Speaking in Tongues: Contemporary Manifestations

Speaking in Tongues: 

Contemporary Manifestations

(Published in CSI Life in Pentecost Season in 2011)

“And suddenly from heaven, there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts of the Apostles 2: 2- 4)

The followers of Jesus, who were dejected, disarrayed and shattered after his crucifixion, were filled with fiery Holy Spirit after Jesus’ resurrection. They began to speak in tongues. All these astonishing events took place in the city of Corinth, which was a prominent commercial centre of that time. All those, who include people from other languages such as Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Phrygians, and Arabians, miraculously understood what they spoke! Thus speaking in tongues became a communicative process, which unified many people who were otherwise divided into many levels. Speaking in tongues helped evangelization in a better way.

Trivializing the crux and meaning of speaking in tongues has been widely seen in many present-day Christian sects. Utterances without any meaning, which have been used in a cunning yet crafty manner, with the help of highly sophisticated sound system from the extremely festooned stage, deceive naive believers. False prophecies, which do not have any social commitments, are carved out of these tricky tongues to lure people for material benefits of so-called evangelists. One should remember that tongues, in the biblical context, are a unifying factor rather than a divisive force. St. Paul rightly points out that “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (Romans 13: 1) and “If I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?” (Romans 14: 6).

Speaking in tongues have many other manifestations. One can find that translations of the Bible to umpteen number of languages all over the world are another form of speaking in tongues. Many biblical scholars and stalwarts of the gospel toil hard to translate the bible into the languages even do not have a script as their own. All these works to catalyze evangelization could be rightly considered as equal to speaking in tongues. In India, this revolutionary step of translating the bible to vernacular languages was initiated by the European missionaries encouraged by the protestant movement. We should praise God and thankful to the missionaries who made it possible to read the word of God in our own mother tongue.

Language is the basis of knowledge. Knowledge is power. Speaking in tongues shares the knowledge about Jesus and thus about the triune God. Speaking in tongues in current world connotes that knowledge is a resource and a tool to share power, which should be extended to the deprived and marginalized in the society. Privatization and the subsequent commercialization of education system in India push the majority of the Indian students to the margins of the knowledge system. Proactive interference in the field of education by the church to ensure that equality prevails in the arena of education is the need of the hour.

Word is a core component of language. “Let there be…!”, were the words uttered by God to create life out of the chaos. To make life's sustenance ‘word became flesh’. Jesus is the human form of the creator word. Hence language is not a simple gift from God. It is invaluable, complex as well as Spirit-filled gift. Usage of language, in any form such as verbal, non-verbal, written, digital, visual and audio should be used wisely and guided by the fiery Holy Spirit to unite people instead of dividing them. No language dominated the Pentecostal experience; everybody understood everything and tongues addressed all the people. Language of hegemony should be replaced by the language of equality. Tongues, in its real sense, were the language of equality. The non-verbal and animated presence of the Holy Spirit as the form of fire highlights the importance of non-verbal language. Even our smile, a powerful nonverbal language, does matter to the world. Spreading love using language in its different forms is the responsibility of Christians.

‘Aksharam’  (letter/ alphabet) means one that will not perish. Jesus Christ, the Word became flesh, and his teachings are imperishable. Speaking in tongues and its meaning, thus, surpasses the boundaries of any form of divisive forces and time.