使徒行傳中說方言的意義應該是宣教

 使徒行傳中說方言的意義應該是宣教，耶穌吩咐使徒要等候從上面來的能力，要將福音傳到地極。當聖靈澆灌下來，聖靈充滿他們就說方言，這是相對於在巴別塔，神將人的語言弄亂了，他們就分散了。說方言的目的在於使人因著福音重歸於一。方言的意義在於一種語言的恩賜，使福音可以傳到萬族，使萬國可以歸向基督。所以重點在宣教，而不是舌音。現在宣教士在學習一種外國的語言，這就是一種方言的恩賜。雖然這不是一個立即實現的恩賜，但他的意義是一樣的。在使徒行傳中馬上說出來的方言是一種神跡性的記號，這個記號的意義在於宣教，但即使如此，真正跨族宣教的保羅是具有雙語文化背景的，所以使徒行傳的方言做為記號的意義大於實質的意義。我們不能否認這種神跡性的方言可能在兩千年的教會歷史當中重新地出現，但畢竟這是一個我們不常看到，甚至沒有真正可以驗證的神跡型的方言。如果神跡性的方言是普遍存在的恩賜，神必將此種恩賜賜給宣教士。但問題是我沒有聽過那一個宣教士擁有這種不學就會的方言的恩賜。我們與其追求那些沒有人聽得懂的聲音，那些巴拉巴拉哈拉哈拉的響聲，還不如好好的去學習一種新的語言，好將福音真正可以傳到萬族。

The purpose of speaking in tongues in the Book of Acts should be for mission. Jesus commanded the apostles to wait for power from on high so that they could preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. When the Holy Spirit was poured out and filled them, they spoke in tongues. This stands in contrast to the Tower of Babel, where God confused human language and people were scattered. The purpose of speaking in tongues is to bring people back together into one through the gospel. The meaning of tongues lies in a linguistic gift that allows the gospel to be preached to all ethnic groups and all nations to turn to Christ. Therefore, the emphasis is on mission, not on ecstatic utterance. Today, missionaries learning a foreign language possess this very gift of tongues. Although it is not an instantly realized gift, its significance is the same. The tongues spoken immediately in the Book of Acts were a miraculous sign. We cannot deny that this kind of miraculous tongue-speaking may reappear throughout the two thousand years of church history, but after all, it is a miraculous tongue-speaking that we rarely see and cannot truly verify. If miraculous tongues were a universally existing gift, God would certainly grant this gift to missionaries. However, the problem is that I have never heard of any missionary possessing this gift of speaking an unlearned language. Rather than pursuing sounds that no one can understand—those "blabbering and babbling" sounds —we would be much better off diligently learning a new language so that the gospel can truly be proclaimed to all nations.