During the summer training in 1963, I asked a brother to read to the trainees an article from a certain charismatic magazine. The writer of that article said that he had contacted two hundred people who claimed to speak in tongues. Without exception, all of those two hundred doubted that the tongues they spoke were genuine. Then I asked the trainees if Peter and the others on the day of Pentecost had any doubt whether the tongues spoken by them were genuine. Certainly Peter and the others had no such doubts. However, the two hundred tongue-speakers mentioned in that magazine article had doubts because the tongues they spoke were not genuine.
Earlier in 1963 I was invited to speak at a certain Christian group in San Diego. This group strongly emphasized tongue-speaking. In one of the meetings a woman gave a short word in tongues. Then a young man gave a long interpretation of that word. After the meeting, I asked the leader of the group if he thought that the interpretation of the woman’s word in tongues was genuine. He told me that he doubted that the interpretation was genuine. Then I asked him why he engaged in such practices, since we have a rich Christ to minister to others. I said, “Brother, we have the all-inclusive Christ. Isn’t it sufficient for us to preach Him?” He had nothing to say in response to my question.
While we were visiting there in San Diego, another leader in the group told us that he had been given the ability to speak Chinese. One day he uttered certain peculiar sounds, believing that he was speaking the Chinese language. I and another Chinese-speaking brother pointed out to him that we could not understand a word he said, even though I spoke Mandarin, the other brother spoke Cantonese, and we both had some understanding of other Chinese dialects. Nevertheless, this one who claimed that he could speak Chinese proceeded to utter some different sounds. We also had to tell him that we could not recognize those sounds as words in the Chinese language. When he heard this, he was disappointed. In his self-deception he thought that he was able to speak Chinese. But the Chinese he thought he was speaking was actually a self-made language. Such incidents are common in today’s Pentecostalism.
Recently I learned of an article, written by a linguist, which points out that from ancient times until the present certain peoples have experienced utterances called “ecstatic phenomena.” Since much of today’s so-called tongue-speaking is not a genuine language, it also may be considered an ecstatic phenomenon.
Let me give you two further examples of tongue-speaking that is not genuine. In a meeting a woman gives a word in tongues. The interpretation goes like this: “My people, the time is short. I am coming back quickly. Be watchful and pray.” Then in another meeting on the same day the same woman gives another word in tongues. This second word in tongues is almost identical to the first. However, this time the interpretation goes, “My people, you are very loose and careless. I warn you that if you do not change, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Although the tongue-speaking in each case is almost exactly the same, the interpretation is very different. To be sure, these are not instances of genuine tongue-speaking.
Another case I would mention took place in Taiwan a few years ago. A Pentecostal group rented a large stadium for some meetings. That stadium can seat twelve thousand people, but only two or three thousand attended the meetings. As a result, this Pentecostal group did not have the funds to pay for the rental of the stadium. In a meeting of those people, someone spoke in tongues, and then the interpretation was given. The one who gave the interpretation said that the Lord wanted a certain woman among them, who was very wealthy, to pay the rent. Then this very woman spoke in tongues and interpreted what she had spoken. In her interpretation she claimed that the Lord had told her not to pay the rent. This is a further illustration that much of today’s tongue-speaking is not genuine.
Some of those involved in so-called tongue-speaking have also given prophecies that have been proved false. For example, in 1963 and 1964 there were newspaper reports about Pentecostal prophecies which said that an earthquake would strike the city of Los Angeles and that the city would fall into the ocean. However, the date of the predicted earthquake passed, and nothing happened. To be sure, this lack of fulfillment is sufficient to prove that those prophecies were false.
Those who claim to speak in tongues should consider their experience. In particular, they need to check if what they utter when speaking in tongues is a dialect, an understandable language. If they are honest, many will admit that when they speak in tongues, they do not speak a dialect. But as we have pointed out from chapter two of Acts, what was spoken by those who were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was a recognizable dialect. Genuine tongue-speaking, therefore, is not merely a voice or a sound. Genuine tongue-speaking is a dialect.