Introduction

I know a lot of conservative Evangelicals who simply want nothing to do with the gift of tongues—the type who recoil at anything Pentecostal. And fair enough, when what you know about Pentecostalism is from sources far removed from their day to day, such that all that is heard sounds frankly demonic.

On the other hand, Pentecostals have a large heart. They want others to join in with them, but can't understand the antagonism. All they can do is weakly, with great hope, offer a hand, knowing it probably will be rejected yet again—and move on.

I believe realising there are true and false gifts is one of the keys to bringing both sides together. How could that be?

Well, if Pentecostals could acknowledge that there are false gifts, abuses of the gifts, and so on, it brings a point of agreement to the table. But if conservatives knew enough about the gift to not throw the baby out with the bathwater, they may be able to tolerate the use of the gift.

If conservatives hear tongues and they equate that with something of the devil, they will be offended, and more. But you irrationally fear something a lot more when you don't understand it. By understanding that there are indeed false tongues—but also true—now they can be working alongside Pentecostals instead of against them.

But Pentecostals must acknowledge the reality that there are false gifts, and allow room for discernment. They also must have order in their services. That should be standard 1 Corinthians 12-14 practice. Without these elements—discernment and order—a service can quickly and easily descend into the glorification of something other than God. This is an area that conservatives are highly attuned to, and it grates them no end that Pentecostals don't seem to care. If they could at least demonstrate some order and give deliberate space to discernment, it would be water to a parched throat for conservatives.

More could be said, but it's time for the 12 differences, since some don't even acknowledge the existence of false gifts (2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 13:14, 16:14; Mark 13:22; Matthew 24:24; Jeremiah 10:2; Isaiah 44:25).

12 differences between true and false tongues

Discussion

This last point (number 12) is very important. If we can substitute speaking in tongues for praise in a known tongue (as per Acts 2:6-11), it demystifies it all for us.

If Pentecostals pridefully thought they were better than others because they had this gift (by the way, I've never met one who thought that way): well, they are no better than those who spend the same time worshipping God in a known tongue.

And for us conservatives, it helps us place this gift and recognise when we should use it and what to do in the context of other tongues-speakers. In other words, while they're speaking in tongues, we could be praising God in English. We need not feel out of place or inferior or intimidated.

Could tongues be other things too? Sure. Some people describe it as, in individual contexts, a private prayer language. It's like you're praying for things you don't know you need. Neat, huh? Hard to verify from Scripture because we don't have many examples, but not something out of the realm of possibilities, nor something dangerous. This could be what Romans 8:26 is talking about, but we don't want to just grab the nearest verse that sounds vaguely like what we want it to. It appears to be talking about the Spirit acting independently from us, caring for us when we don't know what to do (when we are weak).

But just seeing—in small or large part—that it is simply praising God in foreign or angelic language is huge. Now it's demystified and not so scary. Now we (conservatives) can relax. Now those of us without the gift of tongues can participate when it's done in a group context (although, should it be, considering Paul's words in 1 Cor 14?). Now there's no room for pride. Now there's no need to force people to do it (1 Corinthians 12:3). In my humble opinion, it's a game-changer.

Let's push in on that. Music, too, could be said to be an unintelligible language. We give it meaning by our use of it in praise. Some music we know intuitively is not fit for worship, such as discordant songs or instruments, or even whole genres. We look for the right tone and add intelligible words to create the right worship music. So too, tongues has a 'tone'—of love (1 Corinthians 13). This tone gives it meaning, depth and purpose.

Music can lift our spirit in ways we don't understand. So too can tongues. The unintelligible can still be profitable. With music without words, if we come at it with a tone of love, making a melody to love God and/or others, it pleases God. With tongues, because it is ultimately intelligible to God, when we come to God in love with tongues, he hears it and understands and responds.

I heard of one smug non-tongues speaking conservative who spoke in German amongst Pentecostals, trying to show them how they were all wrong. He may have succeeded in tricking the Pentecostals, but he didn't succeed in deceiving God. Done without love, speaking in German to English speakers sounded impressive and achieved nothing. It was a "clanging cymbal" and nobody profited anything (1 Corinthians 13:1-4).

Then there's somebody like Jackie Pullinger, missionary to the destitute in the 'walled city' in Hong Kong. She had made an impact amongst drug addicts and they were turning to Christ. But they were still addicted. She had no resources, no anti-drug medication, no money, no answers. So she turned to God. She spoke in tongues, and asked the Spirit to give the new drug-addicted believer tongues. Every time they craved, they burst out in tongues. A couple of weeks of this, and all cravings had gone. The addiction left.

Now this is not a replicable method as if God was a giant slot machine. Do this and then that, and God will give you x? No. They were desperate and had no other means, so God intervened. It's often the case that God will use medication in places where that is available, or other means. He is resourceful. He is God. To revere the method would be to lose God. It's always about God's power and doing what he wants you to do, as an obedient response in your relationship. As soon as it becomes about following a method, you've lost that relationship, and you've lost its power.

But the point is that tongues is powerful, just like you expect praising God with music for hours on end, like King David did, was powerful. And it's the sort of power that is completely opposite from the world's kind of power, because it's about emptying yourself to get more of God. It's not about emptying your mind, like the mantras of Eastern spirituality. In fact, as we can see from David's music, it's often precisely the opposite. Tongues as expressed through the powerful example in Acts 2 was also an example of getting people to think—as Peter then goes on to preach. But when we speaking unintelligibly, we force ourselves to acknowledge that we don't have all the answers. We don't have the things to say. We don't even know what to ask, or what to praise God for. But we pour out our hearts towards him anyway. And God hears that. And he can choose to respond.

Conclusion

All Christians should strive to understand tongues—both true and false. The true gift would serve to help us express ourselves to God when we don't know what to do or say. The understanding that there is a false gift helps us come together. Do come.