How many languages do you know? My native tongue is English. With the Lord’s help I have learned Greek well enough to translate from the New Testament. My Hebrew is a bit rusty, but whenever I spend a little time with it much comes back to me. When we were preparing to adopt Benjamin from China we studied Cantonese and I still remember enough to get around in a pinch. Growing up in a town where the majority population was Hispanic, I picked up a little Spanish along the way, but never formally learned the language. Recently I began trying to really learn Latin American Spanish using Rosetta Stone.
When I reflect on languages I often think of my brother-in-law, Johnny Boley. He taught himself, German, Greek, Russian, Spanish, a little Yiddish, some Hebrew and a few other European languages that my mind fails to remember at the moment. He was certainly gifted in language.
Our Librarian at NEBC not only has a degree in Library Science, but he also has a degree in linguistics. He is so gifted at language that he not only has learned several, but has developed his own language as a hobby. This kind of grasp of language never ceases to amaze me!
The church of Corinth considered a language gift to be very important. While this devotional thought is no place to debate the exact nature of the meaning of “glossa”, the fact remains that whatever the term meant to them, it was considered very important. The use of “tongues” certainly became an issue in the church. Thus the Apostle spent three whole chapters dealing with the issues of this giftedness. While the first verse of chapter thirteen clearly states that love is more important than the language gift, today’s verse makes an even more shocking statement to the Corinthian congregation. Consider it with me.
“Whether there are tongues, they will cease.” (1 Corinthians 13:8)
The Corinthians were caught up in an argument about the proper use of tongues. It appears the controversy had become so intense that a “church fight” ensued. The Holy Spirit led the Apostle to include the Love Chapter right in the middle of his entire teaching on living in the Body and recognizing a diversity of gifts. In this verse, he makes the startling statement that the very gift they were arguing so much about actually had a temporary usefulness. He actually states the truth in even stronger terms than yesterday’s statement about prophecy. Here he simply tells us that “tongues will cease!”
In contrast to the temporary nature of tongues, “Love never fails!” Years ago I heard a pastor say, “We often major on the minors.” He was right! Too often we get hung up arguing about things that are temporary. Many of these things will come to an end. Yet, we argue about them to the point of losing sight of love. This is not to say that to understand the proper use of “tongues” is not important. Certainly it is, or the Bible would not address the issue at all. However, the way we discuss the issue is also important.
As believers we must learn to agree to disagree. We must learn to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, even if they disagree with us strongly. After all, as noted in yesterday’s post, you will be spending eternity with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that you disagreed with while on this celestial ball. So you would be better off to obey the Lord and start loving them right now!
Ask the Father to help you recognize the permanence of love today!
Walking by Faith 