Motivations of Unknown Tongues
I was born in a medium sized city in Minnesota. For some reason this city had received a large number of refugees from several countries in southeastern Asia. It would be very common to see many Asian people that could not assimilate into the Midwest culture. One day I overheard two people from Vietnam talking in their native language. I could almost swear to you that it was not a human language. Of course, we know that Vietnamese is a real language spoken by several million people worldwide. Its strangeness to the Midwestern ear is not a basis for determining if it is legitimate or not.
Many times unknown tongues are judged by others who may think that it does not meet with their personal approval. If tongues is a spiritual gift, then its interpretation or discernment is also a spiritual thing.
Here is a list of 6 possible motivations for unknown tongues:
Show off superiority
This was happening in the church in ancient Corinth. It almost seemed like a contest to see who could shout the loudest.
Show a doctrinal distinctive
Sometimes people who want to “move up” in a certain denomination feel they need to make unknown tongues prominent.
Gain or keep their paycheck
A pastor or evangelist may feel he needs to reinforce the church's or denomination's position of unknown tongues in order to secure his salary.
Peer pressure
What would others think if I don't pretend to speak in tongues?
Feeling accusations
Many people feel that they are being shamed for choosing to not speak in tongues. While there may be no one that is accusing anyone, many hear imaginary voices calling them loser or immature. They feel a personal judgment condemning them, although no one may be even thinking anything negative toward them.
Private
Some people do not care how anything looks or does not look to others. They enter their prayer closet, shut the door, and collapse to the ground. With groanings (Rom 8:26) they cry out to God from someplace deep in their inner core. When they seek God with all their being they find His strength (Deut 4:29, Jer 29:13). They find His presence more than sufficient as they commune with God from the depths of their heart. In the place where no one sees and no one knows they pray to God in a manner that bypasses and avoids the confusion of the natural thoughts.
People may criticize our walk with God but everyone has to either believe Him and love Him or choose to enjoy spiritual menopause and keep Him at arm's length.
Jan 16, 2025