Paul's rules in 1 Corinthians 14 regulate tongues in church, not private prayer language. Unlike apostleship or prophecy, which few receive, tongues in its various forms is available to every believer, even if not all speak it publicly with interpretation.
Perhaps you've heard this, that the gift of tongues is not for every believer. And this portion of scripture is the one that's often misinterpreted to bring forth that conclusion. Paul writes to the Corinthians, are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not. So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. Now remember, there are different expressions of the gift of tongues. So the expression that Paul is regulating here is the expression that's used in the context of church gatherings. He's not talking about the personal prayer language. He's not talking about the proof tongue. Neither of those require interpreters to be of any use. Now ask yourself this: Why do we treat the gift of tongues differently than we do the other gifts listed here? Are we all teachers? Not all of us are called to be teachers in that we have that specific area of ministry expression in office, but all of us should be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us. And then we see: Do we all have the power to do miracles? Well, of course not. But we don't treat the gift of miracles the way we do the gift of tongues. We don't say to believers, "Well, you can't believe." for your miracle, you can't pray for the sick because you don't have the gift of miracles. You don't have the gift of healing. No, we recognize that these are public expressions of ministry. These are areas of grace and giftedness given by the Holy Spirit to certain believers. But the function of these still applies in the general body of Christ. So the same would be true of the gift of tongues. He's addressing a very specific type of gift of tongues there. Unless you're misapplying the teachings of Paul, unless you're neglecting the context, you can't conclude that the gift of tongues is only For some believers. It is for every believer. To learn more about the Holy Spirit, get Holy Spirit: God Within You at encounterthespirit.com.
