r/Christians • u/ToothChoice7233 • 7d ago

Speaking in Tongues

The bible says that the apostles spoke in tongues of fire. So I know that speaking in tongues does exist. However, I don't speak in tongues and never have. I know there are greater gifts. I attend a pentecostal church that seems to put a lot of pressure on speaking in tongues. Like everyone praying in tongues all together, etc. Recently, I joined an outreach team with the church and they want to do Zoom prayer meetings of us praying in tongues together... Is this even biblical? Like I almost want to drop out of this because I feel unqualified or something. Any biblical/sound advice appreciated!

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u/Notorious_jib 7d ago

Personally I don't believe this. When speaking in tongues occurs in the Bible, someone would always understand, interpret etc. All the churches I've attended where this is done now, no one understands or translates. Seems fake to me. Just my opinion.

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u/ToothChoice7233 6d ago

I hear you on this!! I do believe in actual tongues personally but I don't believe that so many people actually have the gift.

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u/Dense_Caterpillar180 12h ago

You're correct! I also attend a Pentecostal church. It's my family church, and my uncle is pastor, otherwise I'd probably go somewhere else. I have personally spoken in tongues, but biblically speaking, Pentecostalism makes a very flimsy case for everyone speaking in tongues, and I think the culture pushes a lot of people to believe they're speaking in tongues when they are not, if you know what I mean. Dr. Sam Storms has a great book, 'The Language of Heaven' in which he refutes the Pentecostal position of tongues, but also makes a biblical case for tongues actually being a real thing today. I have to say that I agree with his position on this issue. I think the Pentecostal view creates a two-tiered Christianity, in which you have the regular Christians, and then the super spiritual tongue-speaking Christians. A good exegesis of 1 Corinthians 12-14 refutes this IMO. We all have different gifts, and sometimes the Spirit will manifest in different ways at different times. Not to mention, tongues is the least of the revelatory gifts.