How important is speaking in tongues?

In my early Christian life, I was told that the only visible evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is that he or she must speak in tongues. Many of us who were newly born again struggled to speak in tongues to prove the Holy Spirit dwelled in us.  

I remember I had a friend who could not speak in tongues despite all his efforts. He attended Holy Ghost services, which were meetings arranged by the church for those who desired to have the Holy Spirit’s gifts. My friend would walk out discouraged every time he attended one of these meetings. On one occasion, he complained that he didn’t know why God had refused to give him the Holy Spirit. According to him, he felt like his sins were not forgiven and that the Holy Spirit decided to abandon him.

My friend was not alone in feeling this way. On another occasion, a woman walked up to me after church to complain about not receiving the gift of tongues. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help either my friend or this woman because of my own personal confusion on the matter.

Does the Bible mention anywhere that speaking in tongues is actually required for salvation? I do believe that speaking in tongues is the first visible evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that took place in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).

On many occasions I have heard mature Christians asking new believers if they speak in tongues. I have not heard anyone ask, “Do you love Jesus?”

Speaking in tongues is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. The Scripture also made it clear that the Spirit Himself gives gifts to the believers as He determines. What this means is that He can release to believers 1. Gift of speaking in tongues 2. Gift of interpretation of tongues 3. Gift of prophecy 4. Gift of word of wisdom 5. Gift of word of knowledge 6. Gift of discerning of spirits 7. Gifts of healing 8. Gift of working miracles and 9. Gift of faith.

Any of these nine gifts can attest to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer even though it is possible to operate in more than one or even all the gifts (Ephesians 1:3). Why is this singular emphasis on speaking in tongues? What happened to the other gifts? For example, I believe that it is possible for a believer to have the gift of prophecy and not speak in tongues. The same applies to other gifts which have been relegated to obscurity.

How I wish I knew this when my friend was going through his crisis of faith. The gift of speaking in tongues should not be prioritized over other gifts of the Holy Spirit.