Speaking the Same Language

Years ago, I had the opportunity to do some ministry work with some inner city kids in Phoenix, Arizona, and every day, I would help run an after-school rec center at a church in the neighborhood. The demographic of the kids who utilized the rec center was heavily Hispanic. This was a golden opportunity for me, because I really wanted to improve my Spanish, which at that point had not advanced beyond simple greetings and the alphabet.

I had several budding friendships with many of the kids who came to the center, and one day, a new young man came. I knew nothing about him yet, so as a conversation starter, I told him I wanted to learn Spanish, which delighted him, and I tried out a tentative Hola, ¿cómo estás? (Hello, how are you?)

For some reason, this gave my new friend immediate "status" among his peers: He'd get to teach a gringa some Spanish. So we had a little vocabulary lesson. He'd point to objects around the room and tell me what they were, and I'd repeat the new words. There was nothing serious about it; he was joking (in Spanish) with his crowd of friends the whole time, and I'm fairly sure the point of most of the jokes were me, but I wasn't too bothered. There didn't seem to be anything malicious about any of them.

After a while, we had to close the rec center, and as the staff ushered the teens out the door into the parking lot, I asked my new friend: "How do you say: 'See you later' in Spanish?"

He glanced down at the table he was sitting on as he pushed himself off of it. "Mesa," he said. 

I raised my eyebrows. That was it? Okay, whatever. "All right, then, mesa," I said. 

He and his friends died laughing. "Mesa," he said in response. 

I knew I'd been had, but wasn't exactly sure how yet. I shrugged it off; thankfully -- I'd learned pretty quickly post-high school not place a great deal of weight on what other people thought of me, and I was pretty secure in my identity as a daughter of God. So I stood at the door and waved to the crowd of kids scattering to their own homes. "Mesa!" I called once more to my new friend.

Laughter bubbled in his voice as he returned a wave. "Mesa!"

Another staff member came to help me close the doors. "Why was the new kid yelling 'Table' at you?" he asked. 

And it clicked. A faint memory from Spanish 1 several years ago in high school: Hasta luego: See you later. Mesa: Table.

Oy.

So today I was in 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 where Paul goes into a lot of detail about two main gifts of the Holy Spirit: the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy. And though these are the two main gifts he brings up, the main point he makes in this section is about edification.

Merriam-Webster says that edification is: "To instruct or improve, especially in moral or religious knowledge."

So Paul makes the point that if a person, through the Holy Spirit, begins to speak in another language during worship -- a language unknown to himself -- the only thing he is edifying is his spirit, which is, you know, awesome... but doing so doesn't edify anyone around him.

Paul's not saying that's wrong, but he's saying, it's better if not only your own spirit is edified, but others around you, so both believers and unbelievers can be edified as well. And that's why he says it's even better to have the gift of prophecy.

I liked the metaphor Paul uses to illustrate this: "Now brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of 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 notes?"

As a piano player and music teacher, this speaks to me. I have 88 keys on my keyboard that can each make a distinctive sound. But unless the notes are placed in a specific order with emphasis on some notes, and other notes coming in at certain times, etc... I don't understand the song. As soon as the notes are placed in an order intelligible to me, the song clicks into place.

(Some of y'all will get this immediately:) E, E♭, E, E♭, E, B, D, C, A begins Beethoven's famous Für Elise, but if I tossed out an E and a B and another E and an A, and then a D and an E♭... it would make absolutely no sense.

The notes must be in order and in rhythm with the master plan for them to be understood as a particular song.

My friend's foreign word was out of place in context, and though he understood what it meant, even though I called out the word as he left, it did nothing to "instruct or improve" my knowledge of Spanish (until my interpreter cleared it up for me).

In 1 Corinthians 14:4-5, Paul says: "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I would like everyone one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets (bless my dear interpreter in the mesa, table situation), so that the church may be edified."

So... I don't think this principle applies just to tongues and prophecy. It does apply to these gifts and should be used as a way of making sure there's order in worship services (apparently, the Corinthian church had disorderly services, if you look back at 11:17-22), but I think that as people filled with the Holy Spirit, we should always, in every situation, be examining how best to edify the church, how best to instruct and improve others' understanding of Jesus.

In Acts 2:4-6, Luke writes: "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 them speaking in his own language." Later in 2:13, it says: "Some, however, made fun of them and said, 'They have had too much wine.'"

So, the apostles and Jesus' followers, in this passage, started speaking in tongues. But as soon as outsiders looked at what was happening and began to question it, began to be confused by it, look what happens:

In Acts 2:14, Luke says: "Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: 'Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you..." And for most of the chapter, Peter prophesies. He quotes the prophet Joel, he quotes a prophecy from David, and then, look at this:

"When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles: 'Brothers, what shall we do?' And Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off -- for all whom the Lord our God will call.' With many other words, he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.' Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day" (Acts 2:37-41).

So while tongues edified the believers and the ones who understood the different languages, Peter's prophetic speech cut them to the heart, helped them to realize that they were lost without Jesus, and three thousand people made the decision to leave their old lives behind and follow this new way laid before them.

"Eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy" (1 Corinthians 14:1).

I now know the English meaning of the word mesa. I won't stand at the door of a building anymore and yell out the word, thinking I'm yelling something different.

But let me finish my story. I got to know that kid pretty well. He was fun. He was a joy to be around; he loved to tease (as evidenced by the first few paragraphs of this post). And I was his buddy. He never left the rec center without coming to give me another "Spanish" lesson and to play some ping-pong with me. 

After a while, he started coming to Friday night worship services at that church with several of his friends. They'd line the back row, their arms folded over their chests, their grins flashing any time they caught the eye of one of the people they recognized from the rec center.

One memorable evening, I sat next to my friend. This time he hadn't arrived with the rest of his friends. He was there by himself. As the speaker at the front asked for people to come forward who wanted to give their lives to the Lord, my friend hunched forward with his elbows on his knees. After a second, he leaned toward me and whispered: "How do I follow Jesus?"

So, even though it wasn't at the front of the church, I talked to him in the back pew. I have no idea if I said the right words or described things in the exact way they needed to be described, but I knew the language and he knew the language, and because both of us were being led by the Holy Spirit, he prayed that night that Jesus would live in his heart and make him a new person. 

What a blessing that was. We were both edified that night. We both learned that the words didn't matter as much as long as the Holy Spirit worked in each of our hearts.