I had a dream last night that gave me a new perspective on the gift of tongues, or perhaps more accurately the interpretation of tongues. I saw a young man (which turned out to be me) in what appeared to be a museum. I believe it was after closing time so the building was mostly empty with a security guard ushering anyone out who remained. The young man was waiting for his father. When his father arrived he proceeded to walk aimlessly through the building looking at things in a carefree, childlike manner. The security guard became very agitated by this as the father would pay no attention to his instructions to leave. The young man intervened, telling the security guard that barking orders at his father would be ineffective. The guard continued giving orders and the father continued to take no notice. As the young man tried to calm the guard down, the guard began shouting at the boy as well. Finally the young man changed his tone and began shouting orders at the guard until the guard finally stopped giving orders. The young man then went to his father and patiently explained that it was time to leave the building.
I was given to understand that the ability to interpret and speak in tongues included the ability to understand the speakers and speak accordingly, not just the ability to speak in English or Spanish. The young man was able to speak in a way that his carefree father understood, and also in a way that the authoritarian guard finally understood. Shouting orders at the guard was not a matter of frustration or anger for the young man, who was more natively comfortable with the calm reasoning way that he spoke with his father, but was simply a matter of speaking in a way that the guard understood.