Talk 2 The Right Use of Speaking in Tongues
Welcome to Talk2 in our series on NT Guidelines for Small Group Meetings.
We started last time by suggesting that 1 Corinthians 14:26 should be taken as a serious indication of the sort of thing God wants to happen when we meet. Let me remind you what it says:
What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
We then did a quick survey of chapters 12 and 13 to see how they might influence our understanding of this verse.
Today we’re going to talk about speaking in tongues which was very important in the life of the early church and is still a very valuable gift today. So we’ll be talking about why it’s so important both in our personal prayers at home and in our gatherings. And we’ll finish by looking at 1 Corinthians 14 and seeing what Paul has to say about exactly how it should be used when we meet together.
A. The importance of tongues
1. Its importance in the early church
a. As we all know, speaking in tongues was the first spiritual gift that the disciples were given when they were filled the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). empowering them for service (Acts 1:8). [For more on this, please see A New Dimension – how to be filled with the Holy Spirit (details on my website – http://www.davidpetts.org].
b. After Pentecost, when others received the Spirit, it was the first manifestation recorded after the Spirit came upon them (Acts 10:44-46, Acts 19:1-6).
c. This was almost certainly because speaking in tongues was to become an important part of a Christian’s prayer life, enabling them to pray with their spirit (1 Corinthians 14:14), but more of that in a moment.
2. The value of the gift today
Speaking in tongues was a valuable gift in New Testament times and it’s just as valuable today:
a. It can be used as a powerful sign to unbelievers as happened in Acts 2 and led to some 3000 people becoming Christians.
b. It is an important aspect in our private prayer times
c. It can be a blessing in church when it is accompanied by the gift of interpretation, which will be the subject of out next talk.
So let’s now turn to 1 Corinthians 14 and see what Paul has to say about the use of tongues in our private prayer times, before we turn to its use in our meetings.
B. The use of tongues in private
Consider the following:
2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.
4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
16 If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
17 You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.
So when we speak in tongues:
· we don’t know what we’re saying (14),
· but we’re speaking to God (2)
· which may be prayer (14-15), or praise (16), or giving thanks (16-17) to God,
· and in doing so we’re edifying ourselves (building ourselves up spiritually) (4).
This is probably why in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 Paul says:
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline
Every time we speak in tongues in our prayer time we are fanning into flame the gift of God that we received when God gave us the Holy Spirit.
So speaking in tongues is a great thing to do in private, but what about in our meetings?
C. The right use of tongues in our meetings
1. Edification – the underlying principle
It’s clear that Paul valued very highly his ability to speak in tongues. In verse 18 he says:
I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
This was because it enabled him to pray with his spirit rather than just praying with his mind.
But please note what he says in verse 19:
But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.
So, although he spoke in tongues a great deal when he was not in church – that is, when he was in private – he did not do so in public. He is much more guarded about the use of tongues in church. Look at verses 3-5 again:
3 But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.
He wants everyone to be able to speak in tongues, but it has no value in church if it’s not interpreted (v5).
Tongues are unintelligible unless they are interpreted and without interpretation the speaker is just speaking into the air (9).
But when interpreted they can fulfil a similar function to prophecy, which also edifies the church (4) bringing strengthening, encouragement and comfort (3).
We’ll come back to that in our next talk when we consider Paul’s teaching on the gift of interpretation of tongues, but for now it’s enough to note that what’s important is:
whatever we do in our meetings should be for the edification, strengthening, encouragement and comfort of those present.
For example, Paul is concerned about what happens if unbelievers come into our meetings.. He deals with this in verses 21-25 where it’s clear that, despite the miracle that happened at Pentecost where speaking in tongues led to the conversion of some 3000 people, far from expecting unbelievers to come to faith when hearing speaking in tongues, Paul thinks it more likely that they will conclude that the Corinthians are out of their mind!
Why did he think this? Perhaps because situations like the day of Pentecost are very rare. On the vast majority of occasions, it’s not likely that any foreigner will recognise their language when we are speaking in tongues. So Paul advises caution. On the basis of all this, it’s better, in my view, to consider the use of tongues as a sign to unbelievers as something exceptional.
Having said that, verses 21-25 are extremely difficult because they contain an apparent contradiction and have long been a source of debate among scholars. We don’t have time to go into them in now, but if you want to see a possible solution, please read WYCT pp. 66-68.
The main point is this:
Whatever we do in our meetings we should always be sensitive to the needs of others, especially if there are newcomers present.
You may be worshipping well, but if others are not helped by it, you are not acting in love! (My paraphrase of verse 17).
In the context Paul is talking about tongues, but the principle surely applies to everything we do in our meetings!
2. Paul’s teaching on how to apply this principle
Despite Paul’s clear teaching that prophecy is preferable to tongues (1-5), he by no means discourages the use of tongues in church. He expects speaking in tongues to be a regular part of the worship of the church (26) and it is certainly not to be forbidden (39).
However, the key to its use in church is that it needs to be interpreted so that everyone may be edified. In fact, in verse 28 he tells us that
If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.
This suggests that the personal use of tongues in church is not prohibited, but it must be done quietly as it will edify no one except the speaker (cf. 4). Speaking out loud in tongues, therefore, is to be strongly discouraged unless it is intended that it be interpreted, and that of course will require someone with the gift of interpretation to be present.
This may, of course, be the person who has spoken in tongues, as in verses 12-13 Paul encourages those who speak in tongues to pray for the gift of interpretation:
So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. 13 For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says.
So, if you want to speak out loud in tongues and don’t have the gift of interpretation, you must first make sure that someone is present who does, and, if you’re not sure, you must speak quietly to yourself and to God (28). There’s just as much blessing in speaking in tongues quietly as in speaking loudly!
However, if an interpreter is present, you may speak out loud in tongues with a view to its being interpreted for the edification of the church. But this is subject to the following conditions:
If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at the most three, should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret (27).
So please, if someone speaks out loud in tongues in a meeting, wait until it’s interpreted before you say anything.
D. Summary
Speaking in tongues is the ability to speak a language we have never learned.
It may be expressed in a variety of ways, including, prayer, praise, thanksgiving etc.
When we speak in tongues it’s our spirit that is praying, not our mind.
God gives us this gift to help us edify ourselves – to build ourselves up spiritually.
It is also given so that when it’s interpreted it will edify the church.
It can also be used as a sign to unbelievers when, as at Pentecost, they understand the language that is being spoken.
We should expect this gift to be in operation in our meetings, but it should be used quietly if it is not for interpretation.
It must only be spoken aloud if an interpreter is present, and it must be used only two, or at the most three, times in a meeting.
We will consider this further in the next talk when we examine Paul’s teaching on the gift of interpretation.
For more on this, please see WYCT Ch. 5.
But there’s much more that could be said, and, if you have a copy, you might like to read Chapter Eight of my book Body Builders – Gifts to make God’s people grow.
E. Questions for discussion
1. If you do not yet speak in tongues, bearing in mind its value in prayer, do you feel you would like to? Have you ever prayed for this gift?
2. If you do speak in tongues, how much use do you make of it in your personal prayer life?
3. In church or in your small group, do you always consider the edification of others before you take part?
4. How best could we make use of this wonderful gift (tongues) in our small group meetings?