Tongues 5

5. 1 Corinthians 14
I would summarize Paul's point in this chapter as follows:

Your worship is a horrible mess. Everyone is just thinking of him or herself. Do things that build up each other, like prophecy. Tongues more often than not build up individuals but don't build up the body of Christ. What is worse, unbelievers can easily mistake them for some pagan religious experience. Don't forbid tongues, as long as someone has an interpretation. You yourself should pray to be able to interpret your tongues. Even then, only have two or at the most three speak in worship, one at a time, and again, only with interpretation.

Tongues at Corinth were a problem. I suppose that tongues in an Assemblies of God church are usually not a problem. In fact, I acknowledged to a student once that it might be possible for everyone in a Pentecostal church to be edified by watching everyone else speak in tongues--even if there wasn't any interpretation. And I doubt many unbelievers these days in America will mistake tongues for some mystery religion experience. After all, what is that? I do think most non-tongues speakers feel really wierd on their first exposure to tongues--even many people the first time they experience tongues.

But in the end, there are so many more churches and church groups today than Paul could have imagined. And the existence of many of them is primarily due to the exercise of tongues. Chances are, if you're going to an Assemblies of God church, you probably find tongues edifying even if they're not interpreted.

By the same token, tongues would be incredibly divisive in your typical Wesleyan Church. I have no problem with our current stance that, for those worshipping in our fellowship, tongues is a gift best exercised in private for one's personal edification. If we have few who speak in tongues, we would have almost no one with the gift of interpretation. And I guarantee you that even if tongues were interpreted, the vast majority of our congregations would feel like "foreigners" to those speaking or interpreting (cf. 1 Cor. 14:11).

Tongues would create schism in most of our communities. I have no hesitation about what I think Paul would say in such a context, mirroring things he said about the Lord's Supper, meat offered to idols, and indeed, about the use of tongues at Corinth: "Do you not have homes to pray in tongues in? I will not speak in tongues in church if it causes my brother or sister to stumble or the church to divide."

We can be thankful that the body of Christ has come to have whole denominations whose special emphasis is speaking in tongues and who freely allow for it in worship. And that allows for whole denominations who don't forbid a person from speaking in tongues, but only use intelligible languages in worship.

And after giving you my conclusion, let me give my understanding of the train of thought in 1 Corinthians 14.

1-5: It's better to prophecy than to speak in tongues, because prophecy builds up the church. Tongues tends more to build up the individual.

And here let me point out the obvious: Paul's point in 14:5 is not "I wish you all spoke in tongues." His point is "BUT I would rather have you prophecy." Remember, this is in the form of a break up line: "I really like you Ken, but I don't want to go out any more." The goal of the sentence is the part after the "but," not the part before. Notice that the possibility of interpreting tongues is not brought up in this paragraph.

6-25: Prophecy is better than tongues in worship, because it builds up the church. Paul uses examples of "confused sounds" to argue against the use of tongues in worship. And here I note that it is not until verse 13 that he first brings up the possibility of interpretation. And even then, he argues that the speaker him or herself pray to be able to interpret it. And of course if a person knew such an interpretation, there would be no need to speak in tongues in the first place. You would presumably just tell the church the prophecy straight out. In effect, even though Paul has brought up the possibility of interpretation, he has brought it up in a way that leads to the disuse of tongues in worship.

In 14:18-19 we have another break up line: "I thank God that I speak in more tongues than all of you, but in church I would prefer to speak five words with my mind than ten thousand words in a tongue." The first clause is again a concession on the way to the real point of the sentence--worship should be intelligible.

I think that it is more likely than not that Paul is claiming to have the same gift as some Corinthians are exercising. While it is possible that he means human languages, the contrast he sets up--"with my mind"--pushes us rather to see his tongues as something he does without his mind. In Romans 8:26, Paul mentions unspeakable groans of the Spirit in prayer, and some scholars think this might be Paul speaking of his use of tongues in private prayer. Can "unspeakable" mean "speaking," as in tongues?

On the other hand, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 seems Paul's attempt to defend himself against those who would claim to have more spectacular religious experiences than him. On balance the evidence seems to favor Paul speaking in tongues. But it is not an absolute certainty since Paul generally tries to agree with the Corinthian positions as much as possible before steering them in a more profitable direction.

For the worship context, however, look at Paul's contrast: even 5 intelligible words are better than 10,000 words in a tongue. Paul does not mention the possibility of interpretation in this verse, reflecting his emphasis in the chapter away from the use of tongues in worship.

20-25 speak of the negative effect that tongues will likely have on unbelievers, urging the congregation to lean more toward prophecy. Again, Paul does not mention the possibility of interpretation in these verses, reflecting his emphasis in the chapter away from the use of tongues in worship.

In addition to unbelievers, he also mentions the potentially negative effect tongues might have on those who do not understand (idiotes). In this sense, the Wesleyan Church is largely made up of idiotes :-), those who do not understand. Paul likely wishes to prevent exactly what would happen in most Wesleyan churches if someone started praying in tongues in a worship service--the rest of the church would be idiotes to the tongue.

26-40 The remainder of the chapter lays down the rules by which tongues can be practiced in worship at Corinth. Two or at the most three people may speak in tongues during a service. They must go one at a time and only if there is an interpretation.

So Paul says not to forbid speaking in tongues at Corinth. But his trajectory is clear enough. In part because he knows what's going on at Corinth, he severely limits the use of tongues in public worship. He affirms that it is personally edifying and may even himself have the gift. But worship is about communication, and he recognizes the roundabout way in which tongues can communicate--and that only if someone has an interpretation. Prophecy thus serves the purpose of worship much more straightforwardly.