How does the Worldwide Church of God view “speaking in tongues”?
The New Testament records instances in which God gave the gift of speaking in tongues to some people on certain occasions for the purpose of furthering the work of the gospel. In Acts 2, for example, the apostles “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (verse 4). The tongues-speaking enabled the multinational crowd to hear the message of the gospel in their own native dialects (verses 6, 8, 11). Paul listed tongues and other spiritual gifts as being “the work of one and the same Spirit,” which God gives “to each one, just as he determines” (1 Corinthians 12:11). Some may ask, “Are those who speak in tongues more spiritual or closer to God than those who do not speak in tongues?” Not necessarily. If those who speak in tongues don’t have love, Paul said, they are useless noisemakers — no matter what language they speak (1 Corinthians 13:1). The gift of tongues, or any other gift, is not a special mark of spirituality. All the gif
