“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Paul assures us that each of us is given a gift by our Father’s own Spirit, and that it is useful, “for the common good.” Then he spends all of chapter 13 describing love. The desire to give a good gift to another, to serve and give oneself to another is what defines us as Christians. God is love, therefore those who love unselfishly as He does are image bearers of God as we were designed to be in the beginning. Christ shows us the Father by giving Himself to us, and His sacrifice of His own life for us offers us the restoration of that vision that God had in the beginning. We have a second opportunity to be image bearers of God. We follow Christ when we love one another in the way we are uniquely equipped by the Spirit to love.

Only when we have this pattern of gift giving love firmly established at center stage does Paul say in 14:1 “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.” I saw that, “especially prophecy” and I was confused. I thought, “What if that is not your gift?” Should we ask for another gift? Are some gifts better than others, more desirable than others? He goes on to say that those who speak in tongues edify themselves, not others. Does this mean tongues are a lesser gift? Why would the Spirit give a gift that wasn’t loving, but selfish?

I prayed about this. I grieved before God as a tongue speaker, who did not know what this passage meant, or how I was meant to be of service to the Church. I feel like God answered me and taught me something about the gift of tongues, and about the nature of all the gifts.

Later in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 13, Paul goes on to explain that the one who speaks in a tongue should pray to interpret. When I pray in the tongue, my mind is unfruitful, so I pray with my understanding. Now when I speak in English, I think in English also, I have to, because it is my understanding that is deciding what to say, and responding to what is being said, but when I speak in tongues, I’m not thinking in that other language. I can’t, because I don’t understand it. I can babble away in tongues all day, but be writing my grocery list, answering emails, daydreaming whatever I want with my understanding. I think in English, it’s the only language I know. When I read this instruction from Paul, after praying for guidance on using the tongue. I understood that I was to be praying with my English speaking mind as I speak in the tongue. Specifically I ask for understanding, that God would tell me what is on His heart. When I intercede for someone in tongues, I picture that person in my mind, and ask the Lord for His will for that person.

I have found that often some image or impression will come into my mind as I do the two prayers simultaneously, one in the spirit and one in my understanding. I am very tentative to call it an interpretation, because today we associate an interpreter with translating. And that requires a high degree of skill and specificity about what each word means. I am afraid to say, “God says this or that.” I am not very very certain about the accuracy of my relaying of His words specifically, but I do know that on many occasions the people that I have prayed with and for have found confirmation in my descriptions of these images and impressions. What I think in my understanding lines up with what they think God is saying and doing in their lives. It is as if, my prayer to understand the tongue has been answered and when I share that answer with those listening they are encouraged.  This gives me confidence to keep going and practicing with my gift.

Which leads to the insights I promised regarding all the Spirit’s gifts. The gifts are not just to give us a sense of security in God’s love for us, they do do that, but they are also tools of a trade, an apprenticeship that God is inviting us to join Him in. I believe all the gifts require skills that grow over time in order to be as useful to the body as they can be. When mastered, they amount to prophecy.

Often a master craftsman, would give the preparation to the apprentice. He would have the young man do the rough coarse work, and then step in with the apprentice watching every move, he would elevate the rough hewn form to artistry. Teaching the finer points of the craft in the moment.

In our apprenticeship, a teacher studies and prepares a lesson. She gets better at that preparation, and in anticipating where students will struggle and in knowing what questions are likely to arise the more times she teaches, and especially the more she repeats that same lesson with class after class. She becomes skilled at the work of teaching, but a Christian who teaches, doesn’t just want to fill the students’ minds with facts and figures that they carry around in their head. A Christian teacher hopes that God will use them to impart life changing knowledge. When the Spirit takes the well prepared teacher in hand and adds that touch of Mastery to her work, then the students receive Wisdom. That is in a sense prophesying. It is transmitting to another what God has for them.

Likewise a pastor, prays and prepares a sermon, he becomes skilled at oration, and delivering a message that is engaging to an audience, but he doesn’t just want his parishioners to listen and be amused or to mull it over for a day, he hopes that God will speak through him in a way that is life giving and life changing to those who hear. He hopes that his “flock” will not just take comfort in his relationship with God, but that through him they will begin to encounter God for themselves, and have a growing relationship with Him of their own. This is a prophecy.

I can speak in tongues all day, but help no one, and not grow in skill, but this is inconsistent with God’s character and nature. I believe that is why Paul had to give instructions on tongues specifically, to show us that we must choose to follow love, and use our minds and our natural abilities with the tongue, if we are to apprentice with the Spirit and serve others with our gifting. God wants all His children to work with Him, for the sake of His relationship with them, and for the sake of their relationships with each other. This is His Way, the way of Love.