Why This Matters Today
There has never been a time when the church didn’t need the Holy Spirit. We need Him like lungs need oxygen. Without Him, faith collapses. Without Him, worship is just noise and church becomes a club with a hymnbook. We believe the Spirit is alive, active, and essential for every believer.
That’s why this subject matters.
When confusion surrounds the work of the Spirit, God’s people get anxious. When Christians feel pressured to prove their spirituality with emotional displays, joy gets replaced with insecurity. When a gift meant to unite becomes a reason for suspicion, churches lose focus on the mission.
Tongues were never given to separate us into levels:
“the deeply spiritual” and “the regular people.”
Tongues were never given to turn prayer into a performance.
Tongues were never given to measure maturity.
Yet here we are, living in a time when many believers wonder quietly inside:
“If I’ve never spoken in tongues, am I missing something?
Am I spiritually second-class?
Does God love me less?”
And others wonder:
“Why do some churches seem to think tongues are everything?
Why do they pressure people into emotional highs?
Why do some treat intelligible speech as optional?”
These are not new questions.
The early church struggled too.
That’s why the Holy Spirit gave us Scripture clarity that never expires.
2. Tongues in the Bible: Real Languages for Real Mission
So let’s go back to Pentecost, the birthplace of tongues in the New Testament. Not to a YouTube video. Not to a modern stage. To Acts 2 where the Holy Spirit made His grand entrance with wind, fire, and a miracle tailor-made for mission. The disciples were gathered from many nations. A crowd heard them speak—not heavenly syllables—but the languages of Parthians, Medes, Cappadocians, Egyptians, Romans. It was miraculous comprehension.
Nobody said, “What in the world are they babbling?”
They said, “How do we hear the wonders of God in our own tongue?”
Tongues weren’t about spectacle.
They were about clarity.
They weren’t emotional fireworks.
They were missional tools.
In Acts 2, the gift of tongues lowered obstacles.
It broke language barriers.
It wasn’t about self-expression.
It was about gospel expansion.
Tongues were given to build bridges, not mysteries.
To draw people in, not push people out.
To serve the listener, not the speaker.
3. When Emotion Becomes the Measuring Stick
So how did something so beautiful become so confusing?
Because somewhere along the way, Christianity shifted from:
Help me reach others
to
Make me feel something.
The church in Corinth loved spiritual experiences. They were chasing the spectacular. They wanted to feel the Spirit more than follow the Spirit. And Paul says, lovingly but firmly, “Grow up.” He tells them that if no one understands the words, the church isn’t blessed. He says he would rather speak five clear words that help someone grow than ten thousand in a tongue no one grasps.
The Spirit does not bypass the mind.
He renews the mind.
The Spirit doesn’t demand we lose control.
He produces self-control.
The Spirit isn’t trying to overwhelm the church.
He’s trying to build up the church.
Illustration — The Spiritual High Chase
I once knew a man who thought closeness to God could be measured by goosebumps. If the music didn’t hit a certain decibel or if the preacher wasn’t shouting and sweating, he left disappointed. “I just didn’t feel the Spirit today,” he’d say.
Meanwhile, his wife was quietly serving, visiting the sick, praying for their neighbors, showing grace in their marriage. She walked out of the same service thanking God for new strength.
Two believers.
Same sanctuary.
One chasing a feeling.
One walking in faith.
Which one looks more like Jesus?
People often say, “But speaking in tongues feels so refreshing! I’m lifted! I’m comforted!” And I will never mock a person who is seeking God. The hunger is precious. The desire for God is beautiful.
But emotion can’t be the measure of spiritual maturity.
Emotion is seasoning.
Truth is the meal.
If speaking in a tongue leaves me changed…
more loving, more obedient, more mission-driven…
praise God.
But if I leave the moment only craving another moment…
that’s not growth.
That’s dependency.
God doesn’t want roller-coaster Christians.
He wants rooted Christians.
We can feel something powerful and still not be transformed.
We can feel nothing and still be growing mightily.
The test is fruit, not fireworks.
4. The Spirit Who Renews the Mind
Tongues are real.
Tongues are biblical.
Tongues have purpose.
We must let the Bible define that purpose.
The greatest miracle of Pentecost was not the tongues.
It was the hearts that turned to Jesus.
Three thousand new believers in one day.
That’s what tongues are for.
Not adrenaline.
Not prestige.
Not hierarchy.
Not division.
Mission.
Unity.
Edification.
Love.
The Spirit isn’t trying to make us louder.
He’s trying to make us like Jesus.
The most amazing thing God created is not a galaxy or atom or thunderstorm or mountain.
It is the human mind.
David said, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Science says our cells are engineered for lasting life.
We were built with eternity in us.
So the Spirit does not bypass the mind.
He restores it.
He renews it.
He writes truth on it.
He elevates our thinking to match heaven’s perspective.
The Spirit-filled life is not measured by how high we feel,
but how deeply we love and how faithfully we follow.
5. The Greatest Gift: Love Above All
Real spiritual maturity is measured by:
• love that keeps showing up
• patience under pressure
• peace in storms
• obedience when unseen
• self-control when tempted
Not by emotional highs collected like trophies.
The Spirit does not refresh us with adrenaline.
He refreshes us with assurance.
Paul placed 1 Corinthians 13 right in the middle of the tongues debate for one reason:
Love is the supreme sign of the Spirit.
Not tongues of angels…
Not prophecies of power…
Not mountain-moving faith…
Love.
Love is the miracle that matters.
Love is the language every heart understands.
Love is the power that breaks chains.
Not everyone has every gift.
But everyone can have love.
If I never speak in tongues, I am not lacking the Spirit.
If I lack love, I am lacking everything.
Illustration — Quiet Love is Loudest
There was a woman in one of my congregations who rarely spoke during worship. She didn’t sing loudly or pray with poetic flair. She didn’t raise her hands or shout amen. But every week she arrived early to help an elderly member from the parking lot into the church.
She remembered birthdays.
She brought meals to grieving families.
She prayed for the lost—not in tongues, but with tears.
When she died, the church overflowed. Dozens stood and said,
“I saw Jesus in her.”
Not once did she claim a spectacular gift.
She simply lived the greatest one.
The most Spirit-filled person in the room is not the loudest…
it’s the most loving.
6. The Gift That Breaks Barriers (Conclusion)
God gave the church something better than tongues.
Better than signs.
Better than ecstatic moments.
He gave us the love of Christ, poured into our hearts by the Spirit.
The church does not rise when tongues rise.
The church rises when Christ is lifted up.
The Spirit does not inflate egos.
He inflames hearts with love.
That’s the gift that breaks barriers.
And the greatest barrier the Spirit breaks…
is in my own heart.
The Spirit doesn’t force my mouth to move—
He changes the words my heart speaks.
The Spirit doesn’t make me lose myself—
He helps me find myself in Jesus.
That’s why Paul finishes his whole teaching on gifts with one command:
Pursue love. (1 Cor. 14:1)
Because love:
• needs no translation
• never fails
• never divides
• always builds up
Tongues are temporary.
Love is eternal.
May the Spirit give us that gift:
The gift that blesses every nation
The gift that rescues every rebel
The gift that makes the church shine
The gift of love.
