The Way - Day 076 (1 Corinthians 14)

Pastor Tom's Journal on Today's Reading:
1 Corinthians 14
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote in order to challenge the believers to pursue maturity in their new-found faith.  During Paul's absence they had been plagued with divisiveness, allowing numerous issues to cause disunity within the church.  Since Paul had a great love for the Corinthian church, he was writing to bring clarity to many of these issues such as disunity (1 Corinthians 1-4), immorality (1 Corinthians 5-6), marriage (1 Corinthians 7), personal freedom (1 Corinthians 8-10), proper worship (1 Corinthians 11), and the proper use of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-13).  Paul had spent much time on the issue of spiritual gifts, which the Holy Spirit provided at the moment of faith in Jesus Christ, and how each individual's gift was important in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12).  Apparently, the Corinthians desired the most visible gifts and had forsaken the importance of using their God-given gift, whatever it may have been, to benefit the church; in fact, Paul accuses them of failing to embrace the most important characteristic of any spiritual gift - love (1 Corinthians 13).  He reminded them that any gift practiced without love was of no benefit to the church of Christ.

In an effort to bring back the basics of spiritual gifts, Paul writes that they should desire the use of gifts which are of benefit to the entire church, not just a limited few (14:1).  Paul placed two spiritual gifts, prophecy and tongues, against each other to prove his point.  Prophesying is the speaking of truth, specifically those things which have already been revealed in Scripture (12:10), and provides edification (building up in truth), exhortation (a call to obedience), and comfort to all people (14:3).  Tongues, as it was originally given at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13), was when an apostle spoke the truth in his native language, but the listeners heard the truth translated or interpreted in their own native language.  This was a supernatural act of God during a time when the gospel needed to be proclaimed to unbelievers in their own language (Acts 2:5-13).  The Corinthian church had perverted this original gift of tongues (known languages) by mixing it with the pagan practice of uttering gibberish.  Each time Paul referred to this false gift of tongues, he used the singular form of the word, "tongue."  This helps the reader distinguish between Paul referring to the genuine gift of "tongues" (known languages) and the counterfeit gift of an unknown "tongue."  The Corinthians were speaking with an unknown tongue (gibberish) and claimed that it was a special language from God, but Paul accused them of doing something that was of no benefit to the church (14:4a).  On the other hand, prophesying or preaching was of benefit to everyone in the church, unless those who speak in tongues (known languages) are being interpreted or translated for the entire church to understand what is being spoken (14:4b-5).  Paul concludes that the key to any spiritual gift is that it be practiced in love and for the benefit of the entire church.

The issue of spiritual gifts had caused much disunity in the church at Corinth so Paul wrote to bring clarity to this area of contention.  Although God gives each believer spiritual gifts, some of the Corinthians were not satisfied with the gift they had been given and sought after the more visible gifts; furthermore, it appears that some of the Corinthian believers were mixing God-given spiritual gifts with pagan practices, especially with the gift of tongues.  Tongues were initially given to the apostles as a sign to unbelievers to hear the message of salvation in their own language, even when the deliverer did not speak that language (Acts 2:1-13).  Some in the Corinthian church took God's initial gift of tongues and combined it with pagan ecstatic utterances, saying that it was a special language from God.  Paul brought the Corinthians back to the basics of spiritual gifts by reminding them that spiritual gifts are always to be done with love and for the benefit of the entire church (1 Corinthians 13, 14:1-5).  The gift of tongues, as being practiced by the Corinthians, had become a spectacle and Paul warned against this abuse.

In a hypothetical argument Paul writes, "But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching?" (14:6). Even if Paul chose to speak in tongues, it would not benefit the church.  He then argues that what is spoken with the tongue must be discernible to those who are listening or it is just "speaking into the air" (14:7-12).  Paul knew that they were "zealous for spiritual gifts," but he challenged them to "let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel" (14:12).

Paul, referring to the counterfeit gift of tongues, continues to speak hypothetically saying, "Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.  For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful" (14:13-14).  These ecstatic utterances could not even be understood by the speaker so, in essence, Paul was declaring the counterfeit gift of tongues a waste or pointless because no one is edified (14:15-17).  Although Paul had every right to use the proper gift of tongues (14:18), he wrote that he "would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue" (14:19).  Paul's words here should cause the reader to re-examine his view toward the spiritual gift which has been given to him and commit to using it for the benefit of the church.

Paul has been writing to the church at Corinth concerning some misunderstandings about the issue of spiritual gifts, especially regarding the gift of tongues (1 Corinthians 12-14).  The gift of tongues had originally been given as a way for the truth about Jesus to be communicated to unbelievers who did not speak the same language as the apostles were speaking (Acts 2:1-13).  This supernatural gift was being abused by the Corinthians who were mixing the genuine gift with pagan practices of ecstatic utterances.  They were declaring that this gibberish was a special language from God, although no one knew what was being spoken.  Paul desired to put a stop to this abuse and so he reminded the Corinthian church that spiritual gifts were to be practiced with love (1 Corinthians 12-13) and for the benefit of the entire church (1 Corinthians 14:1-19).  In order to understand Paul's teaching concerning spiritual gifts, the Corinthian believers were going to need to set aside their limited knowledge and receive the true purpose of the gift of tongues (14:20).  Paul referred back to the Old Testament where God spoke through the prophet Isaiah declaring, "With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people;  And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me" (14:21; see also Isaiah 28:11-12).  This prophecy revealed that God would one day use foreigners and foreign languages as a sign to those in Israel who did not believe.  Paul was revealing one of the keys to the gift of tongues - they would be a sign to unbelievers, not to those who already believed (14:22).  It is obvious that the Corinthians were misusing this gift as a sign of spirituality within the church, instead of using it so that those who did not believe could hear the truth.  Prophecy (speaking the truth) was more desirable than tongues because it had the power to convince an unbeliever of his need for Jesus, whereas tongues only brought confusion to the unbeliever (14:23-25).
In the next few verses Paul provides guidelines for the genuine gift of tongues that the Corinthians were to follow.  First, the gift must be used for the benefit of the entire church (14:26).  The next guideline was that only two or three were permitted to speak during a service each taking their own turn (14:27a).  The last guideline given by Paul was that the language (tongue) must be interpreted for all to understand (14:27b-28).  Alongside these guidelines for the gift of tongues, Paul also provided a couple regulations for prophesying: only two or three could speak at a service (14:29a), the prophets should judge what was being said (14:29b), the prophet hearing from God was to receive speaking priority (14:30), and each prophet should speak one at a time (14:31a).  Prophesying was to be practiced so that all could "learn" and be "encouraged" (14:31b).  Paul also added that the "spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (14:32).  This guideline encouraged discernment while practicing any gift so that no one was acting in a bizarre manner or bringing confusion to the listeners (14:33).  Another problem which existed in the church at Corinth was that some women were causing disorder by speaking out of turn and asking questions during worship, so Paul commanded them to "keep silent" and "ask their own husbands at home" (14:34-35).  Church services were to be conducted "decently and in order" (14:40).  Paul concluded this issue of spiritual gifts by reminding them that the words he had written were from God and should not be ignored (14:36-39).

Dear God, may we abide by Your commandments when it comes to worship in the church.