1 Corinthians 14:13

Wherefore let him that speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful... I thank my God that I speak with tongues more than all of you. Yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue... Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. But prophesying serves not for them that believe not, but for them that believe... (1 Corinthians 14:13-25)

When the body of Christ gathers, the question is whether unbelievers leave saying "you're mad" or "God is truly among you."

A Church Like Ours

The church at Corinth, as we have seen for over a year now, was a church with a multiplicity of problems and issues. They mirror the churches of our day. When we gather, we don't gather as those who are perfect; we come with many things that need to be changed and transformed by the Lord. I am grateful that God changes and transforms us, and it is His desire to do that even here today, just as it was His desire in Corinth.

The Corinthians had become enamored with spiritual gifts. That is not a bad thing in itself—Paul exhorts us on a number of occasions to desire those things. But this church had become enamored specifically with the gift of tongues and had exalted it as a mark of spirituality. So you can imagine there were people who genuinely manifested the gift, and others who, because it was exalted as a marker for spirituality, desired it and no doubt manufactured it.

The gift of tongues is not easy to test. It is not our place to judge whether a given use is false or genuine. But we should recognize that some manufacture it—sometimes knowingly, sometimes as the product of stirred-up emotions. There is what is called glossolalia in other faiths that have no bearing on Christianity. There are counterfeits in Islam, in Hinduism, in Buddhism, in Mormonism. All of these should clue us in that there can be counterfeits even within the church. Therefore tongues should never be exalted as a marker of spirituality.

The Context: The Gathered Church

As we considered last week in verses 1-12, Paul is arguing that tongues should not take a place of priority in corporate worship. The context of 1 Corinthians 14 is the gathering of the church. He is giving us rules by which we ought to govern our corporate worship when the body of Christ comes together.

Anytime people gather under the headship of Christ, they are the church—whether a home fellowship of four or ten, or a fellowship of two hundred. The New Testament word is ekklesia, which simply means a gathering. It was used not only for the church but for any assembly in the ancient world. When we gather under the name of Jesus, the focus is to be the mutual edification of the body of Christ.

This is one of the reasons God has given us the gifts of the Spirit: that we might glorify God, edify one another, and evangelize the lost. When the body comes together, our goal is to glorify God and edify one another, and if possible to evangelize those who don't know the Lord. Ultimately we are building up the body so that when we go out these doors, we go into the mission field to evangelize, using the gifts God has given us.

Pray That He May Interpret

In verse 13 Paul says, "Let him that speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret." This verse links the previous section with what follows. Notice that he says, "Let him speak." You might assume that after the first twelve verses Paul would forbid tongues in the assembly—since intelligible prophecy is greater than tongues. But he doesn't. He says, because of this, let that person pray that he might interpret.

So Paul is not discouraging the practice of the gift. He is diminishing the place of priority the Corinthians had given it. It is also striking that he tells the tongues-speaker to pray for an interpretation rather than to pray that he might prophesy. The Corinthians were seeking and praying for the gift of tongues, having made it the mark of spirituality. Paul says yes, tongues is good and important, but it takes a lesser position in the corporate gathering compared to gifts that edify the whole body.

As self-edifying as tongues is, it is just that—self-edifying. When we gather as the body, we are not to be self-seeking, but to come together for the edification of the whole. Look again at verse 5: "I would that you all spoke with tongues, but rather that you prophesied. For greater is he that prophesies than he that speaks with tongues." Paul does not mean the one who prophesies is more spiritual; he means that in the gathering, that person is more helpful.

Love Seeks the Other

Since love is others-centered—we saw in chapter 13 that love seeks not its own—and since love is to be the dominating characteristic of disciples of Christ, when we gather we should seek another person's edification over our own. Paul says the same in Philippians 2:3-4:

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Paul does not negate the importance or power of tongues, nor does he discourage the desire for spiritual gifts. He only exhorts that our desire become mature, so that we desire the things that mutually benefit one another. When we first come to Christ, we are babes, childlike in our faith, as Peter says. None of us is immediately complete or mature. So even as you are zealous for spiritual gifts, "seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church."

Be Not Children in Understanding

In verse 20 Paul says, "Brethren, be not children in your understanding." It is characteristic of children to be self-focused, to be enamored with the sensational, to think primarily of themselves. I see this with my own children—my son is two and a half, my daughter is one and a half, and a third is on the way—and you see very quickly that they're selfish. You expect selfishness from a child. If you think kids are born perfect, you probably haven't had any—or you need to go serve in the children's ministry.

Paul spoke of this in 13:11: "When I was a child, I spoke as a child... but when I became an adult, I put away childish things." Seeking to receive is characteristic of childlike immaturity. But in Acts, Paul quotes Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." That is mature thinking.

Why do children look forward to Christmas? Because of what they're going to get. There were presents under our tree long before Christmas Day, with little tags, and you'd go looking—not for your sister's gifts, but for your own. My mom would even switch the name tags around with some sort of code to trick us, though sometimes she forgot her own code. As you mature, you come to such an event not seeking what you'll get, because you realize it is more blessed to give than to receive.

So it is in the Christian life. When we first come to Christ, we often come to church seeking to be fed, encouraged, prayed for, and built up. But as the church matures, more and more people should come to the gathering seeking to use the gifts God has given them—to glorify God, build up others, and evangelize the lost. That is a sign of maturity. The Corinthians, by contrast, were immature, evidenced by their desire for the sensational and for what edified themselves purely. It is also childlike to consider ourselves much further along than we really are. The Corinthians thought they excelled everyone in wisdom and giftedness—because they were immature.

My Understanding Is Unfruitful

In verse 14 Paul says, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." By saying "if I pray in an unknown tongue," Paul is identifying with his readers and implying that he does pray in tongues. Some at Corinth might have thought he was speaking out of sour grapes, as if he discounted the gift because he didn't have it. Not so—he will say shortly that he speaks in tongues more than all of them.

But he recognizes the obvious: when someone prays in this spiritual language, their understanding is unfruitful unless God also gives a divine interpretation. We saw this in verse 2: "He that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not unto men but unto God, and no man understands him." Not only does no one in the room understand, but the speaker himself does not know what he is saying unless God grants an interpretation. He is speaking mysteries.

This proves the gift of tongues is not merely the unique ability to learn foreign languages, as some cessationists believe. A cessationist generally says tongues is not useful today, or is not what we think it is—sometimes claiming it is just the ability to learn another language. Not so, because Paul says the speaker's own understanding is unfruitful. He does not know what he is saying. This is precisely why he should pray for an interpretation in verse 13.

Why Have the Gift At All?

Verse 15 answers the obvious question: if tongues doesn't take priority, and neither the hearers nor the speaker understand it, why have it? Do we just cast it aside? No. "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also."

We use the gift because it is helpful. As we considered last week, the gift of tongues is personally edifying. It is also an effective way to praise God. And it is a useful form of prayer—Romans 8:26 speaks of groanings that cannot be uttered, given by the Spirit when we don't know how we ought to pray, which many interpret as the gift of tongues.

So Paul says, yes, I will pray and sing in the spirit, but I will also pray and sing with understanding in my own language. Why? Because if you pray and praise only in an unknown tongue in a corporate gathering—unfruitful to others and to yourself—how will others be able to agree and say "Amen"? When we say amen, we make another person's prayer our own. Corporate united prayer matters. Jesus says in Matthew 18:19-20:

If two of you shall agree on earth concerning anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

In verse 17 Paul says, "For thou truly givest thanks well, but the other is not edified." The person praying in tongues may be impassioned, zealous, joy-filled, and quite edified himself. But the others receive no edification at all if there is no interpretation. In that context, the gift can be completely self-serving—and focusing on it is completely immature.

Five Words With Understanding

Verse 18: "I thank my God that I speak with tongues more than you all." That is a bold statement—it could sound pompous. But verse 19 is equally powerful: "Yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."

Here is the interesting consideration. If Paul spoke in tongues more than every other believer in Corinth, yet would not want to speak in tongues in the gathered assembly, where and when do you suppose he was speaking in tongues? In his prayer time. Paul clearly recognized that the primary use of the gift was as a personal, private prayer language.

This is hyperbole—a huge contrast between five words and ten thousand. In an average one-hour teaching I give about 2,500 to 3,000 words, and I speak fast. So Paul is essentially saying, "I'd rather speak five words with my understanding—'You must this day repent'—than three or four hours of speaking in tongues corporately." Clearly intelligible language is greater in the gathered assembly than unintelligible tongues.

So verse 20: "Brethren, be not children in your understanding. Howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men." J.B. Phillips renders it: "My brothers, do not be like excitable children, but use your intelligence. By all means be innocent as babes as far as evil is concerned, but where your minds are concerned, be full-grown men."

Adolescent Understanding and the Need for Discipleship

I do not mean this offensively, but it is not incorrect to say that those from the more Pentecostal or charismatic streams are often very adolescent in their understanding—because of a misplaced focus on ecstatic tongues-speaking while neglecting the clear, systematic, intelligible teaching of God's word. This is why someone who has spent their entire Christian experience in such a setting often does not have a good grasp of the Scriptures and can be seduced into aberrant teaching.

I dealt with students at the Bible college this semester who were trying to minister to a friend in a very charismatic church that taught Christians do not sin. If Christians do not sin, then I am not a Christian—amen? I am just as wicked as the next guy, and so thankful for the grace, mercy, and continued forgiveness of God. To say Christians do not sin disregards 1 John 1: "If you say that you have no sin, you deceive yourself." It also disregards the grace in that same chapter: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us."

Such teachers use the same book, going to 1 John 3—"He who is born of God does not sin"—but they fail to recognize that the passage means those born of God do not habitually practice sin. A maturing, a sanctifying, is taking place. When there is a disregard for the clear, intelligible instruction of God's word in favor of ecstatic speech, people are often adolescent in their understanding. They are still Christians, but they need discipleship and growth.

Tongues as a Sign: Isaiah 28

Some from a Pentecostal background tell me I don't understand the importance of tongues in the corporate gathering as a sign to unbelievers. They use this very text. Several commentators, including J.B. Phillips, call verses 21-25 one of the most difficult passages in the entire New Testament.

In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.

For years I've had the privilege of teaching Isaiah at the Bible college, and Paul's quotation comes from Isaiah 28—one of my favorite chapters. Our radio and TV program is called Line Upon Line because of Isaiah 28:10, where Isaiah's message is described as "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little."

That sounds great for a Calvary Chapel—we teach line upon line. But in Isaiah 28 it was an insult. In modern terms the people were saying, "Isaiah is like a broken record." In the Hebrew they mock him: line, line, line, precept, precept, precept. They go on to say he's only useful for children just weaned from the breast—so repetitive that you'd give him to the kids who need to hear it over and over: "Don't hit your sister, don't hit your sister," until it gets drilled in.

So God responds through Isaiah (28:11-12): "With stammering lips and another tongue will I speak to this people... yet they would not hear." God was calling them in their own Hebrew tongue to turn from sin and repent. They hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks. So God said, in effect, "If you won't listen to my call in your own language, I will judge you by sending you to another nation"—the Assyrians—"who will speak to you with stammering lips and another tongue." That foreign tongue was a sign of God's judgment.

A Sign of Judgment to Unbelievers

Now Paul applies this: don't you see that unintelligible languages are, to unbelievers, a sign of God's judgment? I think the best interpretation comes from my friend David Guzik, who says it well: Paul is essentially saying that if you insist on speaking in tongues in your church meetings instead of your personal devotional life, the only good that comes of it is that it is a sign of judgment to unbelievers—because they think you're crazy when they hear it. It shows them they do not understand the things of God and are headed toward judgment.

If unbelievers come into your gathering—and there are very likely people here today still investigating the claims of Christ—and the whole church begins to speak in tongues, what will they go away thinking? They're all nuts. Years ago Martin Bashir did a 20/20 piece on tongues-speaking that went on about how crazy it looked. The non-believing world looks on and says, "That's nuts." The Christian with spiritual understanding is edified; the non-believer thinks it's crazy. Paul says exactly that: "If therefore the whole church come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?" Yes.

Prophecy Convicts the Unbeliever

Then comes the apparent contradiction. In verse 22 Paul says prophesying serves believers, not unbelievers. Yet in verses 24-25: "But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all; and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth."

So what is meant? Paul is encouraging the church that prophecy is better in the gathering than tongues, and this is proved when unbelievers come in and hear the word of God given and are convinced and judged. No one is saved by hearing someone speak in tongues. People come to the truth as they hear the intelligible word of God given forth prophetically. The secrets of the unbeliever's heart are made manifest, and the result is that he falls down, worships God, and reports that God is truly among you.

The Pentecostal says tongues are a sign to unbelievers and therefore important evangelistically in the service—but only if you want the unbeliever to go away thinking you're nuts. Paul returns to his main point: prophecy, the intelligible and clear presentation of God's word for exhortation, edification, and comfort, holds the priority position in the church, because it is edifying to believers and convincing and convicting to unbelievers.

What Do We Want Them to Take Away?

So the question comes down to this: when the church gathers and unbelievers are in our midst, would we rather they go forth confessing "they're nuts," or saying "God was in this place and I knew it not"? The answer is clear.

Our desire is not to cast aside the gift of tongues. It is powerful and purposeful. It helps us in prayer, aids us in worship, and is an effective way to come before the Lord with praise—but its primary focus is the prayer closet. Within the gathering of the body of Christ, the emphasis is the edification of the whole, the glorification of God, and the evangelization of the lost. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Father, I ask humbly that if there is anything said today that is purely of me and not of Your word, You would remove it from our thinking. Lord, I believe that as we look at Your word, this is what is being said, and I ask that You would—Lord, You've gathered us as sensible people, given us understanding and intelligence to work these things out. Help us to be diligent in our study of the word, to consider these things this week to see if they be so, to be Bereans who search the Scriptures.

Lord, we want Your word to be that which gives us the outline for our lives, which informs our experience, and not our experience informing our understanding of Your word. So Father, this week cause us to be thoughtful about these things, to consider them as we follow You, that we would be more glorified, more edified, and a greater light to a dark world. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.