1 Corinthians 14:6-12

6Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. 12So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.



Dig Deeper

While coaching high school basketball a few years back, I had a Puerto Rican player join the team half way through the season. This was significant because, although there were other Hispanic players on the team, all of the main starters were not. This transfer student was very good, however, and would play a lot. In his first game a small problem quickly came up. As he was running the plays, he would continually yell "mira, mira" at the guy with the ball and got nothing but confused looks from his teammates. I knew what he was saying, so I didn't think much of it. He became frustrated though, and we eventually figured out that the other players had no clue what he meant. 'Mira' means 'look'. He was telling his teammates to look at him because he was open and to pass him the ball. His calls were pointless, however, if no one could understand what he was saying.

Paul uses an imaginary scenario to make a similar point in verse 6. If he were to come to Corinth and do nothing but praise God in a language that they did not understand, using his gift of tongues, what would be the point. He might feel good about his ability to have a miraculous gift. The Corinthians might be fairly impressed by his display (although we usually find that others are not nearly as impressed with our gifts as we think they will be), but ultimately the church is not going to be edified. It would be nothing more than a momentary emotional lift, at best. It would not contribute in any way to their actual spiritual development. Paul would much rather see them use gifts that would contribute to their spiritual edification, whether it be miraculous gifts like revelation (this might refer to Spirit-inspired insight or it might refer to revelations of the type that John describes in the Revelation), knowledge, or prophecy, or even more normal gifts like giving a word of instruction (which literally means 'teaching'). Paul doesn't see the gift of tongues as completely useless or undesirable, in fact he confirms in this verse that he can speak in tongues. Rather he wants the Corinthians to use their gifts with a heart of love. When meeting in corporate worship, gifts like prophecy and teaching display love, because they build up the body. Flashier gifts like tongues don't display love, because when it is used in corporate worship it doesn't edify the community it draws attention to the speaker.

Paul then turns to three examples to help drive home the futility of using tongues during worship services. The first comes from the world of instruments. Paul says that in the case of a flute or harp people will not be able to enjoy the music and recognize the tune being played if they are all jumbled together and not distinctly played. In this case and in the case of speaking tongues, what results is worthless noise for the listener.

The second illustration makes the point even more clearly. Trumpets were sounded to let the troops know to ready themselves for battle. If the noise that comes up cannot be distinguished from any other of the trumpet calls, how will the troops be able to recognize it and ready themselves? Worship services are intended to praise God and to ready Christians for the spiritual battle they face in the world. If the gathering doesn't actually prepare and ready them for that then what good is it?

The third illustration is closer to the actual situation and makes his point directly. If someone were to go hear a speaker and did not speak the same language as the speaker, they would get absolutely nothing from the address. That doesn't mean that the speech is no good, nor does it mean that the language itself is worthless, it would be understood by someone, somewhere. What it does mean is that it is not of value in the present situation. Paul says that he and the speaker would be foreigners to one another, meaning that they would not be able to truly assist or connect with one another.

Verse 12 says, so it is with you. To what is Paul referring? He is saying that when they speak in tongues and carry on in their worship services the way they have been, that no one can understand one another. They have been eager to have spiritual gifts but their motivation in doing so has been all wrong. They have been motivated by flash and the desire to impress one another rather than being driven by love. If they really want gifts that are spiritual, then they will desire gifts that build up the church.

For us, we don't tend to struggle with trying to show off by using the gifts of tongues, but this does not mean that this section is of no value today. We must constantly be on guard against doing things in worship or exercising gifts that build up the individual but do little to nothing for the body.



Devotional Thought

Are there any times when you tend to desire to do things in church that would serve more to build up yourself? What is the underlying motivation when you serve or exercise gifts? We always need to ask ourselves whether we are building up the Church or trying to bring glory to ourselves.