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Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Gift Of Tongue: A (Late) Sunday Rumination
No, the title is not a typo.
Today is Pentecost Sunday, the commemoration of the event, ten days after the Ascension, when the Holy Spirit descended on the eleven Apostles and the Blessed Virgin, hiding in a locked upstairs room, and gave them the gift of tongues. That gift confirmed Christ's conferral of ministry upon the Apostles, and made them capable of preaching the Gospels to every nation of the world. They set forth at once to do as He had commanded them -- and everyone they encountered, from nations flung far across the classical world, heard them in his own language.
There's a modern Christian denomination, the Pentecostals, that incorporates the notion of speaking in tongues in its contemporary practices. Whatever one might think of their convictions about speaking in tongues, they sense the overriding importance of the thing to the inception of the Apostles' ministry. They understand that a truly worldwide ministry requires the ability to reach every reach of the globe, and the capacity to make the Good News understood by every person on Earth.
I don't think contemporary Christians have the gift of tongues as the Apostles enjoyed it. Yet the ministerial mission Christ conferred upon them does lie in some measure upon us as well: not because we're all in Holy Orders, but because every Christian is a custodian and bearer of the glad tidings that were first announced to the shepherds keeping watch on the hills above Bethlehem.
I wouldn't presume to claim that all Christians have had the same experience of the gift of faith. Indeed, I'm sure our experiences are more varied than my imagination could encompass. Some were sudden and overwhelming; others were slow and quiet. Some were ecstatic; others were gentle accretions of peace. No doubt the dimensions of difference were as many as their subjects.
But the core of the gift was undoubtedly constant: the sense that there is a God, that out of love for His creatures He sent His Son to us bearing a new and eternal covenant, and that we can grow in nearness to Him through thought and effort.
Not too long ago, atheist comedian Penn Gillette said something quite memorable: "How much would you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life was possible and not tell them that?" It's a striking question, and one that every sincere Christian should take to heart. For we do so believe; we are each, in some degree, conservators of the teachings of Jesus Christ. But many of us are reticent about that gift. Some of us even avoid situations in which we might be called upon to articulate our faith...or defend it.
It's understandable, especially given the prevalent negative reaction to any sort of active proselytizing. But it's still a sad development. The world needs Christ and His New Covenant more than ever before in history...and we "have" Him.
When the opportunity arises, why not share Him?
No, we don't have the gift of tongues the Apostles enjoyed. We can't expect to address Americans, and Frenchmen, and Germans, and Russians, and Chinese, and Japanese each in their native languages. But we have something else, something precious and potentially as powerful.
We have the World Wide Web.
The Web is a "pull" medium: users go where they wish. We can't impose ourselves on persons uninterested in hearing us. That's a good thing. It guarantees that we won't overreach our proper bounds. But it also means that, if we really desire to participate in the ministerial mission, we must be prepared at all times.
That has a weird sound, I know. It suggests a cultivated readiness to jump down the collar of anyone who indicates a degree of readiness to hear the Good News. I trust that Eternity Road's Gentle Readers are smarter than that.
The most important component of Christian evangelism is living a decent Christian life: conveying Christ's message by example, rather than by verbal exhortation. Good examples attract interest in the same fashion any successful person would. People naturally try to emulate the successful, whether "the successful" are achievers commercially, socially, or emotionally.
But "success," interpreted in this context or any other, must be visible to attract emulation. The giveaway is happiness.
Happiness is perceptible in one's words quite as much as in one's deeds. It reveals itself as confidence married to humility, which includes openness toward others, a willingness both to share one's knowledge and experience and to discuss one's uncertainties and areas of ignorance. One who writes for the Web, even in so humble a fashion as commenting on others' blogs, will display whatever happiness inheres in him, whether he wills it or not. Such words are as magnetic as the most brilliant smile.
He who is perceptibly happy will attract admirers that will want to know his "secret."
Duyen once said that you must be ready to tell your story. Take it from a brilliant young woman who learned by experience:
- Live your faith;
- Let it pervade you and exalt your spirit;
- Be ready to tell your story; simply, without hesitation, and without affectation;
- Leave the rest to the Holy Spirit.
He will take up where your tongue leaves off.
Happy Feast of the Pentecost. May God bless and keep you all.
Comments
What a wonderful meditation. I will take it to heart. Thank you.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/24/2010 at 09:26 AMI visited a church where the people spoke tongues, or said they did and I could not understand what they were saying.
I figure if they can understand it then it is good enough for me.
The only problem I have is with people who speak with a forked tongue…
Posted by Big Dog on 05/24/2010 at 10:14 PMAs someone who married into a pentacostal family from shall we say a more…staid…sect, it took adjustment to more everyday manifestations of gifts and calings of the spirit, but it has nonetheless enriched my spiritual life in ways I could not have anticipated, and made me more open about not just my faith, but my being than I was raised to be.
Posted by Blackiswhite, Imperial Consigliere on 05/24/2010 at 11:43 PMAs a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I did just exactly as you stated, I served as a missionary for two years in Japan during the early seventies. I learned to speak and write Japanese and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who would hear it. Each year, upwards of 50,000 young men and women (For men 19 yrs of age; for women 21 years of age) commit to serve for two years of their lives to teach the Gospel. Many serve in foreign lands, learn the language and culture, and teach in that language. By their sacrifice, they learn to dearly love the people they labor among. My experience changed my life for good in so many ways. It established a foundation of faith in God and in his only begotten Son that has served me well throughout my life.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/25/2010 at 02:53 PM
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