1 Corinthians 14:1-5

In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote in order to challenge the believers to pursue maturity in their new found faith.  During Paul’s absence they had been plagued with divisiveness, allowing numerous issues to cause disunity within the church.  Since Paul had a great love for the Corinthian church, he was writing to bring clarity to many of these issues such as disunity (1 Corinthians 1-4), immorality (1 Corinthians 5-6), marriage (1 Corinthians 7), personal freedom (1 Corinthians 8-10), proper worship (1 Corinthians 11), and the proper use of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-13).  Paul had spent much time on the issue of spiritual gifts, which the Holy Spirit provided at the moment of faith in Jesus Christ, and how each individual’s gift was important in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12).  Apparently, the Corinthians desired the most visible gifts and had forsaken the importance of using their God-given gift, whatever it may have been, to benefit the church; in fact, Paul accuses them of failing to embrace the most important characteristic of any spiritual gift – love (1 Corinthians 13).  He reminded them that any gift practiced without love was of no benefit to the church of Christ.

In an effort to bring back the basics of spiritual gifts, Paul writes that they should desire the use of gifts which are of benefit to the entire church, not just a limited few (14:1).  Paul placed two spiritual gifts, prophecy and tongues, against each other to prove his point.  Prophesying is the speaking of truth, specifically those things which have already been revealed in Scripture (12:10), and provides edification (building up in truth), exhortation (a call to obedience), and comfort to all people (14:3).  Tongues, as it was originally given at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13), was when an apostle spoke the truth in his native language, but the listeners heard the truth translated or interpreted in their own native language.  This was a supernatural act of God during a time when the gospel needed to be proclaimed to unbelievers in their own language (Acts 2:5-13).  The Corinthian church had perverted this original gift of tongues (known languages) by mixing it with the pagan practice of uttering gibberish.  Each time Paul referred to this false gift of tongues, he used the singular form of the word, “tongue.”  This helps the reader distinguish between Paul referring to the genuine gift of “tongues” (known languages) and the counterfeit gift of an unknown “tongue.”  The Corinthians were speaking with an unknown tongue (gibberish) and claimed that it was a special language from God, but Paul accused them of doing something that was of no benefit to the church (14:4a).  On the other hand, prophesying or preaching was of benefit to everyone in the church, unless those who speak in tongues (known languages) are being interpreted or translated for the entire church to understand what is being spoken (14:4b-5).  Paul concludes that the key to any spiritual gift is that it be practiced in love and for the benefit of the entire church.

Dear God, may I practice my spiritual gifts in love and for the benefit of the church.