Tongues: To Speak or not to Speak
1 Corinthians 12
From its beginning at Pentecost, the body of Christ has
been spreading all across the world. However, it was not long before Satan, the
old nemesis of God's work, slammed a torpedo into the side of the
church. His weapon of choice is
to confuse the true nature and purpose of the grace gifts-especially the
sign-gift of tongues. If he can distort the proper understanding of that
gift, he could diminish the overall effectiveness of the others. Paul wrote a portion of one of his thirteen letters to the church
to deal with this very problem. Paul's letter to the Corinthians was written
in 58 A.D., twelve years before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Therefore,
the sign-gift of Gentile languages was still being used by God to warn Israel
of His impending judgment and to inform the new church (Jew and Gentile) that
He had brought in a new age. Over and over Paul emphasized the extreme importance of the grace
gifts for the growth and unity of the church (Romans 12:3-8, I Cor. 12-14,
Eph. 4:11-16). Peter
echoed Paul's emphasis as to their importance in 1 Peter 4:7-11. Paul was
painstakingly clear in Ephesians 4:11-16 that the grace gifts are God's only
method for edifying (spiritually building up) and unifying (bringing
together) the church. Because of their importance, a misunderstanding or
misuse of them would be crippling to the church. Following Pentecost, many in and around Jerusalem properly
understood the nature and purpose of the sign-gift of tongues. They found
their way to the local meeting of the church seeking more information.
Because the gift brought immediate attention to those who received it,
several probably sought to experience the gift to the point of wrongly
attempting to acquire it. Even more tragic, many falsely reproduced its
manifestations by mimicking the gift in order to bring attention to
themselves. This is made clear by Paul’s opening remarks to the Corinthian
church. "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not
want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to
these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no
one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say
that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:1-3). By trying to falsely reproduce the gift, some of these pretenders
were actually reverting back to mindless ecstatic utterances. This phenomenon
was a part of their former life of idol worship. In the process, some were
unconsciously and probably unknowingly calling Jesus Christ accursed. Rather than emphasizing and encouraging the use of all the gifts
in a proper balance, the Corinthians clamored after and misused one gift-the
sign gift of languages. They did so at the expense of being severely
misunderstood by the rest of the body and minimizing the effectiveness of all
the other gifted members. Paul's strategy for dealing with this sensitive subject was to
make sure that everyone had a general knowledge of the purpose of grace gifts
and how they were to be used. He began by teaching that just as there was
unity in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in the design and
distribution of the gifts, there was likewise to be unity in the church in
the use of the gifts. “Now there are varieties
of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the
same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all
things in all persons” (1 Cor. 12:4-6). There was to be no organizational hierarchy or division in the
body as a result of the misuse of gifts (1 Cor. 12:7-10). And one gift was not to
be emphasized above another. It is God who decides what particular gift or gifts each believer
receives, and God distributes the various gifted members into the body of
Christ as it pleases Him (1 Cor. 12:11, 18; Eph. 4:11). Nowhere does the Bible teach that any
believer is to seek for any particular gift. When used out of proportion to the other gifts, the gift of
tongues was inferior to the gift of prophecy for the spiritual edification of
the church. For instance, God gave the church the gifts of administration,
faith, teaching, mercy, evangelism, exhortation, giving, helps, etc. - all
designed by Him to work together in perfect harmony to bring immature
believers to maturity and promote unity in the body. God by design did not give everyone the same gift, yet every
gifted person is necessary and must cooperate if the church is to grow (Eph.
4:11-16). Paul was teaching that
every believer should not expect to have the gift of tongues, but should
discover the gift that God has been pleased to give him or her and use it to
benefit the entire body. Shouting with his pen that no one gift is to be emphasized at the
expense of any of the others, Paul reminded the Corinthians (and us) that the
gift of tongues was not superior in any way to the other gifts (1 Cor.
12:14-26). As a matter of fact,
because of the way it was misused, the church was experiencing confusion and
disunity. 1 Corinthians 14
"Pursue love, and desire
spiritual gifts but especially in order that you may prophecy. For he who
speaks in a language does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands
him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries" (1 Cor. 14:1-2).
Paul's comment in 1 Corinthians 14:2 was meant to be an
encouragement but was accompanied by a small criticism. “For one who speaks in a
tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his
spirit he speaks mysteries.” He was not suggesting that tongues was used as some sort of
secret prayer language to God, but was stressing the inferiority of tongues as
an edifying gift without the use of the gift of interpretation. Spiritual
gifts were not given by God to be used for the personal benefit of any
particular individual, but for the spiritual profit of the whole church. Paul then added to his argument 1 Corinthians
14:4: "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who
prophesies edifies the church." For the edification of the church, the sign-gift of tongues is
simply inferior. The gift itself, when used according to its purpose, was not
inferior. But when wrongly used (and it was being wrongly used), it was not
the best gift for edification. "I wish that you all spoke with languages" (1
Cor. 14:5). This is not a command but a personal wish or desire on the part
of Paul. Paul used the same phrase in 2 Corinthians 7:7 when he said that he
wished that everyone at Corinth had the gift of celibacy like him. Obviously,
they all did not! It would be
wonderful if all had the supernatural sign-gift of languages but they all did
not. But it would have been even more wonderful if all worked together to
communicate spiritual truth in order that the church might grow. Paul then pled with those Corinthians who insisted on using the
gift of languages for the purpose of edification to always interpret
them. Please understand that many in the church were not cooperating with
Paul at all. This is why he found it necessary to write this portion of his
letter to the Corinthians. He closed his argument
against using the sign gift of tongues for edification with a final plea for
the use of gifts that communicate clear, understandable truth. The result
would be more knowledge and unity in the church, which would help to bring
about the spiritual growth of all. “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. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it
should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one
must interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the
church; and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets
speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to
another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. For you can all
prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the
spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of
confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Cor.
14:26-33). There is evidence from Scripture, as well as
from history, that the gift of tongues as a sign to Israel and to the church
has ceased (1 Cor. 13:8). The confusion over them has not! We should
recognize that this misunderstanding has taken much needed attention from
other gifts and gifted members of the body at the expense of church maturity
and unity. Shouldn't we rekindle our desire to know and use the supernatural
abilities that God has given us by His grace? Shouldn't we commit ourselves
to make a much-needed spiritual contribution to His body?
"As each one has received a gift,
minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of
God" (1 Pet. 4:10).
Sources
New
American Standard Bible
John
MacArthur
Robert
Gromacki
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