Tongues Speaking

It is quite alarming and confusing to see the rate at which some Christians faked tongues speaking, and I said some due to my observation.
Please before you castigate me for speaking about this issue let me show you the verse that backed up my observation, 1 John 4:1 says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone into the world.”
We are in a generation that never cared to study the Bible, which is why we are easily get carried away with lies and heresies.
And one of them is “SPEAKING STRANGE TONGUES”.
Speaking in Tongues is the ability to speak in an unknown language through utterance of the Holy Spirit. Note that speaking in tongues is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which is why I’m concerned that we never take a look at other gifts. If you read 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 you will clearly understand that this speaking in tongues is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit.

But why do we so much focused on this “speaking in tongues” of a thing? Well, it’s because we are too lazy to check up our Bibles for understanding. Note that I didn’t write this to condemn anyone but only to enlighten us.
I’ve only spoken in tongues few times if I can remember vividly, but does that mean I don’t have the Holy Spirit abiding in me because of that? Not at all, because there are still other evidences to watch out for in my life, such as they were highlighted in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.
Nowadays in our churches, speaking in tongues has been bastardized to the extent of some of us are getting confused about the originality of this kind of tongues speaking.
If we take a look at the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the first evidence that was so glaring to the outsiders about the disciples was their tongue speaking and also notably they clearly understood what they (the disciples) we’re speaking about. Take a look at Acts 2:6-12.

As you can clearly see that speaking in tongues is not just about saying anything that comes out of our mouths (as some people are being forced to do so without the influence of the Holy Spirit). The foreigners in Jerusalem understood what the disciples were saying and this drew their attention, thereby paving way for them to preach the Gospel to the multitudes.
The primary purpose of speaking in tongues in the church is clearly stated in 1 Corinthians 14:22a, “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.”
Just imagine a situation whereby an unbelieving Igbo man that doesn’t understand Yoruba came to a Yoruba-speaking church and Holy Spirit prompted the pastor to say something in Igbo for the benefit of that Igbo man even though he (the pastor) doesn’t understand what he’s saying.
Your guess is as good as mine, the Igbo man would be surprised that someone can actually communicate with him in his own language and thereby turning himself to God in full surrender.

The Bible further instructed that even if you are to speak in tongues in the church you must be able to interpret it or else it’s better for you to keep quiet and talk to God silently (1 Corinthians 14:27-28),
Speaking in tongues shouldn’t be a showoff act in the church at all. It should be used for the edification of both the speaker and the church.
It’s high time we went back to the Bible and allowed God to guide us in order to avoid further confusion and stop spreading false teachings of God’s Word.
Speaking in tongues is good and beneficial to your spiritual growth as a Christian and it’s not disputable, but don’t depend on it only because there are counterfeits tongues spreading around the Church nowadays.
Finally, “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:39-40.
I pray the Lord opens your eyes of understanding in Jesus name. Amen.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have been blessed by it.

Akinkuade Oluwadare Tobi 2018©

Note: Yoruba and Igbo are two of the three major tribes and languages spoken in Nigeria.