Gift of Tongues

Community Group Discussion Guide: Gift of Tongues
Please Note: Our Group Discussion Guides are not meant to be study guides or Bible studies.  They are specifically designed for a leader to facilitate Bible-based discussions. 

Icebreakers: 

1. When it comes to the Spiritual Gift of Tongues, why do you feel that this particular gift seems to cause controversy in the church?
2. Like all the Spiritual Gifts, the Gift of Tongues is supernatural in nature.  How would you define "supernatural?"
3. How could the Gift of Tongues serve as a sign to non-believers?​

​Digging Deeper: Speaking in Tongues first appears on the Day of Pentecost.  Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. [2] And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. [3] And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. [4] And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

• What does the phrase "filled with the Holy Spirit" (v.4) mean to you?  (At least in this instance, "filled with the Holy Spirit" would be the equivalent of "being Baptized in the Holy Spirit," because what happened in Acts, Chapter 2 was a direct fulfillment of what Jesus prophesied in Acts, Chapter 1:5) 
• What meaning do you attach to the "tongues of fire" that rested on those gathered in the Upper Room?  (At the very least, this seems to be the fulfillment of John the Baptist's prophesy concerning Jesus.  Luke 3:16)​

Acts 2:5-8 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. [6] And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. [7] They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? [8] And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?

• The question is often asked, "Why did Paul say that speaking in tongues is a sign to those that do not believe?"  (Refer to 1 Cor 14:22)  (Those who were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, or at least of subset of said people, began to speak in foreign tongues that were readily recognized by the Jews who had gathered to celebrate Pentecost.  On that day, speaking in tongues was a sign to non-believers)
• This may not be a common occurrence, but there have been many reported instances of non-believers being converted by such an event.  Can you think of any other reasons why speaking in tongues would be used as a sign to non-believers?

1 Corinthians 14:4-5 One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church. [5] Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying.

• Paul tells us that one who speaks in tongues edifies himself; what do you think that means?  (How is a person edified by speaking in tongues?)
• The word "edify" means to build up, or to fortify.  ​Without a proper interpretation for a message in tongues, the church is not edified.  Why did Paul consider "prophesy" a "better" gift for public gatherings?​

Wrap-up: Paul talks about the "proper use" of tongues.  1 Corinthians 14:14-19 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. [15] What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. [16] Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? [17] For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified. [18] I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; [19] however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

• Paul accomplishes a couple of things in these verses.  1) He makes it clear that the Gift of Tongues has personal importance to him and that he makes use of this gift.  2) He also makes it clear that in the context of a church meeting, 5 understood words are better than ten thousand words that no-one understands.