… if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?
For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful … You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.
(verses 8, 13-14, 17)
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The Apostle Paul loves the gifts of the Spirit. All of them. Including the gift of tongues. Indeed, speaking into the circumstance of the church at Corinth, where there is considerable misunderstanding regarding spiritual gifts in general, and the gift of tongues in particular, he says to them, “I speak in tongues more than all of you” (verse 18), and “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues” (verse 5). I think he meant it.
But he understands the over-riding importance of edification for the whole Body. He wants the church, in its gatherings, to be built up, encouraged, strengthened, comforted, blessed. So he embraces the priority of intelligibility. It is well and good – very good – for the tongues-speaker to be personally edified through exercise of the gift. But “no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit” (verse 2). So, in the gathered community, the focus is to be on others. If the gift of tongues is used in public worship, it needs to be accompanied by the gift of interpretation so that others can understand the spoken word, enter in, and give thanks to the Lord. Otherwise, with no gift of interpretation, the tongues-speaker “should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God”(verse 28). Keep using the gift, Paul says, but do it privately.
This yields a general principle. The gathering of the community is for the common good. It’s not focused, first and foremost, on “me.” Rather, it’s focused on others. If, in response to the question, “How was church today?”, we are prone to respond, “I didn’t get anything out of it,” we need to ask ourselves the further question, “What did I give?”
It seems that many of the Corinthians were focused on the unbridled exercise of their tongues-gift, seeing it as the pinnacle of spirituality and the litmus-test of “good church.” But Paul says otherwise. How have you blessed others? Is the congregation as a whole being built-up? Are you contributing?
In the church of my youth, I remember an older gentleman, who had a difficult time hearing and participating, saying that he kept coming weekly simply because he knew it was an encouragement to others. That comment captures Paul’s heart. It has stuck with me down the years.
So, embrace the gifts. Understand they are given “for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Be built up personally by exercising all the gifts you’ve received, tongues included. But in the gathered community, in whatever setting that occurs, have your sights set on what blesses others.
“Everything must be done so that the church may be built up” (verse 26).
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Lord Jesus, I want to honour you by honouring your Body. I choose to use the gifts you’ve given for the good of others. Keep my sights on you. Keep my heart open to your people. Strengthen my hands to work for the common good. In your name. Amen.
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Reflect:
What can you do to help strengthen, encourage and comfort the members of your local church? What is one thing you will do today?
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Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash
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