Strange Fire or Sacred Gift? Discerning the Difference Between Biblical Tongues and Manufactured Manifestations

By Shannon Perry, Co-Founder of God’s Princess Warriors

There are some moments in the body of Christ that leave you deeply grieved—not because you hate the people involved, but because something in your spirit knows you are witnessing confusion masquerading as holiness. The burden becomes even heavier when sincere believers are being taught things that do not align with Scripture, yet they are told questioning it means they are resisting the Holy Spirit.

We are living in an hour where emotionalism is often replacing discernment, and counterfeit manifestations are being celebrated as evidence of spiritual maturity. One of the clearest examples of this growing confusion is the modern misuse and theatrical display surrounding speaking in tongues.

This subject has become almost untouchable in many circles. If someone raises biblical concerns, they are immediately labeled religious, Pharisaical, or accused of quenching the Spirit. But Scripture never commands believers to abandon discernment in the name of spiritual experiences. In fact, the Word of God repeatedly warns us to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1 ASV).

The issue is not whether God can give the gift of tongues. He absolutely can. The issue is whether everything being called tongues today is genuinely from the Holy Spirit.

There is a difference between holy fire and strange fire.

The phrase “strange fire” comes from Leviticus 10 when Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire before the Lord—something God had not commanded. Their worship looked spiritual outwardly, but it was polluted by presumption and flesh. That same danger still exists today. Not every manifestation that happens in a church service originates from the Holy Spirit. Some things are emotional manipulation. Some are learned behavior. Some are peer pressure. Some are psychological imitation. And yes, some can even become spiritual deception.

Several years ago, I was invited to a church that initially excited me greatly. I had been told they held services seven days a week, and after watching so many churches reduce gatherings following COVID, I thought, Praise the Lord—people are still hungry for God.

But what I witnessed there left my spirit deeply unsettled.

At one point, the preacher announced that it was “time to speak in tongues,” almost as though the Holy Spirit operated on human command like flipping a switch. Immediately, the atmosphere shifted into something that felt forced rather than reverent.

Then they gathered all the little children and made them stand facing a wall while older men stood behind them instructing and pressuring them to pray in tongues. The entire church erupted into chaotic noise and repetitive babbling. There was no interpretation. No order. No discernment. No reverence. Just noise.

The woman who invited me began rocking violently in her chair, throwing her body back and forth repeatedly while endlessly repeating the same sounds over and over again for nearly thirty minutes. It was not language. It was not edification. It was not accompanied by interpretation. It did not produce conviction, worship, or clarity. My spirit recoiled witnessing it.

What disturbed me even more was watching adults attempt to teach tongues by making people repeat sounds after them. This practice has become increasingly common in many churches, but nowhere in Scripture do we see the gifts of the Holy Spirit being transmitted through mimicry exercises or verbal coaching.

The Holy Spirit is not taught through human repetition.

Tongues cannot be manufactured by syllable practice. They cannot be activated by psychological suggestion. And they certainly cannot be forced upon children through pressure and intimidation.

Yet many churches now instruct people to “just repeat after me,” training them to imitate sounds until eventually the person believes they have received a supernatural language. This is incredibly dangerous because it conditions believers to bypass discernment and accept imitation as authentic spiritual experience.

In the Bible, speaking in tongues was never taught like a classroom exercise.

No apostle ever lined believers up and told them to copy sounds. No disciple ever coached children into repetitive babbling. No one in the book of Acts was forced to perform spiritually in order to fit into the group.

The Holy Spirit gave utterance sovereignly.

In Acts 2:4 ASV, Scripture says:

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Notice carefully: as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Not as a preacher commanded it.Not as emotional frenzy manufactured it.Not as peer pressure induced it.Not as people repeated syllables after another person.

The Greek word for “tongues” in Acts 2 is glōssa, meaning languages or dialects. These were recognizable utterances carrying meaning—not endless incoherent repetition detached from interpretation or purpose.

When something must be psychologically trained, socially pressured, emotionally induced, and mechanically repeated, we need to seriously ask whether it originates from the Spirit of God or from human flesh attempting to recreate an experience.

This is where deception quietly enters.

Many sincere believers are not intentionally trying to deceive anyone. They genuinely desire God. They want to belong. They want to experience what others around them claim is spiritual. But desire without discernment can open the door to counterfeit manifestations.

We must understand something sobering: believers can be taught behavior patterns that feel spiritual without ever encountering the true presence of God.

That is why Scripture repeatedly warns us to test everything.

Paul addressed the misuse of tongues in the Corinthian church because even then believers were turning spiritual gifts into disorder and spectacle. Yet modern churches often quote Corinthians to defend confusion while ignoring Paul’s actual corrections.

Paul wrote plainly:

“For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33 ASV).

He also stated:

“But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church” (1 Corinthians 14:28 ASV).

And perhaps most overlooked of all:

“Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40 ASV).

What many churches now normalize would have deeply concerned Paul.

The modern atmosphere surrounding tongues has often shifted from a sacred gift of the Spirit into a performative badge of spirituality. People are taught that if they do not speak in tongues, they are inferior Christians. Others are pressured to produce an experience publicly to prove they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Children are coached into repetition before they even understand biblical doctrine.

This is dangerous territory.

When people are trained to imitate spiritual manifestations without discernment, they become vulnerable to counterfeit spiritual experiences later. Flesh can learn behavior. Emotion can mimic spiritual intensity. Group psychology can create powerful experiences that feel supernatural while lacking any genuine move of God.

And yet questioning these things has become almost forbidden.

But discernment is not rebellion.

Testing manifestations against Scripture is not unbelief.

In fact, biblical discernment is one of the greatest protections God gave His people against deception in the last days.

None of this means every expression of tongues is false. Scripture clearly teaches the existence of spiritual gifts. God still moves. The Holy Spirit still fills believers. There are authentic operations of tongues, interpretation, prophecy, and prayer language. But authentic fire does not fear biblical examination.

Counterfeits always resist scrutiny.

One of the clearest signs something is wrong is when emotional chaos becomes the center rather than Christ Himself. Genuine moves of the Holy Spirit glorify Jesus, produce conviction, magnify truth, and bring spiritual fruit. Manufactured manifestations often produce spiritual pride, confusion, dependency on emotional highs, and an atmosphere where people stop testing anything biblically.

The danger is not merely doctrinal error. The deeper danger is that people become conditioned to equate noise, frenzy, and altered behavior with the presence of God. Over time, discernment weakens. Scripture becomes secondary to experiences. And eventually almost anything spiritual-looking gets accepted without question.

This is why the church desperately needs watchmen again.

Believers who love truth more than popularity. Believers who refuse to mock genuine moves of God but also refuse to baptize confusion as revival. Believers willing to say with humility and courage: This does not align with Scripture.

There is a holy reverence missing in much of modern charismatic culture. The fear of the Lord has been replaced with spectacle. Emotional intoxication is often celebrated more than biblical soundness. But the Holy Spirit does not need human theatrics to prove His existence.

When God truly moves, He does not require manipulation.

The answer is not to reject the Holy Spirit.The answer is to return to biblical discernment.

We must stop teaching people to chase manifestations and start teaching them to pursue intimacy with Christ, obedience to the Word, holiness, repentance, and spiritual maturity. Gifts should never become greater than the Giver.

Because in these last days, not every fire comes from Heaven.