A sign to unbelievers = those under God's wrath.
I'll just tell you what I'm getting at.
Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers;...23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in
those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
Jesus is the same type of sign to the unsaved world. Like tongues, only those who have the sign will rejoice, but those without the sign will mock. It is like the Pharisees vs. the disciples. Luke 2:34 " “Behold, this Child is destined for the
fall and rising of many in Israel, and for
a sign which will be spoken against. The description in Isaiah 53 of Jesus shows similarities to the unsaved's perception of tongues. "no form or comeliness," "no beauty that we should desire," "despised and rejected by men," "was despised," and "did not esteem." And even inside the church we find this attitude, thus, the other category - "uninformed." The "sign" confirms them in their unbelief.
Tongues are very peculiar, so much so that if an uninformed (about tongues) person comes in, or the unsaved, and hears everyone speaking what they would mockingly call "gibberish" they are going to think everyone is nuts. They will not be drawn to these people, but will criticize and mock them, and probably leave, never hearing the gospel. So
in church, the other gifts are more important, and only the gift of diverse kinds of tongues is to be spoken - messages from God - which
require interpretation, and then only 2 or 3, but certainly not everyone. There must be time for the prophets, for a psalm (song), and for instruction. These are needed for the unsaved and also to strengthen the body. They take precedence.
But, Paul does not want any to misunderstand what he is saying about tongues. The main purpose of tongues is for the individual. But in church, it takes second and even third place to those gifts and teachings that can be understood
naturally. The idea that tongues was for the purpose of the unsaved to understand
naturally in their own language is human reasoning, which would make vs. 23 contradictory, and an attempt to justify why they believe tongues are not for us today with the Bible written in so many languages. "
despised and rejected by man" "
not esteemed" But many will read Acts 2 with this fallacy mindset, that the disciples were speaking in human langues of those present, but that is not the case when read carefully. Each
devout Jew HEARD all of them speaking in his own language. There were different languages present, but each HEARD in their own different language. Not only was the speaking supernatural, but the hearing also. Not all present were devout. There could have been Romans present also (the unsaved) and they mocked them (an abomination) Psalms 1:1.
The first and foremost use of tongues is for prayer and praise. "I will
pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding*. I will
sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Ephesians 6:18. It is part of the whole armor of God. Both of these are TO God, as 1 Corinthians 14:2 says, "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for
no one understands him." Thus, they are NOT for the purpose of preaching to man in their own language. Prayer and praise/singing is to God, and not always
necessary for us to understand, thus not a "requirement," but encouraged. So we are allowed to pray in the Spirit, and
also with the interpretation*. (*1 Corinthians 14:13 Understanding in prayer needs to also be the will of God, and we do not always pray with our own understanding what is
also the will of God. Paul encourages to pray in tongues and pray for the interpretation so our own prayer life can be more beneficial to us personally. Personally, besides praying in tongues, I use the gift of word of knowledge when praying in my natural language. I listen first, then speak what He tells me to pray.)
Paul's conclusion "desire earnestly to prophesy (which is also interpretation of tongues), and do not forbid to speak with tongues." The whole subject of this chapter is about tongues. Prayer language alone vs. prayer language with interpretation which is equal to prophecy.