Glossolalia and Code-Switching

It's only 8:30 am, but already I have learned a lot this morning.  I skimmed articles on Boston Irish Catholic history, Italian American history, Polish American history, and the history of Pentecostalism.
 
Boston is a city that makes me feel like I am not in America.  Many of my international students have said the same.  So I've been trying to figure out what about its history set this kind of tone.

Gradually, my mind wandered over to the history of Pentecostalism, as it is one of the most explosive denominations in the world today--and I am dating someone who's a Pentecostal pastor.

Last night, we saw each other for the first time in a month.  (The last time it was for the first time in thirteen weeks!)  We talked about our ability to code-switch with other people.

This morning, I wonder if being Pentecostal--and especially speaking in tongues--allows follower of Jesus to more easily step into the worlds of other people.

I have found that people who were raised in bilingual families have that ability in demonstrably higher proportions than those who were not.

If speaking in tongues (glossolalia) means that one is comfortable producing sounds that one does not understand, does it not help in code-switching?  And if praying in the Spirit means that we give up control--over even what we pray--does that not help in becoming more accommodating towards others?

At the same time, I am tired of having to constantly accommodate other people.  I also believe it is time for me to be me, and to invite others to enter into my world and my mode of being, even if it is off the beaten path.  In Divinity School, I learned many things about the gift of hospitality that I have been given--the ability to make "every tribe and tongue and nation" feel at home.  I am still endeavoring to host the presence of God in  my every day life in tangible ways.  Does our presence on earth not warrant inviting neighbors (in the Good Samaritan sense of the word) into our experience of Jesus, and engaging in a two-way-street relationship with those around us?

For too long, Western Christianity has come hand-in-hand with imperialism, colonialism, and racism.  We have, quite honestly, been bad neighbors to much of the world.  Let us repent from this sinful trajectory and follow God's spirit rather than our own ideologies.

Amen.