Read 1 Corinthians 14:1-25

 

   Prophecy may involve predicting future events, but its main purpose is to communicate God’s message to people, providing insight, warning, correction, and encouragement. The gift of speaking in tongues was a concern of the Corinthian church because the use of the gift had caused disorder in worship. Speaking in an unknown tongue is a legitimate gift of the Holy Spirit, but the Corinthian believers were using it as a sign of spiritual superiority rather than as a means to spiritual unity. Spiritual gifts are beneficial only when they are properly used to help everyone in the church. We should not exercise them only to make ourselves look or feel good. 

    As musical instruments must clearly play each note in order for the music to be recognized, so Paul says words must be preached in the hearer’s language in order to be helpful. Because there are many languages in the world, people sometimes can’t understand each other. It is the same with speaking in unknown tongues. Although this gift is helpful to many people in private worship as well as in public worship, with interpretation, Paul says that he would rather speak 5 words that his hearers can understand than 10,000 that they cannot. 

 

    For example, when we traveled to Cuba this past fall, I got to speak to hundreds of people that did not understand a lick of English. If I would have gotten up in their service and just started speaking, they would not have understood anything I was saying. It would not have benefited them or me in any way. But because there was an interpreter there beside me and we did things in an orderly way, they understood what I was saying, and as a result, people came to know Christ and I was an encouragement to many. I believe the interpreter had the spiritual gift of tongues and interpretation, because of the way he could process things so fast in his mind to translate from my language to his. 

 

    There is a proper place for the intellect in Christianity. In praying and singing, both the mind and the spirit are to be fully engaged. When we sing, we should also think about the meaning of the words. When we pour out our feelings to God in prayer, we should not turn off our capacity to think. True Christianity is neither barren intellectualism nor thoughtless emotionalism (Ephesians 1; Philippians 1; Colossians 1).

 

    If a person has the gift of speaking in different tongues, he/she should pray for the gift of interpretation so afterward the people will understand what was said. This way, the entire church will be edified by this gift. 

 

   The way the Corinthians were speaking in unknown tongues was helping no one because believers did not understand what was being said, and unbelievers thought that the people speaking in unknown tongues were crazy. Speaking in unknown tongues was supposed to be a sign to unbelievers (Acts 2). After speaking in unknown tongues, believers were supposed to explain, through an interpreter, what was said and give the credit to God. The unsaved people would then be convinced of a spiritual reality and motivated to look further into the Christian faith. While this is one way to reach unbelievers, Paul says that clear preaching is better. 

 

   Paul makes several points about speaking in unknown tongues: 1) It is a spiritual gift from God; 2) it is a desirable gift even though it isn’t a requirement of faith or salvation; 3) it is less important than preaching or teaching. Although Paul himself spoke in unknown tongues, he stresses preaching because it benefits the whole church, while speaking in unknown tongues primarily benefits the speaker. Public worship must be understandable and edifying to the whole church.