221 When you come together – Tongues in 1 Corinthians 14

Talk 8   Paul’s Teaching on Tongues in 1 Corinthians 14

So far in this series we have suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 should be taken as a serious indication of what God desires when we meet for worship, and we have been looking at chapters 12 and 13 to see how they might influence our understanding of this verse.

In chapter 13 Paul has demonstrated the futility of spiritual gifts unless they are exercised in love. He now goes on to give practical instructions concerning the use of the gifts in public worship. The underlying theme of the chapter is edification, which must be the basic motive for the exercise of spiritual gifts. Prophecy is seen as the most appropriate means of edifying both believers and unbelievers. The New Testament believers’ meeting was a time when all should participate with a view to edifying the church (26).

In this talk we’ll be considering what Paul teaches in chapter 14 about speaking in tongues. In following talks we’ll consider what he says about interpretation of tongues and prophecy, as they are all mentioned in verse 26 and much of the rest of the chapter is taken up with these themes. As we do so, we will discover what Paul has to say about the value, purpose, and use of these gifts.

In the final talk we’ll be looking at some of the key principles which underlie his teaching, such as edification and the need for intelligibility, variety, order, and balance in our meetings. Handling things in this way will mean that we will not be moving through chapter 14 verse by verse, as Paul’s teaching on each of these themes is scattered throughout the chapter.

Today we will seek to answer three questions:

·       How does Paul describe speaking in tongues?

·       What is the purpose of speaking in tongues?

·       How is speaking in tongues to be used in church?

How does Paul describe speaking in tongues?

Perhaps the first thing to say is that Paul uses exactly the same Greek expression as is used by Luke when he describes the events that took place at Pentecost. Acts 2:4, when literally translated, reads:

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages…

I have translated the word for tongues here as languages for two reasons. First, because the context clearly shows that the disciples were speaking the languages of the people in the crowd, and secondly, because tongues is in fact just another rather old-fashioned word for languages. Our English word language is derived from the French word langue which can mean either tongue (the thing in your mouth you speak with) or language (the thing you speak).

The words used by both Luke and Paul are laleo (speak) and glossa (tongue or language). So when Paul talks about speaking in tongues he is referring to the same phenomenon as took place at Pentecost when the disciples spoke languages they had never learned. However, at Pentecost there were people present who recognised the languages the disciples were speaking, whereas usually there is no one present who will recognise the language we are speaking. This is probably why in 1 Corinthians 14:2 Paul says:

For the person speaking in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him, but he is speaking mysteries with his spirit (my translation).

Here Paul tells us that when we speak in tongues we are speaking to God. This is because, unless it’s interpreted, as we shall see later, no one can understand us. We are speaking mysteries with our spirit. Indeed, we ourselves do not understand what we are saying. This is confirmed in verse 14 where Paul says:

…if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

So speaking in tongues is speaking a language we do not understand and which no one else can understand. When we speak in English we are speaking with our mind. We understand what we are saying. But when we speak in tongues we are speaking with our spirit, and we do not understand what we are saying.

In verse 14 Paul has described speaking in tongues as praying with our spirit, but in verse 16 it’s clear that it can also be praising:

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?

So he also refers to it as thanksgiving and this is repeated in verse 17 when he says:

You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.

This is in harmony with what we read in Acts 2:11 when the bewildered crowd at Pentecost exclaimed:

We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!

This could either mean that the disciples were praising God in tongues or that they were proclaiming the gospel. The Greek word musterion which Paul uses in verse 2, which tells us that when we speak in tongues we are speaking mysteries, is used elsewhere in Paul’s writings to refer to the gospel as a secret made known by God to man (my italics) through his Spirit (e.g. Ephesians 3:4-5). 

So Paul describes speaking in tongues as speaking with our spirit rather than with our mind. He uses verbs like speaking (2), praying (14), praising (16), and giving thanks (17). And, as at Pentecost, it can also be a sign for unbelievers (22). But this is something we will discuss in a moment.

What is the purpose of speaking in tongues?

The apostle 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.

But in verse 19 he adds:

But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

This makes clear that, 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. In an earlier talk we have already argued that the distinction between the public and private use of tongues explains what Paul means when he says in 12:30, Do all speak in tongues? All may speak in tongues privately, but not all will do so publicly.

But chapter 14 sheds light on both these uses. The purpose of private tongues is, as we have already seen, that we might speak with our spirit as distinct from speaking with our mind. This may take the form of prayer, or praise, or thanksgiving. Used in this way it is an important means of building ourselves up spiritually, as Paul says in verse 4, He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.

This is presumably why Paul valued so highly his personal use of tongues, and it may well be what he was referring to when he told Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God that he had received when Paul had laid his hands on him (2 Timothy 1:6-7). Verses 14-15 reveal Paul’s personal determination to do the same:

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.

He is clearly recommending that we should do the same. And if we really want the Holy Spirit to move powerfully in our meetings, we will be willing to make time in private to pray, not only in English with our mind, but also in tongues with our spirit.

Now with regard to the purpose of the public use of tongues, we have already mentioned the day of Pentecost, where the miracle of unlearned Galileans speaking languages they had never learned led to the conversion of some 3000 people. But his was clearly not the scenario Paul had in mind when he said to the Corinthians that tongues are a sign for unbelievers (14:22).

It’s clear from the next verse that, far from expecting unbelievers to come to faith when hearing speaking in tongues, he thinks it more likely that they will conclude that the Corinthians are out of their mind! So in what sense are tongues intended as a sign to those who do not believe? As we examine the passage in which he says this we find what at first sight appear to be two contradictions, one with regard to speaking in tongues and the other regarding prophecy:

·       Regarding tongues, in verse 22 Paul says that they are a sign for unbelievers, but in verse 23 he implies that it’s not good to speak in tongues in their presence in case they think you’re out of your mind.

·       Regarding prophecy, in verse 22 he says that it’s not for unbelievers, but for believers. However, in verses 24 and 25 he says that if unbelievers come into a meeting where everyone is prophesying, they will be convinced that they are sinners and fall down and worship God.

So how do we explain these apparent contradictions? Paul’s instructions are fairly clear. He is continuing the theme he started at the beginning of the chapter that prophecy is preferable to tongues. It is more helpful to believers and now, he says, it is more helpful to unbelievers too. So if unbelievers come in, it’s better to prophesy than to speak in tongues.

But the argument he uses to back up this teaching is extremely difficult to follow. However, one possible way of resolving the difficulty is to begin by taking the reference to prophecy in verse 22 as referring, not to the gift of prophecy, but to the prophecy of from Isaiah 28:11-12 that he has just quoted. Abstract nouns like prophecy usually take the definite article in Greek, whereas in English we leave it out. So he propheteia can be either translated prophecy or the prophecy. In Matthew 13:14-15, for example, he propheteia is used to refer to a specific quotation from the prophecy of Isaiah. It is possible that Paul is doing the same here.

Taken this way, verses 21-24 could be paraphrased as follows:

21 In the law it has been written that I will speak to this people in other tongues (even though they are an unbelieving people, as the context of Isaiah 28:11 makes clear) and yet they will not listen to me, says the Lord (Isaiah 28:12).

22 So, on the basis of the quote from Isaiah, tongues were and are given as a sign to unbelieving people. However, the prophecy (Isaiah 28:11-12) is not given for the benefit of the unbelievers but for us believers in order the we might act upon it in the following way:

23 (Because Isaiah’s prophecy was written for us believers telling us that the unbeliever would not hear even the sign of tongues), when we gather together in worship we shouldn’t speak in tongues when unbelievers are present, because it’s a sign they will reject (and will only lead to their condemnation).

24 On the other hand, if we all prophesy the unbeliever will be convinced…

Although we cannot be sure that I am right in understanding the passage in this way, this suggestion does overcome a notorious difficulty for which, in my view, no satisfactory explanation has been offered so far. But, even if it’s correct, we still have the difficulty that Paul’s warning that, if we all speak in tongues unbelievers will say that we are out of our mind, appears to be contradicted by events on the day of Pentecost.

However, we need to remember that in Acts 2, when some 3000 people were added to the church, the first effects of the miracle of tongues were bewilderment (6), amazement and perplexity (12), and, on the part of some, cynicism (13). It was the preaching of the gospel by Peter that led to their conversion. So Paul’s warning that speaking in tongues may lead to opposition, and his insistence that prophecy – speaking words that people can understand – is preferable to tongues, are not out of harmony with Acts 2.

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 [1]. We rarely, if ever, know that a language we may be speaking in tongues is going to be recognised by someone present and we must trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to speak that language if he so determines. He alone knows what impact it will have on the hearer.

But this is by no means the only way that tongues may be used in public, as Paul makes clear in the opening verses of chapter 14, where he says:

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 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. 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.

The reference to interpretation of tongues in verse 5 makes clear the purpose of its use. It’s for the edification of the church. 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 will return to this in the next talk when we consider Paul’s teaching on the gift of interpretation of tongues, but for now it’s sufficient to note that the purpose of the use of tongues in church must surely be the same as that of the gift of interpretation – namely, the edification, strengthening, encouragement and comfort of believers.

How is speaking in tongues to be used in church?

Despite Paul’s clear teaching that prophecy is preferable to tongues (1-5), he by no means discourages the use of tongues in church. Although in verse 5 he says that he would rather have them prophesy, he does say, nevertheless, I would like every one of you to speak in tongues. And we have already seen that 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.

But if a person who wants to speak in tongues does not possess the gift of interpretation, they must first make sure that someone is present who does, and if not, they must speak quietly to themselves and to God (28).

However, if an interpreter is present, the speaker in tongues may  speak out loud with a view to its being interpreted for the edification of the church, subject to the conditions Paul gives in verse 27, where he says:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at the most three, should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.

This instruction is so clear that it hardly requires further comment, but we will discuss some of the practical implications in the final talk in this series.

Conclusion

In this talk we have argued that when Paul uses the term speaking in tongues, he is referring to the same gift as the disciples received on the day of Pentecost – the ability to speak languages they had never learned. We saw that tongues may be expressed in a variety of ways, including, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and declaring the wonders of God.

We discovered that 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.  Finally, we saw that Paul does expect this gift to be in operation in our meetings, but that 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.