Should Christians “speak in tongues”? Part 1

Now we come to a divisive subject. 

Let's begin with the Pentecost event that Christians celebrate on Pentecost Sunday:

When the day of Pentecost came, [the first believers] were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:1-4).

"Pentecostalists" are typically named for their understanding of this event: that when the Spirit came at Pentecost, each Christian began speaking in a "heavenly" or "prayer language," an "unknown tongue." They believe that if early Christians did, each of us should today. In this view, if you are a Christian who has not "spoken in tongues," you have not yet experienced the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

While divisions regarding this phenomenon seem less intense today, confusion still surrounds the issue.

“Other tongues” vs. “unknown tongues”

At Pentecost, the early believers "were filled with the Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:4). That activity was a direct result of the Spirit's work, and it was experienced by every believer.

Later, the Corinthian Christians experienced an ecstatic kind of spiritual language as one of the Spirit's gifts (1 Corinthians 12:30; 14:1–25). This gift is usually called speaking in "unknown tongues."

The Corinthian experience was completely different from the Pentecost event. In Jerusalem on Pentecost day, Christians were given the divine ability to share the gospel with the assembled crowds by using known languages which they had not yet learned. At Corinth, believers were given the divine ability to speak to God in a language known only to his Spirit. 

Nowhere does the Bible teach that all Christians will speak in tongues as did some in Corinth. In fact, it is clear that they will not (1 Corinthians 12:30).

The Pentecost gift is found in Acts 2 and never mentioned or practiced again. However, the "unknown tongues" practiced in Corinth have been a significant part of the Charismatic movement and Pentecostal worship in recent generations.

What can we learn from Scripture about this experience? That’s our next devotional.