As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. – Acts 11:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 15, 2017): Acts 11

It is a conversion story. It took place decades ago in a small church that was located in a rural town. Conversion stories are always hard to explain because there is something intangible about them, something that people who do not believe will never really understand. But on this night, a young boy decided to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ as his own. As was the custom of the day, he arose from his seat at a church service and made the long walk toward the front of the church, and the altar that awaited him there. When he arrived, he awkwardly knelt at the prayer rail and began to pray. I have no idea what exactly he prayed, he never did tell me, and I doubt that he remembers the words. We have this nebulous idea of a “sinner’s prayer,” but conversion moments are often very different from each other.  

At this moment, the elders of the church gathered around him, placing their hands on him as he prayed. And so he prayed some more. He came to the end of his moment, and he wanted to leave, but the hands held him there. He prayed, trying to think up new words to portray his new found faith. But still, the hands held him. Inside, he began to panic. Had he made a mistake? Why would the hands not let him go? And then it occurred to him that maybe they were waiting for him to speak in tongues. What should he do? He stayed and prayed for a few more minutes, and then made the decision. It was time fake speaking in tongues (or in an unknown heavenly language).

As soon as the made-up words started to emerge from his mouth, the hands released him. And he stood up and walked out of the church. It would be years before he would enter one again, years before he could learn to trust those who called themselves Christian. And even then, the event left a mark on him.

Peter goes to the house of Cornelius and remarks that “the Holy Spirit came on them.” It is a pivotal moment in the story. This “moment of the Spirit” changes everything that follows. It signaled that God had accepted those who were not part of Judaism. God had accepted outsiders into the church. But the problem is that we don’t really know how Peter “knew” that the Spirit had come on them. Did he see the spiritual flames land on them as he had witnessed on the Day of Pentecost? Some believe that they must have spoken in tongues, and there is evidence that tongue speaking (a phenomenon called “glossolalia”) was involved. But the problem is that glossolalia can be faked, just as my friend faked his moment at the prayer rail. In fact, I think that much of what we know as “tongues speaking” in the contemporary church is faked, it is merely people trying to fit in by living up to an external expectation.

While “tongues speaking” might have been involved, I suspect that there was something more, probably something unquantifiable in this moment of conversion. And I suspect that there was a sense of unity and love that bridged the differences between the Jewish Peter and the Gentile Cornelius and his family. And this was the evidence that Peter sensed, his proof that the presence of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the people in the room.

Unity and love are still the intangible elements of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. You may speak in tongues, but if you are not reacting in love, even to people who believe and behave differently from you, then I am afraid that your glossolalia is faked – or originating from a more sinister source. Where the Spirit of God reigns, there is love poured through us even to those who are not the same as us. The Spirit of God continually brings down the barriers. He is the one who still calls out to us,

“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 40:3).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 12