1 Corinthians 14:1-25
When I was in college, I spent a semester in Honduras. During that time I worshiped with a congregation that practiced “singing in the Spirit.” Every worship service featured lively music, with one song sung after another for at least half an hour; and this singing always culminated in everyone singing (and every instrument playing) spontaneously and without formal structure. The congregation didn’t sing in its native language, but with ecstatic, flowing sounds. The intermingling of many notes and sounds was as if a jazz band had decided to let everyone improvise at once; and instead of sounding confusing, it sounded beautiful and harmonious.
This was a musical version of what Paul calls “speaking in tongues.” Speaking in tongues is ecstatic speech; the speaker lets go of rational control and lets one’s mouth form sounds freely, in a babbling yet melodious and complex fashion. This phenomenon has been present in various times in Christian history (and among other religions), especially during times of stress and religious revival. Paul, and the Christians in Corinth, regarded speaking in tongues as an extraordinary spiritual gift and as an actual heavenly language–the language of the angels.
From this passage it is clear that some of those Christians in Corinth are valuing this spiritual gift above all other gifts, and regard it as the ultimate mark of the presence of the Holy Spirit. But as we’ve seen from chapter 12, Paul regards all gifts–ordinary and extraordinary–as gifts of the Spirit for the sake of building up the church; and every believer shares in the same Spirit and should be regarded with the same value and honor.
Now Paul goes a step further–down-grading the importance of speaking in tongues when the church gathers. Paul certainly values speaking in tongues, and is quite glad that this is part of his own spiritual life. But when it comes to the needs of the church gathered together, the congregation is better served by prophecy (inspired but rational speech) than by speaking in tongues. In fact, if the church really wants to know what is the most important spiritual gift for the sake of the church, Paul is clear: it is prophecy.
By prophecy, Paul does not mean predicting the future; rather, it is speech that upbuilds and encourages and consoles (verse 3). It is speech that confronts, revealing what is hidden, seeing deeply into human nature and the real state of things, so that even visitors declare, “God is really among you” (verse 25). It is speech that speaks for God, in harmony with God’s will and Spirit, and it is a gift that can be developed (verse 1).
For Paul, five words of such speech are better for the church than ten thousand words speaking in tongues, because we can understand and learn from rational speech, but we cannot from speaking in tongues–unless there is someone who can interpret the heavenly language. If someone feels inspired to translate what is said in the heavenly language, then that person is, in effect, prophesying.
When the “charismatic movement” became popular in America in the 1970′s, with many people speaking in tongues, it became quite controversial in many congregations and denominations. Some used Paul’s words to embrace the movement and some used Paul’s words to bash the movement. Overall, I think Paul would have been sympathetic toward the movement, but would have cautioned against spiritual pride and excesses that undermine building up the faith community.
Today, I often find that Christians do not know what speaking in tongues is–or care. And perhaps that’s fine, although the church should always have an avenue for ecstatic experience in order to balance out a purely rational approach to the Christian faith. We may no longer regard speaking in tongues as literally the language of the angels, but we can appreciate that it is a way of expressing joy, gratefulness and peace beyond words.
