Is Speaking in Tongues Legit?

Growing up in a logical church, I was taught that speaking in tongues was a supernatural occurrence that God gave exclusively to the early church to strengthen their credibility—it isn’t a gift that people regularly operate in today. They acknowledged that there might be rare instances today where God grants that gift, but in general, it’s not the norm.

You can imagine how intrigued I felt when I first heard people speaking in tongues at a Bible study in college. 

Are they just making gibberish noises with their mouths? Is God behind this, or is it just a bunch of emotional hype? Didn’t Paul say there’s supposed to be a translator?

I was super skeptical and didn’t know what to think. 

While I couldn’t reach a concrete conclusion, those experiences eventually left me a lot more open to it than before. While some instances of it might be contrived, God very well could be involved. I left space in my brain for both. After all, if God is behind it, I don’t want to be closed off to it.

Fast-forward to today, and I find myself in a house church where most of the members have experienced speaking in tongues. Here are some things I learned about it after talking with them.

1. It comes from a place of intimacy with God.

Many who speak in tongues describe it as an outpouring of their closeness with God. They say it often happens during seasons when they feel especially connected to Him—when their hearts are fully engaged in worship, prayer, or seeking His presence. For them, speaking in tongues is an experience that deepens their intimacy with God, drawing them even closer to Him.

2. It can come when you don’t have the words.

Some said that speaking in tongues happened when they were at the end of themselves—exhausted, broken, and unsure of what to pray. This is a beautiful thought, showing how God can step in to fill the gap when we are in need. He supplies the words when we don’t have them. 

3. It’s an exercise of faith.

Speaking in tongues is kind of a scary thought, especially for someone like me who has never done it. Am I doing it right? Am I just faking this? But my friends all seemed to agree that it’s an exercise in faith. You DON’T know how it works or it will turn out, but you go for it anyways, and trust God to do it through you. That’s a beautiful thought! 

4. It removes your mind from the equation.

Often times our own minds can be a barrier. We might have a feeling, but struggle to find the words to express it accurately. Speaking in tongues can be a way to express those guttural feelings without having to think about crafting the right words to say.

5. It requires bodily participation.

While this gift is a spiritual one, it requires bodily cooperation. When they speak in tongues, it’s not like they silently open their mouths and the language comes bursting out—they have take that leap of faith and start using their vocal cords and moving their mouths to make sounds. 

6. It’s a gift anyone can access.

Many agree that speaking in tongues is a gift that anyone can access. You just have to be willing and humble enough to step out in faith and go for it. When I first heard this, I thought it sounded a little unbiblical, because the Bible teaches that everyone has different gifts (implying that not everyone will have the same gift). But I had a counterthought: maybe tongues is a gift that anyone “could” have access to, but not everyone “will,” because they’re holding themselves back from trying it.

Final Thoughts

My wife had a speaking in tongues experience in her high school house church that seems like it was undeniably backed by God. They were praying over a young man who “had a lot of darkness,” and one person started speaking in tongues while another started translating it—and the young man started vomiting. They believe that demons were being exorcised at that moment. 

Another member of my house church said that God gave her a specific phrase to speak in tongues. One day, as she was speaking that word over her toddler, curiosity led her to say the phrase into Google Translate. The app translated her phrase to mean “the robe is on me.”

While I’m sure there are plenty of instances where speaking in tongues is contrived, I’m also convinced that plenty of instances are legit (like the stories above). It’s probably good to carry a healthy dose of skepticism toward speaking in tongues, but I think that skepticism needs to be balanced with openness to it. God moves in mysterious ways, and I want to be ready for however He wants to work—even if that means using my own mouth to speak in tongues.

I hope you find this helpful in your journey to understand the mystery of speaking in tongues.