Being filled with the Holy Spirit is the most powerful and majestic experience a person can ever encounter. If I had to choose between going to Disneyland and being filled by the Spirit, I'd choose God's Spirit.
One of the many ways that the in-filling of the Holy Spirit manifests in believers is through one's speaking in tongues. This experience is also probably one of the most controversial topics in the Christian church today.
Some churches shun the idea of the possibility while others abuse the phenomenon by scripting and faking it to appear like God is baptizing them. Whichever the dilemma, there is one source of such problems -- that is a flawed understanding of the manifestation of the gift of tongues.
The Bible is the best tool to explain speaking in tongues. What does the Word of God have to say about it?
A functional manifestation
The gift of tongues is not something that God rewards for no reason. It is a functional manifestation that can actually be used for the edification of the church once interpreted accurately. So many churches practice it, but little seek the gift of interpretation which comes from the same God and also comes freely to those who ask.
1 Corinthians 14:27 says, "If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret."
A gift from God
Acts 2:4 "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." The gift of tongues comes from God and nowhere else. The words cannot be taught nor can it be copied, but just like any language, it takes time and practice to master and grow comfortable in.
A yardstick of faith
There are two problems that hinder the gift of tongues in the church: disbelief and fear. Both are born of a lack of faith. When we speak in tongues, we conquer both disbelief and fear, meaning our faith in God becomes unhindered.
A powerful tool
There is power behind the gift of tongues. Romans 8:26 tells us that "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."
When we don't have the points to pray for, the Spirit can give us utterance, which leads to us unknowingly interceding for certain points only in a different tongue.
While the gift of tongues cannot be limited to these four things, these four ideas break the most common misconceptions of the gift of tongues, and by understanding these, we can actually understand why God allows this manifestation to happen not only in the days of the early church, but up to today.
