SPEAKING IN TONGUES AND THE CONFUSION OF IT ALL

Try not to judge a post by its title.  What I'm about to write might surprise you.

As we think about the tired and the discouraged and the abused within our great society--who do not know God--I wonder if we have ever weighed the fact that, to them, churches are speaking in tongues.  They hear us talk, shout, testify, and preach....to them....in a very foreign language.

We toss out lingo like born again, propitiation, knowing God, Holy Spirit power and eternal life as if our relatives and neighbors obviously get it for we think they understand kingdom culture.  Many don't.  The majority are clueless.  To them, we are like clanging gongs prattling on about something religious which makes no sense...to them.

What can be the solution?  Well, we can't dismiss terms of God which they naturally would not understand; for many of these truths come from the Word which are essential to our Life.  Thus, the need for interpreters.  Isn't that what going into all the world is about?  We are called to interpret God's message for all to hear. 

When we speak to the cashier or the waitress or the principal or the work colleague, we must not speak in a foreign tongue.  This is a great challenge to us pulpiteers for a foreign language to seekers means their continued disconnect.

Jesus was sent as a man in order translate Heaven's breath-taking wonder into our own hands and feet terms.  It seems that simple.  We are read by all men.  May we be written by the stroke of God in a language our neighbors can understand.  It is eternally important.

May we refrain from speaking in a church tongue that goes over others' heads.  Rather, let us communicate in a terminology that would open hearts to God.