What is a Speaking Tongues?
Is it necessary to speak in tongues in our times?
A tongue is simply a language. For example, Spanish is a tongue, English is a tongue and so forth. The Bible speaks about how people who are born again to believe in Christ, speak with new tongues. This does not mean that they babel in a different language, or even in some language other than their native tongues. Rather, it means that they speak from a new spirit. The spirit of Christ is new in them. The tongue is unknown to those who are not in Christ because they do not speak from nor have the spirit. Paul would rather speak a few words that make sense to someone because if it makes sense to someone it is that they are saved. If he speaks the gospel but it is unknown to someone, it is not as good, because they are not saved yet. That is why we are to pray that when we speak the gospel it will be understood, in other words that the hearer will be saved by it or edified as the case may be.
The day of Pentecost in Acts talks about Jews being there when the spirit is poured out. People have tended to think of this in a very surface text way such that people who don't know a particular language, suddenly spoke in that language for the benefit of those around. Like if I grew up knowing English but suddenly spoke in Lithuanian for the benefit of a Jew who only knew Lithuanian. Rather than this being what is pointed to by the scripture, the scripture is actually using parable language, as it always does (Psalm 78:1-2, Mark 4:34). Jews are a word that describe believers. If you believe in Christ unto salvation, then you are a Jew in that sense. When the unsaved become saved as the spirit is poured out, then those who are saved hear the message of salavation being spoken by the formerly unsaved. They wonder that others now speak of God in a way that they can hear because now both are saved. Indeed, this shows that the actual language (English, Spanish, or whatever) is probably the same for the 'Jews' hearing and for those speaking. The marvel is that the spirit of God is behind the speaking and the hearing. Therefore all in attendance are saved, speaking from Christ's spirit, and not from the spirit of the world.