So, you speak in tongues, do you?

 Do you claim to "speak in tongues?" Do you claim to be an apostle, you know, just like the apostles hand-picked by Jesus were who met the requirements of that office? (See Acts 1) Do you claim to be a prophet who regularly hears directly from God? Do you have the gift of healing? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you are in the company of millions. 

The problem is you have more than likely been deceived into believing that you have any of those gifts or the others mentioned in the apostle Paul's letter to the saints in Corinth. However, the spiritual gifts listed in First Corinthians 12 are legitimate gifts. And, in spite of what many leading pastors of our day and many of our leading theologians might proffer, the Bible does not teach or even hint that the "sign gifts" have ceased. And in spite of the fact that you do not truly have the gifts you have been told you have, if you are born of the Spirit, you do in fact have one of the gifts (or another should the Spirit choose to manifest another gift through you for a specific time and a specific situation). And, furthermore, if you are anxious about you're having this gift or that gift or not having the gift you want, don't be. That isn't up to you or me to decide or pick and choose; that's the sole business of the Holy Spirit. He wants you to have a gift and that is the gift you have (1 Cor. 12:4-11). Relax.

I do not speak in tongues and never have. But that doesn't mean that I do not believe that it is a gift still in existence in the 21st century church. It is just not the gift the Spirit picked for me. I have never heard the genuine gift of speaking in an earthly language unknown to the speaker or the genuine interpretation of that language, but I am convinced that tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Every so-called manifestation of the gift of tongues I have witnessed during my 48 plus years as a Christian has been nothing more than gibberish, including ridiculous sounds that someone had convinced the poor new convert were the real thing. While those caught up in the Charismatic Movement back in the 1970's emphasized particularly the gifts of speaking in tongues and healing, it became fashionable to pretend to have those gifts. Everyone wanted to fit in, be accepted. And they were fun gifts. Well-meaning newby's wanted to speak in tongues, even though they knew that what they were uttering was complete nonsense. And there was a myriad of Charismatics there to egg them on. I once had a dear brother who stealthily prayed in tongues in my ear that I might hear him and imitate the sound he was making. It didn't work. Pentecostals such as Jimmy Swaggart stated that if one does not speak in tongues, one cannot know if they are saved.

And let's not overlook the movement that ultimately morphed into the Charismatic Movement, the Pentecostal Movement. It all began in America back in 1906 with a gathering of 8 men in Los Angeles who reported that while "waiting on God" in a prayer meeting, they were "knocked out of their chairs" by the power of the Spirit and began praying in tongues. It is known today as the "Azuza Street Revival." The incident as William J. Seymour reported it reminds me of the testimony of Joseph Smith who began his movement, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in part based on eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen the "Golden Tablets" discovered by Smith. Clearly, they did not. The Pentecostal Movement is no less a cult than Mormonism.

For many years I was afraid that my Charismatic brethren would discover that I did not speak in tongues, so I practiced faking it. And I passed muster.

I will sum it up with Scripture. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (1 Cor. 12:4-11 ESV)