Order in Worship

Life after Pentecost (XIV)

1 Corinthians 14

We arrive to a specific issue, which was creating confusion in the church of Corinth. Try to visualize the situation. Some were speaking in tongues and no one could understand; others were talking loudly and asking questions; some were using the gift of prophecy; other were not happy that they did not have the gift of speaking in tongues.

My first encounter with a group of believers who were speaking in tongues was in Kansas. I was invited to this church. Suddenly everyone started to speak in a language that I did not understand. It was a chaos. I did not know what to do. So I started talking and saying sentences in Arabic. Someone next to me started saying, “Wow, he is speaking in tongues!”

Paul warns the Corinthians and us today to avoid creating confusion during worship. The God of creation is God of order and not confusion. Remember Paul’s letter to the Corinthians starting from the 1^st chapter. The church is one body with different members. Let me stress again: it is one body. Some church members were using their spiritual gifts, especially speaking in tongues, with the wrong motives. These kinds of practices were dividing the body. These kinds of practices created a chaotic condition when the church members met for worship. Worship should be in order and in Spirit. Worship should edify the body of the Christ, and not become an opportunity for individual satisfaction and personal edification. “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…He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself” (2-4).

Speaking in tongues is a unique experience and gift that one can use to speak to God. This does not mean others who do not have this gift do not have the Holy Spirit and cannot pray and speak to God. Of course not. All of us have the opportunity to pray and speak to God. The Spirit of God teaches us how to pray.

Jesus said about the Spirit, “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:11-12).

Paul adds in Romans 8:26, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” All over the Bible we see the Spirit of the Lord teaching Moses, Samuel, Daniel and others what to say, how to say it, and how to pray.

In Acts 2, it is described that the Spirit of the Lord came down like burning tongues. The disciples spoke in almost 15 languages. Everyone heard the Gospel message in his or her own language. Later, we find that the Sprit also gave the gift of speaking in a language no one would understand. Now this can be dangerous if it is not given by God. Paul warns the church that if someone speaks in tongues, he or she will need interpretation. I am trying to say that Paul does not want confusion in the church worship. If one prays in tongues, fine. It is personal yet needs translation and interpretation, which can be useful for edification of the church. “…unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.” (5)

Three weeks ago, when I preached from chapter 12, I stressed that gifts are fine, but they are not the goal. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinth 12:7). Spiritual gifts were not given to boast or cause division in the church. They were given so the body would grow towards God. The focus is on the Giver and not on the gifts themselves.

The reason I am stressing this point again is that Paul spent and entire chapter (chapter 14) about speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy. On the other hand, he used the word “edify” as noun and verb 7 times (vs. 3, 4, twice, 5, 12, 17, 26). Therefore, all our gifts, especially speaking in tongues and prophecy, should serve to edify the body.

We will continue in English.