Why Tongues?

​If you’re familiar with Pentecostalism, you probably know that one of our distinctive teachings is the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial, physical sign of speaking in other tongues. We believe that when one comes into the full experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, they will begin speaking in a language they’ve never learned. For many Christians, this can be a stumbling block for coming into Pentecostalism. Are tongues really evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit?

One of the clearest scriptures about doctrine of evidential tongues lies at the climax the book of Acts.  Acts 1:8 is often viewed as an outline and overview of the book of Acts:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

After their own Pentecostal experience, the apostles and believers began sharing the gospel, but for the first seven chapters of Acts, they hadn’t left Jerusalem! Up until the stoning of Stephen, they stayed close to home. After Stephen’s stoning, they were scattered about, preaching the gospel wherever they went. But Acts 11:19 tells us that these scattered believers only went about preaching the gospel to Jews. Their witness was limited to the Jewish people. Acts 10 highlights one of the greatest barriers they had yet to overcome. Peter, an obedient Jew, had never been unclean, so when God began to ask him to eat unclean foods he protested, “No Lord, I’ve never eaten anything unclean.” Three times, this happened. Immediately, Peter was asked to go to the home of Cornelius, a Gentile. 
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No Distinction
            For a Jew to enter a Gentile home, they would be deemed unclean. Jews and Gentiles didn’t fellowship like that. But Peter, following the Lord, goes to the home of Cornelius and declares what God was teaching him. “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34–35 ESV), Peter said, and goes on to preach the gospel to them. Before he finishes preaching, the Holy Spirit interrupts. “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (10:44–45). How did they know that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles? “For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God” (10:46). The evidence of tongues demonstrated to the Jews that Gentiles had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. For the first time, they realized that God truly wanted to save non-Jews and welcome them into his family. God bore witness to what Peter was learning, God accepts all nations. Evidential tongues bore witness that God accepts all peoples into His family. 

One scholar noted that in the Old Testament, the presence of God was the distinguishing marker of Israel, making them distinct from all the other nations. Now, God was declaring, through all the languages of the world, that that blessing now dwelt on all who came to Christ, regardless of their nationality. Evidential tongues served to evidence that God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile, but welcomed all into His family. Speaking in Tongues was a declaration that all nations were acceptable to God and welcomed into His presence. 
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A Lasting Defense
Immediately on the heels of this experience, Peter is called on to defend himself for violating the Jewish law and eating with Gentiles. What was his defense?

“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” Acts 11:15–17 (ESV)

The baptism in the Spirit with evidential tongues was his defense for taking the gospel to non-Jews, and preaching the gospel to the nations. Four chapters later, the question of whether non-Jews needed to become Jews in order to fully follow Christ came up again. As Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel among the nations, Gentiles were being saved,  and some thought they needed to become Jews and follow the law. What was Peter’s defense?
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“And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Acts 15:8–9 (ESV)

A Declaration of God’s Heart
So what’s the big deal about speaking in tongues? It’s a declaration of God’s heart that all peoples be saved and come into the Kingdom. It’s a living demonstration that God wants all nations, tribes, and peoples to worship Him and know Him. One of the phrases that shows up throughout Acts 11 and 15 is “no distinction.” What better way to show that than filling His people with His Spirit, and giving them the languages of the world to declare His praise?
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If you’ve struggled with the idea of tongues as evidence of being Baptized in the Spirit, ask God to fill your heart for the nations and a passion for the mission of reaching the lost. Praise Him, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find your praise coming out in a language you’ve never learned. Ask God to allow His heart to become His heart, and allow that heart to come out of your lips in worship, prayer, and praise. Ask God to fill you with His Spirit, and the sign will follow. ​