No spiritual gift has generated as much misunderstanding, controversy and division within the church as the gift of “speaking in tongues”. We must approach this topic with humility, love, prayer and open minds.
What is the gift of tongues?
The gift of tongues is “spontaneous inspired utterance by the Holy Spirit, where the normal voice organs are used, but the conscious mind plays no part. The languages spoken or sung are entirely unlearned by the speaker.” (David Pytches, p. 62)
There are three distinct expressions of this spiritual gift of speaking in tongues.
1. An utterance not understood by the speaker but recognised by hearers as a known human language.
This is clearly what happened at Pentecost (Acts 2:4-12).
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 ¶ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ((9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs))- we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Some suggest that such tongues-speaking will only ever be evangelistic, but this certainly was not the case here: the tongues praised God, then Peter preached in Aramaic (probably) or Greek.
Other people say that only the Early Church needed to speak in tongues. They say that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit were only needed to authenticate the Apostle’s preaching, or until the New Testament was written. But there are many reliable accounts of tongues-speaking of a recognised human language from around the world today. The gift, as it was used in Acts 2, seems still to be very much in operation in the church today.
Other people suggest from Acts 2 that the gift of tongues should always involve recognisable human languages only. This is far too limiting. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels”. Throughout 1 Corinthians 14, Paul teaches about forms and uses of the gift of tongues other than in recognised human languages.
2. The use of tongues with interpretation in corporate worship
1 Cor 14:26 ¶ What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two- or at the most three- should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.
In seems clear that when praise or prayer was offered in public through the gift of tongues the Early Church expected God then to give an “interpretation” into the common language. The interpretation was not a simple translation, but rather an explanation of the prayer. The interpretation given of a message in tongues can sometime seem to be a prophecy. However since speaking in tongues is a form of prayer and praise then interpretations, or better “explanations”, will also usually be a prayer addressed to God and not to the church. The tongues may in some way trigger a prophecy, but a prophecy addressed to the church will not usually be the explanation.
Examples of such “tongues with interpretation” are widely reported in a variety of churches today. Paul encourages all who speak in tongues to seek the gift of interpretation also, and discourages speaking in tongues in public without interpretations, but instructs “Do not forbid speaking in tongues.”
3. Tongues as a private prayer-language.
Over the last hundred years the Pentecostal Tradition has re-awakened interest in the idea of the gift of tongues being exercised in private prayer and worship by individual believers. We find this kind of prayer in 1 Corinthians 14. Speaking in tongues as a private prayer language is genuine prayer.
“For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no-one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.” (vv 2, 4)
Praying in tongues is a form of prayer inspired by the Holy Spirit where our spirits communicate directly with God in some way “bypassing” our minds. This is as valid and beneficial as “ordinary prayer”.
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.” (vv 14-15)
Richard Foster calls this kind of prayer where our spirit communicates speaks directly to God “heart prayer.” Paul speaks of a similar form of “heart prayer” in Romans 8:26-27.
“The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
Private use of praying in tongues would be unique among the spiritual gifts in that it edifies the believer and only secondarily the church (in contrast to 1 Cor 12:7). But many Christians today in most denominations would claim to share such an experience of the gift of tongues.
They claim that speaking in tongues is helpful to them in at least three areas of prayer:
– in praise and worship, as a “love language” with the Father;
– in intercession, especially when the person is uncertain what to pray for;
– in spiritual warfare, in direct confrontation with evil and the demonic.
Some questions you may have – Doesn’t Paul teach that speaking in tongues is unimportant and unhelpful to the church?
This is certainly not the teaching in 1 Corinthians 14. Here Paul is saying that in corporate worship everything must be done decently and in order. Indiscriminate private use of tongues in that context is unhelpful. The believer can choose whether to speak or not. The problem over tongues in Corinth was that Christians who had the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues as a private prayer language were using that gift in public as a way of showing off. Paul’s criticisms of such exhibitionism do not cast any doubts on the value of tongues in private prayer. “Do not forbid speaking in tongues,” he says (v 39). Just use the gift properly!
Paul himself is enthusiastic about praying in tongues. “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues”. (v5) “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.” (v 18)
It is wrong to conclude that Paul thought the gift of praying in tongues was unimportant just because he puts it last in his lists of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul clearly believed that there were other things which were more important, such as prophecy and love. It is sad that some Pentecostals and charismatics have tended to over-emphasise speaking in tongues. But no spiritual gift or activity of God the Holy Spirit should ever be dismissed as unimportant.
Are all tongues genuine and from God?
No. There are instances of tongues-speaking in many other religions and also in occult practices. Many of these are surely of satanic origin. It is also true that phenomena very similar to tongues can be induced psychologically through emotion and hysteria. We are called to “test the spirits”, and the gift of discernment helps here.It may well be true that some of the “speaking in tongues” found in so many churches today is psychological rather than spiritual in origin.
Non-charismatic evangelicals have sometimes suggested that the gift of tongues was only for the Early Church, or that the use of tongues in private prayer is not found explicitly in Scripture. (I would argue that 1 Corinthians 14 IS explicit). Some have coldly condemned ALL modern so-called speaking in tongues is either psychological or satanic in origin. It is very good that few Christians hold or teach such an uncharitable and unbiblical position today. Just because a gift can be counterfeited does not mean that the real thing doesn’t exist.
What is the point of praying in tongues if the person is not able to understand what they are saying?
Michael Green helpfully lists some of the benefits of speaking in tongues. It gives a genuine liberty in prayer, “a new dimension” making prayer a joy instead of a great effort. It gives a greater depth to praise and worship, and a greater intimacy with God. There are reliable accounts of praying in tongues releasing other blessings too – for example of addicts coming off drugs without any painful withdrawl symptoms as they call on God by prayer in tongues.
Then also the Bible teaches that “tongues with interpretation” is one channel God chooses to speak to His Church. And there are reliable accounts of tongues which are human languages being recognised by others both guiding Christians and bringing non-Christians to conversion.
In our “over-cerebral” age the gift of tongues enables communication with God at a spiritual and emotional level to supplement our rational approach to Christian things. In our “dis-enchanted” world speaking in tongues gives an encounter with the God who is either supernatural or no god. The misunderstandings and divisions with previous generations of Pentecostalism and the excesses of the extremes of the House-Churches today have made many Christians suspicious of spectacular spiritual gifts and of the gift of tongues in particular. Happily, suspicions are fading.
Should all Christians be able to speak in tongues?
Paul would like all believers to speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:5). However he feels the same about prophecy, and 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and especially 28-30 make it very clear that he does not expect any of the gifts to be exercised by all believers. There is no Biblical ground for supposing that tongues would be different from all other gifts in being given to all believers. The Greek form of the question in “Do all speak in tongues?” (1 Corinthians 12:30) clearly demands the answer “NO”. Paul was saying, “Surely all do not speak in tongues?”
At first, Pentecostal churches expected all their members to speak in tongues. Today only about half do. Most Charismatics would say that the gift of tongues will not be given to all believers, although all believers should be encouraged to ask God to see if it will be given to them. Neither tongues nor any other gift requires a special initiatory experience after conversion. Exercising this (or any other) spiritual gift should never be a cause of pride, and not receiving a particular gift should never lead to discouragement or jealousy.
12 ¶ The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where
would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
Speaking in tongues is principally another way of praying.
What is your attitude to the gift of speaking in tongues?
If God wanted to give you that gift, what would your response be?
