Speaking in Tongues

The August 18, 2013 edition of prestigous The New York Times had an article on speaking in tongues, T.M. Luhrmann was the guest columnist. She is an anthropologist at Stanford specializing in esoteric faiths. This week, her topic was “Why We Talk in Tongues;" an intriguing topic for most readers. Why is this strange practice a part of the Christian faith?

Luhrmann recently was in Africa to learn more about the new charismatic Christian churches that are now proliferating sub-Saharan Africa, especially Ghana and Nigeria. When we include Asia in this charismatic mix, we will find that the practice of speaking in tongues has become (again) a major practice of those who follow Jesus.

For those of you unfamiliar with the practice outside of Paul’s epistles to the Corinthians where he both lifts up and cautions their use, "speaking in tongues" is the use of vocal, language-like sounds as a form of prayer. It is a language that users believe that God knows but they do not.

Luhrmann found the practice seemed to make people happier. For centuries, after the Apostolic period, speaking in tongues seemed to be lost until it suddenly emerged in Los Angeles in 1906 at the Azuza Street Pentecostal revival.

Most tongue speakers see their practice as a spiritual gift from God; a gift that can neither be forced or controlled. At one charismatic American evangelical church that Luhrmann studied she found that about a third of the members occasionally spoke in tongues and usually when they were alone. Similarly, the Pew Research Center, an organization that closely watches church trends in the U.S., reported that 18 percent of Americans speak in tongues at least several times a year.

“What dawned on me in Accra (Ghana), Luhrmann wrote, “is that speaking in tongues might actually be a more effective way to pray than speaking in ordinary language – if by prayer one means the mental technique of detaching from the ordinary world, and from everyday thought, to experience God.”

Those who speak in tongues report that as their prayer continues they feel increasingly more involved, lighter, freer, better, and yes, happier. Scientific research of tongue speaking using M.R.I. scans reveals that those who pray this way enter a different mental state. For example, they experience less blood flow to their frontal cerebral cortex indicating they behaved as if they were in a less-than-normal decision making state.

There are a lot of Christians out there who still remain guarded talking about speaking in tongues let alone sharing that they engage in this form of prayer. There is a sense that those who do so are somehow less than a fully-developed Christian. Or considered to be practicing something that would better be left in Appalachia or for those less educated.

For me, it was good to read this article about something I consider to be one of the spiritual gifts given to the early church and one that has helped me in my faith-walk. I first learned about the practice when I joined Anglican evangelist Michael Green at Regent College for a revival week in Mission, Canada, just  outside of  Vancouver in the early 90s. It was at the beginning of my discerning my call to ordained ministry that I noticed a number of Episcopal/Anglican seminary students that practiced the gift.

During my time with them, they prayed for me to receive this gift. I remember the evening as clear as it was yesterday. But nothing happened (or so I thought). A number of years later, I was attending an Alpha Course leader's training conference on the Alpha Course, when suddenly many in attending started singing in tongues. Later, one of the presenters told us about his experience praying in tongues when his mother was dying. A time in his life when words could no longer say what he was feeling. Years later, the same thing happened to me. 

I guess the best way to put is like this: sometimes when dealing with overwhelming grief (or even joy) words are not enough. Times when words cannot express your feelings to God. It is during times like this when the gift literally kicks in for me. I was able to “let go and let God” through “tongues” and felt the resulting flow of peace – you know, the kind that "passes all understanding." This spiritual gift has subsequently enabled my ministry and made me present for those around me who were experiencing great grief, loss, or pain in their life.

     But remember, just as Paul warns us, if speaking in tongues is not bathed in love then we are as "clanging cymbals" -- noisy and not worth much. There are also a number of spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible far more important than speaking in tongues: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles and prophecy [1 Corinthians 12:8-10].

     Many of us out there who come from the so-called "mainstream" church don't often talk about this gift. Nevertheless, you might ask, "How do I begin?" First of all, you ask God for the gift. It may also be helpful for you to find two or more persons you know who have the gift and ask them to pray with you. God’s timetable is usually not ours. And, if at first, you do not receive the gift keep pressing on. One day when you most need it, it will be there for you.