Every part of the Bible is relevant and is helpful for us in any time of history or any period of our lives. But it is true that some parts speak to contemporary problems more than others. I suppose in some ways this fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians that we come to now is one of those parts.
Recently, someone was asking me a question to which this chapter speaks directly. This person, a new member of the church, has a friend in a charismatic fellowship, and who always insists on speaking in tongues in prayer meetings, even when there is no one to interpret. In the opinion of the person who was asking me the question, when this happens it is actually very disruptive. When I was asked what should be done, I said that the answer is in 1 Corinthians 14. This chapter says very clearly that unless there is somebody there to interpret so that what is said under this supposed inspiration of the Holy Spirit is therefore beneficial to the church, the person who claims this gift should keep silent.
The person responded that the church did say that to the person, but he will not do it. He insists on speaking in tongues whether or not there is any interpreting taking place. I replied that this situation is exactly the one Paul faced with these Christians at Corinth. It is for that reason that this chapter was written, and that these are the guidelines that Scripture gives.
This idea of doing what you want to do in disregard of other people, whether in the church or elsewhere, is certainly not new, because it is one of the essential manifestations of sin. But it is especially present in our time. Everybody wants to do their own thing, and this takes place in the church as well. It takes place in a variety of ways, including in this matter of tongues speaking. What Paul is saying here is that what happens in the churches should be beneficial; and, therefore, if something is not beneficial, no matter how good it may be in itself, it should be avoided for the sake of the other people.
Paul is giving a number of guidelines in chapters 12, 13, and 14 in dealing with this matter of tongues speaking, though the principles apply to other things. Paul is giving directions according to which this phenomenon should be handled and by which expressions of it should be evaluated. When we were talking about this earlier, I pointed out what some of these principles are. The first thing Paul says at the beginning of chapter 12 is that this phenomenon of speaking in tongues, called “glossolalia,” was not something that was unique to the Christian churches. It also took place in some of the pagan religions, and, therefore, it follows that in itself glossolalia is not necessarily an evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. It could be the sign of the presence of another spirit, a demonic spirit, for example, or perhaps just the willful expression of the person who is practicing the alleged gift. So, the first principle Paul lays down is that whatever it may be, this matter of speaking in tongues is not in itself proof that the person is filled with the Holy Spirit or necessarily even knows the Lord as Savior.
The second principle he mentions is that there are many gifts. Sometimes when people are aware of a gift they have, they put an undue emphasis upon it and treat it almost as if it were the only gift or at least the only gift worth having. Paul says that is not the case, and he lists a number of the gifts in this passage. There is a gift of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, the ability to do miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, and then, finally, the interpretation of tongues. He says we are to remember that this gift of tongues is not an extraordinary gift in the sense of being more important than others, and certainly not in the sense of being the only gift, but rather is one among many.
The next principle he lays down is that all the gifts are given for the benefit of the church, and, therefore, when the gift is exercised, it should be exercised for edification. What we discover as we begin to analyze these chapters is that this is the thing that is primarily in Paul’s mind. In chapter 12, it is that which takes up the largest portion of the chapter. In chapter 14, it is the essential message.
The fourth principle that Paul lays down is that if you are going to rank the gifts, then tongues comes somewhat low on the list. In the closing paragraph of chapter 12, he does seem to give a kind of numbering. He says, “And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues” (v. 28). You see that at the very end he mentions tongues.
This leads into what he says later, which is that it is quite proper to desire spiritual gifts and ask God to give us gifts that will be useful in the Christian ministry, and that we should desire the best gifts. That means we should not seek to have this gift of tongues primarily. There are other things we should list higher. Then in the fourteenth chapter he speaks of the dangers of this particular gift of tongues, which is the danger of disorder in the church and a lack of intellectual content, which affects other areas as well.
