I remember one time someone at a church I was visiting said to me, “Pastor Rich, a sign that you are filled with the Holy Spirit and that you received the Spirit’s baptism is that you speak in tongues.”
My mind went back to 1 Corinthians 14:21-22: In the Law it is written: “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.
According to what Paul said to the Corinthians who were abusing the gift of tongues, he told them that tongues was not for the believer, but for the unbeliever. So when a unbeliever hears a person speak in his or her language that the speaker did not know beforehand, but was supernaturally given the power to do so by God, that is a sign to the unbeliever that God was addressing him. Tongues were never ever used as a sign that a believer is spirit filled or baptized in the Spirit.
Where did the church come up with this? I don’t know. But one thing is certain: To come up with the notation that tongues is for believers as a sign of their filling and/or baptism of the Spirit is an indication that to get there one has to spiritualize or allegorize the interpretation of Scripture. This method of interpretation will surely lead to the wrong conclusion and down the wrong path.
Hey, let me be real and honest with you. For me personally, the greatest sign of how I am doing as a Christian is not whether or not I speak or pray in tongues. My biggest need is to control the one tongue I got.
Here is how James puts it in James 3: “We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, and able to keep their whole body in check. 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
So let me say it again: The greatest sign for me personally on whether I am doing well in my walk with God is not whether I am able to speak or pray in tongues. It is according to James 3, whether or not I can control the ONE tongue I got flapping in my mouth! Only by being filled (or controlled) by the Holy Spirit can I pull this off.
If the church would put more emphasis on this and less on whether a person should speak or pray in tongues, the greater would be our witness and walk with the Lord in both power and practice.
