 12 among a list of other gifts and is now, in chapter 14, expounding on the subject. So what exactly is the gift of tongues? Johannas Weiss, a renowned, German Biblical scholar, suggests that Paul could be referring to what Jewish and Greek writers call a state of “ecstasy.” This is where the person experiencing ecstasy goes under an “inspired seizure,” as words come from his/her mouth of which he/she has no control. ”The prophet does not utter anything from himself but echoes the foreign things of another being.” [This one sounds a little far fetched for me, but in an effort to be unbiased in my research, it is what I found.] Plato says that one in ecstasy is, “one who becomes inspired and out of his mind, and the mind is no longer present in him.” This person might reveal things way beyond his schooling, say profound, proverbial statements, or merely say words of phrases that do not make any earthly sense.
The difference between the Jewish and Greek idea of ecstasy and what Paul refers to as “speaking in a tongue,” is that in ecstasy, the words spoken are seemingly understandable as far as the language is concerned. The occurrence in Corinth seems to be different.
“he utters mysteries with his spirit.”
This is a somewhat difficult phrase in Greek. The word, pneumati, can be translated three different ways: 1) in [his] spirit, meaning his human spirit, 2) in the [Holy] Spirit, or 3) to the Spirit. Either way, there is a mysterious utterance in some spiritual aspect, and Paul acknowledges this act as legit gift from God.
two
Paul himself prays in tongues (vv 6,14,15,18).
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.” “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 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.”
It is a little frustrating to try to understand and analyze Paul’s psychology and language because he brings in Jewish and Greek backgrounds with no explanation. Though this gifting is very mysterious to us, Paul doesn’t give much instruction or detail on how it works. He merely says, “I speak in tongues.” I understand that Paul considers prayer in a tongue a genuinely Christian experience but that its natural irrationality renders it unprofitable for communal church life, which requires that the mind be productive (more on this in a bit). It is also interesting that Paul sings in the spirit. The term Paul refers to is psallein, which usually refers to praise through singing accompanied by an instrument but is not necessarily a previously written song in which everyone already knows. So in this sense, glossolalia could be related not only to prayer but also to singing a song. (I thought it interesting that the only other mentioning of Paul singing is while he was in the Philippian Jail, in Acts 16:25).
three
Paul does not reprimand or treat harshly the people who are speaking in tongues. He has the gift himself so he wouldn’t kick someone out of the assembly for using the gift. The problem is that it was creating alienation within the church, making the ones who didn’t possess the gift feel inferior, pushing them away from Christian community.
I found that the same situation broke out about a century and a half after Paul’s time with the followers of Montanus, who claimed special inspiration from the Spirit through the gift of tongues. The movement was rejected by church orthodoxy but was later espoused by Tertullian, who defended it. Perhaps this was because of a severe theological and devotional laxity in the church during the early second century. Regardless, some accepted it as Biblical practice while others rejected it.
four
Paul believes that prophecy is especially important because it illuminates the people of the church.
“I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.” [v 5]
In contrast, speaking in tongues is of value only to the person who speaks. Apparently, Paul believes that the primary function of tongues is to express feelings, thoughts, or sentiments too deep for words and to address them to God in vocalization that breaks the bonds of ordinary, rational speech. Perhaps this is what he means in Romans 8:26, “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.”
Prophecy builds up the church, and therefore, is a more important gift. John Calvin defines prophecy as, “that unique and outstanding gift of revealing what is the secret will of God, so that the prophet is, so to speak, God’s messenger to men.” It develops loyalty, appealing to the conscience and will. Evidently, prophecy in these early churches functioned as a role filled now mainly by preaching. It built up the church, aka congregation, or assembly of believers, or the body of Christ.
five
Paul seems to be saying that personal devotion has its place, but it is not as important as public devotion, which concentrates on building up the entire group.
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.” “He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.”
The only way tongues can be regarded to as more important than prophecy is when one interprets the utterance to the body, which builds up the church. Outside of interpretation–although it is of value to the individual–tongues is of no value to the church.
Paul compares tongues to instruments; lifeless things that make sounds, “such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the nots?” If you cannot understand the individual notes, it is merely meaningless sounds.
Then he compares it to other world-languages; “there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.” By contrast, this suggests that, at least in this case, the gift of tongues spoken of here is not an unknown, earthly language (as in Acts 2). Here, it is words unintelligible to anyone on earth, other than the person whom God has gifted as an interpreter. It also must be noted that the one who speaks in a tongue is permitted to interpret the utterance himself (v 13). The word foreigner is barbaras, or barbarian, suggesting the onomatopoeic words, “barbarbarbar.” The point is that if the sounds are heard by the hearer, they are still of no value unless they communicate a message.
Paul’s main concern is the building up of Christian community within the body of believers. Speaking or praying in tongues, though appropriate and beneficial in times of personal devotion and intimate, spiritual settings, does not build up the church and therefore, is inappropriate in larger, congregational worship settings. Prophecy is encouraged in larger settings (and small settings) because it edifies and builds up the community of believers. I do believe that speaking in tongues or praying in a prayer language is beneficial in some cases. If a small gathering of believers are seeking the Lord together, and everyone is comfortable praying in a prayer language, or at least with others praying in a prayer language, I do not think it is inappropriate. The believers are seeking to draw closer to God, through the Spirit, communally. If there are, however, members or individuals in the gathering that are not comfortable with tongues, I think it is more beneficial to do as Paul says. ”If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.”
Upon conclusion of this overly-lengthy post, we should heed the words of Paul. ”Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.” “Be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
There will be several blogs to come. Please check out the my journey page. It describes the things that have been going on in the last year of my life.
much love.
kp
Making Disciples..
i will have the final edit of this up in a few weeks. here is what i got so far.
Matt 28:16-20
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
continue reading on the next page.
The Cost of Being a Disciple..
Luke 14:25-27
Who qualifies to be a mathetes (disciple)?
There are these prerequisites to becoming a disciple.
Jesus says, if anyone comes to me…
In most cases, Jesus picked his own disciples by saying, “follow me.” akolouthe moi. There are only a few reported instances where someone would come to Jesus and ask to follow him.
And does not hate his own…
We read this as extremely harsh language because of our understanding of the word hat. It does not mean that we should despise our family members existence in order to love Jesus more. That makes no sense. This is a figurative term that operates on a relative scale. We should love God more than we love our family and even ourselves.
In first century Jerusalem, the family was extremely important. Your name came from the family line and it was a big deal to have your family name passed on to your descendents. Birth was celebrated and so was death. In your parents’ and grandparents’ old age, there was no home or hospice to pass them off too. It was an obligation, and one of honor, to take care of the family, especially your parents. You would all live in the same household and remain there until you died. So, aside from your devotion and dedication to YHWH, dedication to your family was the most important thing in your life. A good Jew would never put anything before his/her devotion to the family – except devotion to YHWH. The two were connected – the covenant existed between the ancestors and YHWH.
Gen 29:16-18, 22-31
Saw that Leah was not loved…
The word for ‘not loved’ is Senuah; and literally means to hate. So literally the verse is translated: and the Lord was that Leah was hated.
Did Jacob hate her guts? No. Did he like her? Probably so. Did he think she was pretty? Eh… But compared to Rachel, he hated her because he loved Rachel so much. It is a term of relativity that we should understand as, not as much as this.
Luke 14 – Jesus says if you don’t hate… you cant be my disciple he doesn’t mean you have to walk around despising everyone because you’re a hateful person. He means that compared to the love you have for God, the other people just don’t matter.
Yes, even his own life –
Jesus’ call is one of radical self denial. If we love ourselves more than we love Jesus, we do not qualify to be a disciple.
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
The Roman Superpower ruled Palestine during this time period. Everyone would have known exactly what Jesus meant when he said, “carry your cross.” For us we just assume it’s a dude in a sheet carrying a 2×4 up Luther Hill. For them it meant
-criminal activity
-disgracing one’s family
-extreme humiliation
-the person everyone’s whispering about
-ultimately a terrible death
Jesus doesn’t just throw these words out nonchalantly. He means serious business. The criminal would carry his own crossbeam, meaning he took up the think that would essentially kill him.
Jesus means that if your allegiance is really not with him, and you’re not willing to stand with him and follow him in the face of possible rejection, then maybe this whole thing is not for you.
“Follow me” he says again.. This language is a little different than last week. It means come after me. ercetai opiso mou
28-30
Are there enough funds to build a watchtower?
In this day, watchtowers were common. They usually provided a lookout to protect the fields and vineyards from intruders and robbers. The higher the tower, the better the outlook was, the more the crops were protected.
So this is sort of an economic example that Jesus uses. The language he uses are economic terms – “count or compute the cost.”
If this task is not completed then you are susceptible to public shame. You are mocked and ridiculed. This was a time in which avoiding public shame and embarrassment was extremely important. A half completed project meant that you were poor in preparation and planning.
Another implication is the foundation. If all you have is a poured foundation and nothing else comes out of it, it is a useless plot of land where nothing can grow and nothing exists. A big piece of concrete doesn’t do anything for you except waste good space. If we are going to follow after Jesus there has to be something more than just the foundation.
31-32
War is something that most Israelites were very familiar. This is a request for terms of peace.
Most commentaries suggest that in the passage, Christ intends to make it known to his followers that the enemies that we will face are many and strong. Our strength compared to theirs is weak.
V32.
1. look at all consequences of following Jesus and be prepared to meet them. (if you need money for the tower, get the money, 20,000 men, get 20,000 men, etc.).
2. If you are engaged in the things besides Christ, you are not prepared to follow him (you start a project and can’t finish it, or go into a losing battle).
3. following Jesus is a full time thing which takes a lot of careful thought in order to fulfill the requirements
4. following Jesus is difficult. It costs us everything. “It will cost us the mortification of our sins and a life of self-denial, conflict with our lusts, and the enmity and ridicule of the world. Perhaps it may cost us our reputation, or possibly our lives and liberties, and all that is dear to us; but we must cheerfully undertake all this, and be prepared for it all.”
5. Leave all things or we can’t be a disciple. You cant follow Jesus if you turn back to your old ways or if you think you will turn back. If you don’t think you can handle it, if you don’t think you can persevere through that—the trails, temptations, hazards—if you are not willing to take up your cross and follow him, then you cannot be a disciple of Jesus.
“Welcome to the first Christian Church Meeting. Here are the rules…”
search for vintage 21 on youtube and you’ll see what i’m talking about.
Reread this thing.
Ask for terms of peace.
This passage is all about recognizing who is the higher power. “Who is Stronger?” It is a humiliating passage—you are stronger than me.
We are forced to think about what refusing the stronger one might mean.
Literally think about it a second. You are in charge of an army of men who are about to go up against another army twice your size in strength and number. What do you feel? (don’t say that).
-I cant do this. I have to submit. If I don’t then I will lose. And in this case losing means dying.
(the band dispatch?? The general? “I have seen the others and I have discovered that this fight is not worth fighting…”)
If God is the stronger one, then this is a passage of warning. What will happen if you oppose God? Can you battle him? NO. You will lose. The option? Submission. It is the only way out.
Recognizing that God is stronger and is the more powerful one is the only way to achieve peace.
Achieving peace with God – or the Shalom of God – is the point of this illustration.
V33. To be a disciple, you have to put God at the top. He has to come first before everything else. If there is something—an earthly possession—that you put in front of God, you must renounce that and give that up. Remove it from the number one spot and give that spot to God.
Luke 9:57-62
In the first case, the guy says “I’ll be your disciple, I’ll follow wherever you go.” Jesus says this profound statement.
Foxes have their place, birds have their place, but us.. we don’t have a place.
He is saying.. do you realize the kind of rejection you are about to go through? We have no place to lay our head. We do not have a home here in this world.
The second, the guy says, “let me go bury my father.”
In first century Palestine, the burial custom was to leave the body in the tomb for a year so that the flesh rotted away. After that year, the family would return to the tomb and put the bones in a special box called and ossuary, which was then set into the wall of the tomb.
Jesus could have meant that the time to follow him was now, and he couldn’t wait around for a year for this guy to make a commitment to following him. The consequences of following Jesus rather than burying ones father was seriously dishonoring to one’s family. Jesus makes it clear that to be a disciple, the main priority is following him in spreading the gospel message to those who have not heard it.
The third, the guy wants to say bye to his family.
Excessive concern for family ties makes the kingdom a lesser priority. Who can plow strait ahead while looking backwards? Discipleship cannot be double-minded.
Loving God and being concerned for his kingdom are the most important things for those who follow Jesus.
Phil. 3:7-9
If I gain the whole world, it means nothing to me
-get a raise
-get an A in a really hard class
-become world renown and famous
-star in a movie
-play in a super bowl
-win the lottery
It doesn’t matter to me. Paul uses harsh language. A vulgar term for human fecal matter. It is all a bunch of crap compared to knowing Christ
for his sake I have lost ALL things.
God has to be at the very top of your life.
So maybe its not – weigh the consequences, do all of this stuff, don’t do all of this stuff, and give up all of this stuff and BOOM you’re a disciple.
Maybe its saying, “Am I prepared to grow in Christ and be more than a foundation?” And saying, “God, I cant do this by myself. I submit to your authority. You are stronger. Bring Shalom into my life. I put you first. You are the most important thing in my life.”
