Is it mandatory to speak in tongues after being filled with the Holy Spirit? Should tongues always be a proper phonetic language? Is it non-biblical to speak in tongues without an interpreter?
SG-03
No, it is not mandatory to speak in tongues after being filled with the Holy Spirit. Many have wrong thoughts about the Holy Spirit and His works. Most of the time, this happens as the preachers have misinterpreted the Bible verses or isolated the scriptures to incorporate the cultural backgrounds.
Before we further dive into the gift of tongues, we must know the works of the Holy Spirit as many limit the Holy Spirit as mere power.
1. He was being sent by Jesus to be our Helper, Comforter and Guide (John 14:16).
2. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand and interpret God’s Word (John 16:13).
3. He gives spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12).
4. He enables a Christian to produce fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Now, let’s turn to the gift of tongues. The Greek word translated “tongues” literally means “languages.” The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), and the crowd were able to understand what they were saying as they were speaking in a language that was known.
Nowhere in the NT says that speaking in tongues is the ONLY evidence that a person has received the Holy Spirit. Three instances in Acts show tongues being associated with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2; Acts 10:47; Acts 11:17). But, the main theme of these passages was not to create evidence of the Holy Spirt associated with tongues, but was to show that God was indeed saving the Gentiles (Acts 15:7-11).
To communicate the gospel to people in their own tongues, the apostles were given the ability to speak in other tongues. The apostle Peter was sent to spread the gospel to non-Jews, according to Acts 10. Being Jews, Peter and the other early Christians would find it difficult to welcome Gentiles (non-Jews) into the church. To show that they had received the same Holy Spirit as the apostles, God gave the Gentiles the ability to talk in tongues (Acts 10:47, 11:17).
Also, Paul, while speaking to the Corinthians, added a rhetorical question, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.” 1 Corinthians 12:29-31. So, if we mark one among these as a milestone of being filled by the Holy Spirit, we are missing the whole point of living as a Christian because Paul mentions that spiritual gifts are given just as the Holy Spirit decides. We are not supposed to judge anyone if they don’t speak in tongues, and we can never mark them as not spiritual as well. Learn to discern the spiritual gifts exercised by each individual in the body of Christ.
How to exercise the gift of tongues in a church?
Paul always gave importance to order in the church, especially when exercising the spiritual gifts. While he spoke about the gift of tongues, he mentioned the gift of interpreting tongues. It is the ability to translate a foreign language into a language known by the listeners. In Acts 2, the listeners interpreted the foreign language spoken by the disciples. If those present in the church could not understand the language being spoken, the tongues were useless as the goal was the edification of the church (1 Corinthians 14:5, 12).
One of the issues in the Corinthian church was that individuals with the gift of tongues were using it during services without an interpreter or other native speakers of the language. As a result, although the tongue-speaker was drawing attention, no one could understand him, therefore, his words had no significance. Paul urged the church to interpret every instance of tongues usage: “In the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:19).
So, exercising the gift of tongues must always be associated with an interpreter, as this could bring order in the church. Tongues would be real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10); to communicate God’s Word to a person of another language (Acts 2:6-12), and must be done “in a fitting and orderly way.” (1 Corinthians 14:40).
Also, Paul adds about speaking in tongues even in the absence of an interpreter in verse 28, “But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.” And he never forbids anyone not to speak in tongues (vs. 39) but to exercise this spiritual gift with wisdom for the edification of the church and not to bring confusion but peace!
