This is an area that I have little to say, but needs to be addressed. When I converted to Pentecostalism many years ago, my fellow "Jesus People" tried to coerce me to speak in tongues by encouraging me to blurt out unrecognizable syllables. I never felt good about this, since I'm a pretty rational person.
It was argued that the Baptism of the Spirit *should be* evidenced by the speaking in tongues. And that seemed to be substantiated in the book of Acts. However, none of this was supported by doctrine. In fact, it appears that gifts are distributed *as the Spirit wills,* and is not guaranteed to all Christians equally. 1 Cor 12.
And so, I began "speaking in tongues," but in the end ceased doing so, since I thought I was personally faking it, not having the real gift. On the other hand, I've never forbid other Christians from exercising this gift if indeed they think they have the genuine article.
The 2 questions I have in my mind are these...
1) What is the origin of this gift? Did God just insert this gift in the Church without any precursory incidences or precedent?
2) What is the actual doctrinal basis of this gift? Is it stipulated that they are all "tongues," or is there adequate differentiation between different kinds of tongues?
I usually look for the basis of NT experiences in earlier OT experiences, since God does not change. He would not likely introduce something so novel, so new, that His followers would doubt it as not just supernatural, but extra-natural to God's own typical way of dealing with Man?
Nobody, for example, would doubt that God heals supernaturally because He has long done supernatural healings, if only on rare occasion. But something that has no background would naturally be questioned as being without foundation. You wouldn't eat food on your plate if it was different from anything you've ever seen before!
But why would God suddenly have people speak gibberish where nobody knows what is being spoken? Or why would He have people speak in a foreign tongue that they don't even recognize? In Acts 2, tongues was specifically given to speak to foreigners in a language they recognized, even if those who spoke did not know the language.
There is no basis here for a "prayer language" that nobody, including the speaker, recognizes. Nevertheless, Paul indicates that a tongues speaker can exercise tongues even without the language communicating to anybody, including himself!
I do find evidence that God supernaturally enabled saints to interpret dreams, which is sort of like interpreting tongues, or a foreign language. But beyond this, only prophecy comes near to tongues, and it is recognizable to the speaker.
It may be that tongues is the equivalent of spiritual communion with God, beyond the physical senses? If we are converted by the power of God, that power is coming from a God who is beyond our senses, and only touches our senses when we receive it.
It is therefore not recognizable initially as coming from God until we interpret it as an experience. Conversion is not purely language, but internal cause and effect that must be interpreted in some way by our minds. It may be as a feeling, an emotion, or an idea.
I'm probably missing information, and so I ask the questions. I'm not doubting the biblical accounts. I'm just looking for the biblical purpose of tongues, since I do not myself appear to have this gift.
I will say, however, that I've experienced the "Gift of Knowledge," in which God imparts knowledge to you about someone or something that could only be revealed by supernatural means. Clearly, God communicates supernatural experiences to us that affect us in different ways as individuals!
