Episode 213 - "Be mature in your thinking!" - 1 Corinthians 14:20-25

1 Cor. 14:20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21 In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

It may seem like Paul is beating a dead horse, so to speak, with his instruction concerning spiritual gifts. But the fact of the matter is that this is a divisive issue among Christians still today. There are people who think they’re more godly or special because they claim to have a certain gift. There are people who want to argue that others cannot be Christian if they don’t have the gift of tongues or some other sign gift. There are churches that make it a part of their doctrinal statement that the sign gifts have ceased, and they make it clear that those who think otherwise are not welcome among them. I think if the Apostle Paul were here today, he would say the same thing he tells the Corinthians, “You all need to grow up!”

I love how he says in verse 20, “Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” In terms of experience in the ways of the world, he would prefer them to be naive and innocent or inexperienced. People sometimes think they need to experience the things others around them are doing. Paul wants them to avoid things that are evil. However, they are to be mature in their thinking. He follows this with perspective to assist them in thinking more maturely.

Technically, “the Law” is the first five books of the Old Testament. However, it’s often used to speak of the whole Old Testament. Paul paraphrases Isaiah 28:11 when he writes, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” (v. 21) In citing this text, he argues that “tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.” (v. 22) Oddly, his argument in verses 23-25 appears to work in the opposite manner. What gives?

It’s important to interpret what Paul is getting at by considering the historical context of the Isaiah passage he has just quoted. Isaiah, writing the Lord’s revelation, is describing a coming judgment upon unbelieving Israel. In other words, God is telling Israel, “Because you haven’t listened to my clear revelation through the prophets speaking a language you understand, I am going to send people who speak a language you don’t understand.” This later comes true. The northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians, and later the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered by Babylon. Paul is using this example to show that tongues had been used by God as a sign for unbelievers. Israel should have been believing God’s word in their own language.

Paul is using that to help the Corinthian believers understand that if, in their immaturity, all of them are speaking in tongues, the scene will look crazy and confusing to unbelievers and result in them still being unbelievers. But that’s not the objective. We desire unbelievers to become believers.

So, if everyone is prophesying, by the Spirit, the gospel will be explained, and there will be a revelation in the unbelieving person’s heart, leading them to faith. Therefore, prophecy is for believers. It’s a generalization and not an absolute rule.

Consider what happened at Pentecost in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit filled the apostles, and they spoke in tongues, languages understood by the foreign visitors who heard these men speak. The effect was that it got people’s attention, but it didn’t lead people to faith. It wasn’t until Peter explained what was happening and gave them a clear explanation of Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection that the Holy Spirit convicted many to respond in faith.

So, the point of all of this is to have a mature understanding of the value of tongues and prophecy. It’s more important that God’s word be spoken and explained in a way that people can understand it and allow the Holy Spirit to convict people and draw them into faith. Spiritual maturity leads us not to foment an emotional experience for ourselves but to seek how we can be used by the Holy Spirit to speak God’s truth to others leading them to worship God in faith.

Episode 212 - "Use your gift to edify others" - 1 Corinthians 14:6-19

1Cor. 14:6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

1Cor. 14:13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Growing up outside a small farming community in central Illinois, there was very little cultural diversity, and most of the time, there weren’t any people whose native language was other than English. I remember a guidance counselor telling me that I needed to take a foreign language for college. I took a semester of French as it was the only language offered at the time. However, I did poorly at it because I could see no value in investing my time and energy.

When I moved to Chicago after high school, many of the first people I met were from other countries. I was surrounded by different languages and accents that I did not understand, and suddenly, the world got bigger. I love meeting people from different places and cultures with different languages. I spent a whole day once with a friend from Venezuela who couldn’t speak much more English than I could in Spanish. We figured things out, but only with a lot of effort and picture drawing. Over 40 years after moving away from that farm community, I am often around people who are from different parts of the world and speak different languages. I rarely notice accents anymore. But communication remains difficult if the people involved do not understand the languages being spoken.

I believe that the spiritual gift of tongues is the divinely enabled ability to communicate in the languages of people in the world and not some mysterious babbling. I realize that some people would disagree with this, and I cannot prove it absolutely. However, when the Holy Spirit filled the apostles on the day of Pentecost, they spoke in languages native to the people who had come from different parts of the known world to celebrate the feast. (See Acts 2:6-13) The people realized the apostles were Galileans and yet spoke in the language of their part of the world. Many recognized the apostles were people who would most likely have not traveled the world learning the languages they spoke. Peter explained that what was happening was a fulfillment of prophecy. (Acts 2:14-41) The point was that the Holy Spirit enabled the prophets at that time to communicate the good news of Jesus to the known world.

In the text from 1 Corinthians 14, it seems from Paul’s rhetorical questions that the principle Paul is trying to get across is the same. God’s gift of tongues is not to confuse people. God’s intent in manifesting this gift is to clearly communicate his good news to the world. It may be, in some cases, that unbelievers would realize that God was doing something special and respond in faith, or it may be that other believers would be strengthened in their faith through this supernatural enabling to communicate truth to them.

Paul is telling the Corinthians that he’s glad they desire the gifts. But he explains that it’s critical they are used for the right purpose and motivation. Paul says they need to “strive to excel in building up the church.” (v. 12b)

Paul continues by telling them that the one who speaks in a tongue should “pray that he should interpret.” (v. 15) This would be important if no one else understood what the Spirit was saying through the believer. It’s pointless if the message is not understandable.

The last verse of this section really drives home the point. Paul says he is able to speak more in tongues than everyone at Corinth. However, he says that he’d rather speak five intelligible words than ten thousand words in a tongue. (v. 19)

What are we to get from this? Namely, in whatever the Lord enables you to minister, your priority needs to be to communicate God’s truth and to build up others in the body of Christ.

Episode 207 - "Got love?" 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

​​1Cor. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

We left off last week with the question, “What could be more excellent than the gifts of the Holy Spirit?” Paul was confronting the idea that some believers at Corinth had the idea that some spiritual gifts were more important than others. Paul does not want to undermine the value of the gifts. On the contrary, he desires believers to value the gifts distributed by the Holy Spirit for the mutual edification of believers and to serve God’s purpose and mission through the church. But he left us with, “I will show you a still more excellent way.” (1 Cor. 12:31b) What is that more excellent way? He answers that question right away, doesn’t he? The answer is love.

In 1 Corinthians 13:1, Paul writes, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” There are few things that Christians today can be divided over as much as the gift of tongues. People disagree over whether this gift is still valid for today. Some assert that one cannot be truly “saved” if they don’t speak in tongues. Some who claim to have it instruct others to start mumbling in order to “prime the pump,” so to speak. There are disagreements over exactly what it looks like and the Biblical guidelines for this gift.

First, Paul has clearly stated that Christians do not all have the same gifts. So, if we believe that this letter is inspired by God (as the church has believed since its early years), we believe that God cannot/does not contradict himself. Therefore, one cannot argue this gift is absolutely required or that it is evidence of one being a true Christian. Paul also wrote that gifts are distributed according to the will of the Spirit. So, one cannot decide that they will get the gift of tongues. That is God’s decision. In Acts, we find on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit filled the apostles, and they spoke in tongues. The context explains that there were people present from all over the known world who spoke and understood in their own languages what the apostles were saying. It seems reasonable to understand that in that instant, the apostles were speaking God’s truth in languages they had not learned because the Holy Spirit was enabling that. There are other places in the Scriptures where the “tongue” spoken may not be known by anyone without someone being present who can interpret the speech.

However, the point here is that this gift is nothing but a distraction if the speaker does not have love. The argument builds in verse 2 when he writes that one who has prophetic powers or amazing faith is “nothing” if they do not have love. Finally, he argues that one could even forfeit everything they have and suffer harm to death. But if they do not have love, there is no advantage.

What is the takeaway on this? First of all, while everyone may not have the gift of tongues, prophecy, or some other gift that people think is very important, it seems evident that Paul is suggesting that every single believer is capable of having the love of Christ to show to others.

The gifts are important. Paul has established that. However, they are utterly useless if they are exercised without love. God does not limit who among his people can show love to others. This makes sense when we understand that we have appropriated God’s love toward us when we trusted in Christ Jesus.

It seems to me the lesson for us is that the question before us is not “What spiritual gifts do I have?” but “How can I demonstrate God’s love to others around me?” It’s my opinion that our spiritual gifts will manifest themselves when we consider ways in which we can do that, and it won’t matter if we can’t speak in tongues because God has led us to show his love in a way that is genuine to our identity and the mission he has for each of us to the church and the world.