Regardless of the gift you have, according to the Bible, a spiritual gift is not proof that you have received the Holy Spirit. To determine whether or not you have the Holy Spirit, you must adhere to a certain set of beliefs which are the teachings of Jesus without compromising or manipulating them.
The gift of prophecy is the gift you should eagerly pursue, but this gift can put you in opposition with the established church and denomination (as it was with every prophet in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament with Jesus and the Apostles). The church also understands that if you haven’t developed any spiritual gifts as a result of their teachings, you may doubt the authenticity of their doctrinal teachings and find another church or change denominations. And so, the Pentecostal church pushes speaking in tongues as irrefutable proof of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul himself states that speaking in tongues is the least of all the gifts and that we should desire the greater gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:28 – And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:31 – Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
This is because the purpose of speaking in tongues does not usually benefit the people around, as it is more of a personal edification. Unless there is someone around who can interpret (which is rare precisely due to inauthentic tongues speakers), those around you who hear, cannot grasp what you are saying and you both become foreigners to each other. For these reasons, Paul encourages us to excel in gifts that build up the church.
