12 So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. 13 Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. 16 Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified. 18 I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; 19 however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue. 20 Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
In v.1 Paul said to eagerly desire spiritual gifts. In v. 12 he says they are doing that. But now they need to go further. They need to try to “abound” in (lit., “pursue overflowing in”) the gifts that build up (“construct”) the church. That’s why, he says, if I am going to speak in tongues, I should pray for the gift of interpretation. I should pray that I can build you up with what is revealed through my tongues speaking.
If I pray in a tongue, it doesn’t benefit my mind because I don’t understand. So, I’ll pray both with my mind and my spirit. What should I do then? When I pray, I’ll pray with both my spirit and my mind. When I sing, I’ll sing with both my spirit and my mind.
I’m fascinated by this emphasis on the mind and spirit. It seems to me that most religions which emphasize man achieving some form of spirituality put the spirit and mind in opposition to each other. They want us to clear our minds, empty them completely so that we can achieve a trance-like spirituality.
But God put a will into us, and that will resides in our minds. God’s desire isn’t for us to turn off that powerful instrument he stuffed between our ears so that we can be filled by Him. He wants us to remain in our right minds – to maintain consciousness while we voluntarily allow the spirit to speak to us and control us.
If I praise God with my spirit but don’t make my praise intelligible in words, someone else may observe my praise but not be edified. He wouldn’t be able to “Amen” my praise because he wouldn’t understand it. I’d remain an island – separating myself from my brother while connecting myself to God.
That is divisive. We are a body, and there is no “You” in “Unity.” This is a very strong passage about the unity of the church (which has been the entire thrust of this letter). We can easily miss its depth because we focus on the controversial part – the tongues issue. But even praise and prayer – if done for one’s self – is divisive.
Our corporate worship is NOT between us and God. It is between us and each other, so that we can Amen each other’s praise! Our worship is itself a uniting with each other –acknowledging the connection we have together.
In v. 18, Paul said he was a tongues-speaker, and he was thankful to God for giving him that gift. But it was definitely not what he wanted to do in an assembly of the saints.
In v.20 he told them to grow up. Their spiritual attitudes were childish. They should only be childish in regard to evil, not in regard to how they think about spiritual matters.
21 In the Law it is written, “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the Lord. 22 So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe. 23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.
Paul quoted Isaiah 28:11-12 here. In that passage, God essentially said He would speak to unbelievers through foreigners –who normally speak a different language. It is implied that when God enables people who don’t know their language to speak to them in their language, that sign should get their attention and cause them to turn to God. Instead, the prophecy says, they will stubbornly refuse to listen.
They obviously understand the message. How else could they refuse to listen?
What use would it have been for God to send foreigner believers to speak to the unbelievers in a language the unbelievers didn’t understand?
His conclusion from all of this is:
- Speaking in tongues is a sign for unbelievers.
- Prophecy is a sign for believers
In v.23, if anyone comes into an assembly and hears you speak words that are not understandable, they will say you are out of your mind. But, as Paul just got done saying, God doesn’t want you to have an out-of-mind experience. He wants your mind and spirit to praise Him together.
On the other hand, if that same unbeliever visits and the things being said are intelligible and meaningful, he will be convicted about his sin, lay bare the secrets of his heart, and fall down to worship God.
Oh how I would love if an unbeliever walked into my church, heard what was going on, and fell down to submit to God and worship!
26 What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; 28 but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets;
In short (v. 26), everything we do when we come together must be done to construct – build up – the church.
V. 27 describes how our assemblies should be orderly – not people talking over top of each other.
33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.34 The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. 35 If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.
There is a lot of well-intentioned but false teaching which claims that the Greek word translated as “speak” in v. 24 means “chatter” – that women shouldn’t “chatter in the churches, as they are prone to doing.” Some of my favorite Bible expositors have used this argument, and it simply has no grounding in the truth.
The same Greek word (
λαλέω, laleō) is used throughout chapter 14 for “speak” in tongues. It’s a very common word in the Bible and is simply refers to a form of speech – articulation – without reference to the quality of what is spoken. Here are some examples for you to compare:
Jesus caused the mute man to speak in Matt 9:33, and this word is used for what he spoke. Would it fit the story for Jesus to cause him to chatter?
In John 8:42 Jesus used the same word to refer to His own speech. Did Jesus “chatter?”
The difference between his word
laleō and another common word for speech (
logos) is simply that the former refers more to the articulation or act of speaking, the latter refers more to the content or message. Note also that in Chapter 11 women did speak – they were prophets.
36 Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only? 37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. 38 But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39 Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. 40 But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.
Paul seems to work a little humor – maybe even sarcasm – in here by challenging people who call themselves prophets or even “spiritually gifted.” In essence, Paul is saying “If you are truly a prophet, you’ll know that what I just said is from God, because God isn’t going to contradict himself. If a prophet can’t acknowledge this truth, he should be ignored.
There is a sense in which it seems that everything Paul said between “
As in all the churches of the saints” (v.33) and “
improper for a woman to speak in the church” ( v.35) was him pulling an example out of church life to show how “
the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets” (v.32) and “
God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches” (v. 33).
