City Church Seven Hills

There’s quite a bit of confusion around the topic of tongues. Over the centuries, camps have been formed, loyalties declared, and positions increasingly polarized. Depending on your church background, it’s likely that when you hear tongues mentioned you think:

1. It’s the primary and essential sign of receiving baptism in the Holy Spirit. 
2. It’s a very odd, possibly heretical practice only engaged in by fringe groups in the church. 
3. Tongues? You mean like the thing in my mouth?

The truth, as it usually does, lies somewhere between these extremes. While the gift of tongues is not the sign of baptism in the Spirit, it is intended to be an integral part of the Christian life. And it is most certainly not something we can afford to simply dismiss or ignore.

So then, what is the gift of tongues?

The Greek word used literally means “tongue”, like the thing in your mouth. But it’s most often translated as “language” – an idiomatic usage also common in English. When the Bible (mostly in Paul’s writings) talks about tongues, it speaks of one gift with three different expressions. It’s always supernaturally speaking a language you don’t know. But sometimes, what you say requires interpretation – translation. Sometimes it doesn’t. Each expression of tongues has a different audience. Who the audience is, or who’s listening, determines whether interpretation is needed or not. Let’s look at each of the three expressions found in the New Testament. We’ll see what each is, who’s listening, and if interpretation is required. 

First, we have people speaking earthly languages that they do not know. We see this happen in Acts 2.

“And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.” – Acts‬ ‭2:4-6‬ ‭NLT

As the believers are filled with the Spirit, they begin to speak. Though they did not know what they were saying, they were preaching the Gospel in the languages of the multitudes who were in Jerusalem. The audience is people who understand what is being said. No interpretation needed there. 

Second, we have people speaking the language of the Godhead. In Romans 8:26-27 and Ephesians 6:18 Paul calls this praying in the Spirit. He also mentions this idea in I Corinthians 14:15. Look how he describes it in Romans.

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” – Romans‬ ‭8:26-27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is what you do when you don’t know what to pray so you allow the Spirit of God inside you to pray directly to God in the language of God. This is probably the most important expression of tongues because God uses it to bring our Will into harmony with His will. In other words, praying in the Spirit makes us look more like Jesus and it is the means by which God makes Romans 8:28 a reality. 

We do this out loud in charismatic churches sometimes and no translation is needed because we are corporately speaking to God. God is listening, no interpretation needed there. 

Third, we have have people speaking heavenly languages. In most of I Corinthians 14, Paul is giving regulations about “heavenly tongues” or heavenly languages. In verse 27 he says this:

“No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they say.” – 1 Corinthians‬ ‭14:27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Some contemporary theologians jump on this single verse and claim that all corporate expressions of tongues must adhere to this guideline. But it’s important to remember that Paul was addressing a specific situation in a specific church. A church located in a city where ecstatic utterances were a common feature of pagan worship. Paul was providing guidance to make the church’s practice distinct from what happened in the temples of idols. In this situation, when someone stands up in front of the church and addresses the people in the congregation while speaking a language of heaven, an interpretation should follow. People who don’t understand the angelic language are listening – interpretation is required. 

The topic of tongues is an important issue – one where we need to have clarity. But it is not something that we can draw definitive conclusions on based on a single passage. We need to look at everything the Bible has to say about tongue and harmonize it all. If we focus on one or two passages only, we’ll miss what the Bible is really saying and draw false conclusions. Tongues is not the sign of being filled with the Spirit. But it is connected to that filling. Not everyone will speak in heavenly languages. But praying in the Spirit should be a central part of every believer’s experience of faith. 

I encourage you to go dig in to these passages. Let the Spirit speak to you. I pray that you will also allow Him to speak through you.