1 Corinthians 12:30 asks the question "Do all speak in tongues?" implying that this is not and should not be true. However, in Acts salvation was always followed by the newly saved being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues (and the Bible contains the exhortation "Be filled with the Holy Spirit" in Ephesians 5:18). How do you reconcile these?
To answer that question, all we have to do is to compare the early church that turned the pagan Roman empire upside down and within 350 years changed the whole Roman empire from totally pagan to totally Christian - and today's church that has no, or minimal impact on our neo-pagan western societies.
What is the difference? The majority of early church believers prayed in tongues. That was their personal powerhouse that kept them filled and motivated by the Spirit and when they gathered together, they brought the powerful Holy Spirit atmosphere in with them, and the other gifts flowed to strengthen and encourage the church through some of the worst persecutions that any church since has had to encounter.
When the believers came together, charged up with the power of the Holy Spirit within them, they made good use of the prophetic word through their prophecies, and Paul's description of an unbeliever falling on his face declaring that Christ is among them in reality was a regular occurrence. The healing gifts flowed freely and people were healed through the prayers of the elders, as James describes. He would not have instructed a sick person to call for the elders and say definitely that the prayer of faith would raise the person up, if it was not the norm for it to happen.
But what do we have in our churches today? Nothing like that. We have passive congregations who yell like Comanche Indians at a football match on Saturday, and sit like wooden Indians in church on Sunday. We have interferers instead of intercessors, playing instead of praying, organisers in the supper room instead of agnonisers in the upper room, more effort in raising funds instead of saving souls, and prayer meetings attended by around six people in a church of 200 participating in eyebrow massage instead of real prayer. It is no wonder that prayers like that don't get beyond the ceiling! And yet these people often say, "We don't need the gifts today", and "Not everyone needs to pray in tongues", and "prophecy ceased at the end of the Apostolic Age".
So, when we read of the early church that had people like Paul who said, "I thank God I pray in tongues more than you all", and "Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts but rather that you may prophesy", and that when prophecy was active in the church it was a regular occurrence for unbelievers coming into the meetings fell on their faces and got converted to Christ; and that when a sick person called for the elders of the church for prayer, it being normal for that person to be instantly healed, we see why that church was immensely more powerful to be able to turn a whole pagan society upside down for Christ.
Those movements that value tongues, prophecy, and healing, are outgrowing the churches that don't. In my city, I see Methodist, Anglican, and Presbyterian church buildings that once had full congregations, now closed, either standing as empty, decaying monuments of what they once were, or turned into coffee houses, charity shops, and private homes. This is the sign of the gradual decay of those churches that neglect the spiritual gifts. We have Methodist and Presbyterian churches merging into union churches because there are not enough members to keep either church going, and the average age of the members is around 70 years of age. Once they die out, even those churches will disappear.
