In Genesis 11, the ancient Jewish story says that all the earth spoke one language, and in their pride decided they wanted to work together to make a name for themselves. The glory of man even in his own depravity decided to work together for glory, not for the glory of God, but for a glory that can only be called what Humanism espouses: the glory of man. God disrupted their plans though, came down among them, caused them to speak different languages, to not understand each other, and they stopped building the city of Babel and each went their separate ways.

In Acts chp.2 something strange happens at the birth of Christianity: a reversal of what took place in Babel so many thousands of years before. This time men and women, empowered by the Holy Spirit, begin to speak in foreign languages that they had not previously known before, but this time they do so for the Glory of God. The coming of the Holy Spirit is inaugurated by the curse of Babel being broken, which means that the whole purpose for the gift of tongues can never be about some personal prayer language, but about the spreading of the gospel for the kingdom and glory of Jesus Christ until the whole world hears.