“I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. In the law it is written:
“With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me, says the Lord.”
Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.”
I Corinthians 14:18-25 NKJV
It’s important to continually remind the reader that Paul is not setting up the argument of tongues or no tongues, but rather personal edification and corporate edification along with some “rules” for both in order that non-believers are not left confused or misinterpreting the reason for the manifestation. It seems reasonably clear that private or public tongues may indeed be expected, even within the corporate gathering. Understanding each one’s usage is what helps bring the edification.
“I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.”
Paul is not embarrassed to say quite publicly that he did indeed speak in tongues. He gives God thanks for that reality and even states his practice of spiritual language (which I believe is referencing his individual prayer language) eclipses his readers. However, he circles around again stating that public tongues which are not interpreted directed to the church are not helpful to the congregation as a group. This would seem to be obvious. If I declared the Gospel to an English speaking congregation using the Russian language, it would be unprofitable for everyone.
As a committed theological continuationist, I will say clearly that any service inordinately consumed by the use of tongues is simply out of order. As will be seen in the next post, apparently the Corinthians were putting an unhealthy emphasis and an inordinate amount of time on the manifestation. But as the famous aphorism states, “Misuse + abuse, does not equal disuse”. It must be put in order.
“Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. In the law it is written:
“With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me, says the Lord.”
Paul summarizes this by simply saying, “It’s time to grow up, folks”. It’s time to understand that the use of tongues does not guarantee that people will listen. It does not add an extra zip on the message to bring it in a tongue. It is analogous to the abuse of prophecy when people say, “thus saith the Lord”, to elevate the punch of the message given. Doing that is immature.
Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.”
So, Paul states what appears to be a contradiction as a follow-up to his own exhortation for them to grow up. He states that tongues are a sign for unbelievers. (He just used an illustration from Scripture stating that very fact.) This could be a needful thing the Lord does, however, if the whole congregation is spending the majority of the gathered time speaking in tongues without interpretation (or even praying in tongues without teaching it’s context), people watching will think this is futile and worthless. I will say it again, and Paul will shortly put the usage of tongues in order, that he is not forbidding the corporate use of spiritual language but rather correcting the misuse and emphasis the Corinthians had developed in their corporate culture. Paul is saying, “don’t cut it off, reel it in”.
Perhaps this is a good place to
address a couple of practical items which the totality of the verses up to this point addresses:
1. “If God wants me to speak (or pray) in tongues He can lay it on me”.
I don’t believe any person should be leveraged or manipulated into a spiritual expression. I have watched this ministered in ways which may have meant well but felt artificial. That said, a person will never pray in the Spirit unless they choose to form the sounds or words which the Spirit is impressing. There is a cooperation in these moments with the Holy Spirit. God isn’t going to sovereignly grab your tongue and force you to say anything. So a person yields to the Spirit’s work.
2. “If we are in church service then any and every tongue MUST be interpreted.”
This question needs some parsing in my opinion. Certainly any public tongue needs interpretation, however, a restriction on people to never pray in the Spirit in public service seems over restrictive. After spending 30+ years in Spirit-filled circles, overseeing numerous church services as well as being a congregant, I can tell you that the expression of these two forms of spiritual language (public and personal) is easily distinguishable as well as guidable. Anarchy or order in public gatherings is not always the application of personal preference or bias, but rather a patient maturity to watch and discern what the Holy Spirit is doing at the moment and then endorsing or correcting the manifestation.
…to be continued.
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