Dear Max Lucado, I speak in tongues too.
I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was a college student at Liberty University. As I sat confused, not knowing what to do, I began praying that April day and entering what many would call a private prayer language. Although the feeling it evoked was that of peace, I remember thinking to myself that I couldn’t tell anyone about the surreal experience of speaking in tongues.
Maina Mwaura
As someone who had grown up in Southern Baptist culture, I understood speaking in tongues was something that wasn’t accepted. I also knew it would bar me from the seminary life which I was to enter that coming fall. It’s a secret that, not up until now, have I been able to share freely. This is my “coming out” experience. I am a tongues-speaker.
A few weeks ago, Max Lucado said that he, too, has had a speaking in tongues experience: “When I was 64, on a July morning, as I was praying, I began praying in tongues.”
During a recent interview with the San Antonio pastor and bestselling author, he shared more of his story.
“When I was in college in East Texas, the Jesus Movement came to my college and they invited me to a Bible study, they even invited me to pray in a language I’d never studied. I didn’t know what that meant. I tried and nothing happened,” he recalled.
I’ve had the privilege of interviewing Lucado a half dozen times and always have found him to be warm and authentic. In fact, the last time I interviewed him about his latest book Help Is Here, I could tell something was different about him. Not knowing about his new experience with tongues, I just chalked it up to his freshness in explaining how the Holy Spirt has guided his life.
“The Holy Spirit cannot be contained,” he told me, “and so anybody who thinks they can put the Spirit in a box and explain the Spirit in a book ain’t gonna happen.”
Max Lucado
Lucado explained with great emphasis the need for the Spirit in our work as ministers and people of faith.
I’ve always admired Lucado, but his stepping forward and admitting that he, too, speaks in tongues did something in me I can’t quite explain. It made me have the courage to type the words I’m typing to you today. Speaking in tongues shouldn’t be looked down on or laughed at. The Bible is clear that it’s a gift some believers will have and utilize.
I would go for almost three decades hiding out in fear that if I ever shared my experience (like Jerry Rankin, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board), I would have been looked upon with suspicion.
What’s more, I knew I was lying by not confessing to the gift during countless church interviews and in the four years I served as a North American Mission Board missionary. In my heart, I knew telling the truth was the right thing to do, but I also knew it was not the wise thing to do, as it likely would have disqualified me from service.
Some of my friends who I have told in secret have asked, “What does speaking in tongues do for you?” To be fair, my private prayer language is just that. It’s not something that can be dissected and studied when the Holy Spirt allows me to experience it. It’s something Lucado has explained as what the Holy Spirit does inside of him: “I think the Holy Spirit can have a calming influence on us. During my private prayer moments, that’s exactly what takes place. There is a calming but reassuring presence that takes place within me.”
I have a feeling Lucado isn’t the only well-known religious leader who speaks in tongues. However, because of the fear of being marginalized, many choose not to admit to using this gift God has given them.
Looking back at my time in college, I’m thankful God has allowed me to use the gift. If I could change one thing, it would have been to be able to do what I’m doing today — telling others what the gift has done for me along with the freedom it has provided me.
Lucado offered insightful analysis about this: “I do live in fear of disappointing God. But I believe the one who sustains me, who saved me, sustains me. And that’s the role of the Holy Spirit.”
Maina Mwaura is a freelance writer and communications consultant who lives in the metro Atlanta area. A native of Orlando, Fla., he earned a bachelor of science degree in communications from Liberty University and a master of divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
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