Sermon Tone Analysis

Here’s the issue in Corinth: the Corinthians value a couple of spiritual gifts over and above other gifts of the Spirit.

They make a big deal out of a few, and look down on the rest.

Paul has set forth the teaching that the Church is a body—every part needs the other parts.

If every part of the body was an eye or an ear or an elbow, the body couldn’t function.

In fact, the body would die. 1 Corinthians 12 was all about the giftedness of each member of the body and the importance of each member of the body.

Hear me now: you, Christian, are needed.

“You is kind.

You is smart.

You is important.”

You have value and worth and you, Christian, with your gifts are crucial to the life and health of the Church universal and this church here locally.

You are not disposable.

Nor are not free to remove yourself from the body; that action would be something like self-amputation, which seems crazy and painful—ouch!

Don’t do that.

In order to make sure we understand how we are to relate to one another, how we are to worship the Lord with one another, how we are to exercise our gifts for the glory of God and the good of one another, Paul writes 1 Corinthians 13 and instructs us in the way of love.

Love, writes Paul, is the controlling dynamic, the driving force, the highest virtue.

Love has to be the central thing.

What we say, know, and do as a church and as individual Christians relating with one another must be done with love, seasoned with love.

Love must cover all we do, and if it doesn’t, we may not be part of Christ at all.

Now, building upon what he’s written about gifts and love, the Spirit-inspired Paul writes that our gifts, expressed in love, are meant to build up the Church and witness to unbelievers.

So Paul begins by telling us to pursue love:

The NIV translation is a little weak.

It’s not merely follow the way of love like you’re on some nice, Sunday afternoon stroll through the park.

It’s pursue love, chase after love, go after love as if your life depended on it—because it does.

We need to doggedly pursue love in everything we do as a church, but certainly in the midst of dealing with the specific gifts Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 14—the Corinthians needed the reminder of love, and so do we.

Even our discussion of 1 Corinthians 14 needs to be controlled by love.

Because this is some potentially divisive stuff.

I’ve seen it divide churches.

I’ve seen it divide families and friends.

So let’s get this straight at the outset:

These verses are a needed and valuable preface to whatever we’re discussing.

These verses are a pretty good reminder to me on a daily basis, to strive to relate to my wife and kids, my church family, my neighbors.

Love is the controlling dynamic.

Love, love, love, church.

We need to love one another and we must never let this or any secondary/tertiary doctrine divide us.

We can disagree on some of these things without having to see the whole thing blow up in our faces.

>Let’s begin by looking at the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 14:

A good portion of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church is focused on correcting that congregation’s abuse of spiritual gifts—and the gift of tongues in particular.

Some of you bristle upon hearing the phrase: “the gift of tongues.”

Others physically shift in their seat because they know the contentiousness of the topic.

I preach this with fear and trembling because I am acutely aware that there are people in this room on many different sides of this issue.

It’s not lost on me, the controversy surrounding this topic.

But remember: love for one another is our guide through issues like this, and fellowship is not to be affected by issues such as these.

What Paul is pleading for is intelligibility in worship.

Paul is no fan of any kind of speech that is not intelligible.

Sounds and syllables without meaning are of no use whatsoever.

When Paul is speaking of “tongues” he is referring to real languages.

Throughout this chapter, Paul is writing about real languages with real meaning.

The ecstatic gibberish of the modern charismatic movement doesn’t fit the apostle’s definition of a language.

If someone is authentically speaking in tongues, the utterance contains a message, and the message must be translated for those who hear.

Even if the tongues-speaker is praying alone and no one else is around to hear, he or she is to pray for an interpretation.

Whether in public or in private, interpretation is always to be sought.

Without interpretation it’s unintelligible.

Full disclaimer: I don’t have a charismatic bone in my body.

I don’t.

Not in the sense of spirituality or in the sense of being charming/likable.

I am no charismatic, not even slightly.

You will rarely, if ever, even see me raise a hand in worship (I don’t have anything against that, it’s just not me).

I’m not gonna dance (ever) and I have no rhythm by which to clap or sway or drum.

I am not charismatic in the least.

And yet, I’m fairly comfortable around those who are.

Some of my best friends really get into worship—hands raised, eyes closed, swaying to the beat.

Several years ago, I was invited to a revival at a charismatic church.

I attended one night of the revival.

The speaker was a good, biblical preacher, whom I enjoyed hearing.

At the end of his message, he invited everyone to the altar to pray, to cry out to the Lord.

That’s when it happened.

About 60 people all made their way to the front of the sanctuary, all praying out loud in what they would call “tongues”—just sounds and syllables, no words, no discernable language, no interpretation, no order.

As a non-charismatic person, I was uncomfortable, but I stuck around for a bit to see if anyone was going to call any of it to order, if anyone would offer any interpretation to any of the “tongues” being spoken.

After about 10 minutes, the speaker was starting to wrap up the time of “prayer” with no call for any interpretation from anyone.

It was then that I was officially upset, both as a non-charismatic and a student of the Bible.

Everything that happened there at the end of that service was unintelligible.

It made no sense—not to me or anyone else.

It was of no value to me or anyone else.

It did not conform to the Biblical regulations in any way.

It was chaos, unintelligible chaos.

This wasn’t merely against my preference (if that’s all it was, I’d deal with it); it was contrary to God’s Word.

Paul is calling for something markedly different than what happened that night.

He’s pleading for basic intelligibility.

If it’s unintelligible, it’s useless (vv.

6-12)

“What good will I be to you… if I come to you and speak in tongues?”

It’s a fair question.

If all Paul did was speak to the Corinthians in untranslated, uninterpreted tongues, what possible benefit would there be?

Verse 9: Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying?

You will just be speaking into the air.

Clarity is key.

This is what Paul is pleading for.

Take whatever stance you’d like to take on the gifts of the Spirit—you might be a continuationist, believing the gift of tongues is still active today, or you might be a cessationist, believing the need for and purpose behind tongues ceased after the apostolic period.

Take whatever stance you like (as long as it’s biblical), but understand from God’s Word: if it’s unintelligible, it’s useless.

I’m willing to admit that my stance as a cessationist (believing the miraculous gifts ceased long ago) might be wrong.

I might be wrong.

But I have never seen—not ever—the gift of tongues adhere to Biblical guidelines.

Not once.

Never even close.

We’ll discuss this more next week, but for now, we need to understand that everything done in public worship is supposed to be edifying to the hearers.

That’s the key point.

Paul is calling for intelligibility.

He is pleading for clarity.

When we say something in public worship, the people in the congregation need to understand the message and be built up by the message.

I do my best to make sure what I say can be understood.

I might not be the most captivating preacher, but I pray I’m understood.