Order and Chaos

The New International Version Chapter 14

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue r does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 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 understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues

and through the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

but even then they will not listen to me,

says the Lord.”

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Good Order in Worship

26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

The New International Version Chapter 14

Intelligibility in Worship

14 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue r does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 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 understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues

and through the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

but even then they will not listen to me,

says the Lord.”

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Good Order in Worship

26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 27

Imagine with me for a moment that a certain city becomes just ignited with passion for a sport. And the local team has just won a championship and over 2 MILLION people flood the streets to celebrate - they take the day off work and school just to get a glimpse of the champions. Hard to imagine.

Now imagine a school in that city was deeply passionate about this sport and inspired by the championship team, they developed a winning team of their own and half-way through the season had an undefeated team. The school is in pandemonium and all other extra-curricular activities get set aside, even academics get put on the back-burner. Finally, the principal - who has been supportive, tolerant, and even permissive - he has had enough. He decides to deal with an announcement over the PA System:

“I am glad that we have a good team, and it is wonderful that we are undefeated. Your support of our great team is commendable. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not against basketball. In fact - I hope you all learn to play basketball! But right now - we must remember the importance of our academic program and get back to studying!”

Kenneth E. Bailey - Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes

This is a simple analog for what is happening in the passage we’re about to read as Paul speaks about the overuse of certain gifts.

This particular chapter is one of my absolute favourite passages, so when I was told we’d be doing a series working through some of the major church and Holy Spirit themes in 1 Corinthians, I JUMPED at the opportunity to snag .

And if only I had been more acutely aware of how challenging this passage is I might not have been so quick because there are some challenging sections in this passage!

This is one of the beautiful things of the Christian faith - that the deeper we go, the more God’s Spirit and God’s Word humbles us, rather than puffs us full of knowledge. And that’s what preparing this message did for me.

Another quick note:

A very real tension that our pastoral team and I felt as we did some shared sermon prep was that this chapter is long and that there’s a few bits that are controversial in a lot of church circles, specifically the section women being silent in the church. I just wanted to state off the get-go that we will not be going through that section, not because of a desire to skirt around difficult texts, but because it isn’t central to the main theme of this section. If you ever venture over to my Twitter feed, I am constantly engaging on passages like this and the critical issue of women and the church. We want to be a church that invites conversations of all kind but we didn’t want to go down a rabbit hole we weren’t going to have time to fully expound on.

So with that preamble out of the way, here’s

So, :

The New International Version Chapter 14

Intelligibility in Worship

14 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue r does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 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 understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues

and through the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

but even then they will not listen to me,

says the Lord.”

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Good Order in Worship

26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue r does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

The New International Version Chapter 14

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue r does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 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 understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues

and through the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

but even then they will not listen to me,

says the Lord.”

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Good Order in Worship

26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 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 understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues

and through the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

but even then they will not listen to me,

says the Lord.”

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Good Order in Worship

26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

The New International Version. (2011). (1 Co 14:1–26). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

I love the way Paul draws in from the previous two sections here. Paul does a little chiasm sandwich - Let’s talk about spiritual gifts - CH 12. Let’s talk about LOVE and how the gifts are useless without love. Now, let’s talk about gifts again. And at the centre is love, which is so fitting. In the same way Jesus makes the love of God and love of others as central, we put love at the centre of our use of gifts.

TO BE CLEAR: I do not want you walking away from today thinking about chiastic structures, but I do think this helps give us a bit of a sense of where we’ve been and where we’re going today.

So the chiasm goes as follows:

A:

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed

“Let’s not be uninformed on the gifts of the Spirit”

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

B:

“The gifts are for building up the church, not self-exaltation”

C:

“The gifts of the Spirit are useless without love”

B:

“The gifts are for building up the church, not self-exaltation”

A:

“Let’s not be uninformed on the gifts of the Spirit”

This is my paraphrase, but you get the basic idea. And at the centre is love, which is so fitting. So Alex last week did an absolutely brilliant job at working through this beautiful and challenging passage on how LOVE in the church trumps all else - Chapter 13 is the CORE of this entire book. To use another sporting analogy, Alex just hit a game winning grand slam at the top of the 9th, and now I’ve gotta go in and pitch to close things out.

If I were to make one statement as the central point and meaning of , it would be this:

God gives the gifts of the Holy Spirit PRIMARILY for the building up of the church.

This is true of all the spiritual gifts mentioned, but here Paul has in mind two gifts that were particularly important to the church in Corinth: Tongues and Prophecy.

Tongues and Prophecy.

Tongues: meaning the use of either unknown earthly languages AND unknown heavenly languages. Most scholars argue that it is both/and and not either/or.

Tongues are a gift that has baffled and perplexed many over the years - Some have suggested that it is only useful if it speaking another human language. So for instance, I do not speak Mandarin, but suppose that in a moment of urgency, I needed to converse with a Mandarin-speaking person, God might miraculously give me the ability to speak Mandarin.

Others speak of the heavenly tongues mentioned in - This would mean more of an unknown angelic or spirit language of no discernible origin. For many, their experience comes in the form of a personal prayer and worship language. Paul indicates in our passage that this is a good and beautiful thing - Not a harmful thing at all - Paul would love everyone to speak in tongues. But whether an earthly or heavenly tongue, when spoken publicly there must be interpretation for the CHURCH to be built up.

On Tongues:

Wherever you may sit on the question of tongues, this much is clear:

It seems as though the church in Corinth had fallen in love with this gift - like this school that fell in love with basketball. And Paul, being the pastoral person he was - he encouraged them - not discouraged - to use their gifts appropriately, but brought a counter-measure by saying:

-If interpreted, tongues can be used for the upbuilding of the church.

-Whether heavenly tongues (glossolalia) or an unlearned language (xenoglossia), the application is about intelligibility

It seems as though the church in Corinth had fallen in love with this gift - like this school that fell in love with basketball. And Paul, being the pastoral person he was - he encouraged them - not discouraged - to use their gifts appropriately, but brought a counter-measure by saying:

“I would rather you prophesy”.

What this sounds like is a course correction. The Corinthians had an unhealthy obsession with a GOOD thing that they had been using in unhealthy ways.

Paul veers them in a different direction. Prophecy. If you prophesy, you will most CERTAINLY build up the church, whereas tongues runs the risk of alienating people from the gathering. More on that in a bit.

S

Prophecy can still be mysterious to some people because we often have in mind some fortune-teller, or a fraudulent medium like Long Island Medium or even worse, people who have tried and failed to predict the return of Christ over and over again

Biblical prophecy is frequently more about FORTH-TELLING and less often about FORETELLING (or predicting the future). When you read through the prophetic Scriptures, the prophets are most frequently speaking into an already existing situation - speaking words of comfort, words of judgement, words of rebuke. And yes, some prophecy takes the form of revelation about the future, its most common function is speaking God’s truth to a people for today.

In the passage we read from today, Paul makes clear the significant benefit of prophecy:

“But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.”

It encourages

Someone in a gathering senses God say something - they share it with that person, or possibly with the entire gathering - and builds up, it encourages, it brings comfort. This was of significant value for the early church, and by all accounts, for the church of today as well.

It consoles

So Paul offers a warning against the overuse and abuse of tongues because it runs the risk of being confusing to a new believer, or a non-believer. His encouragement to them is not to get rid of it. That would be easy. That would make it less messy. But his desire was to swing the pendulum the other way so that the church could remain healthy.

Paul offers

It’s worth remembering here that the churches at this point were generally networks of house churches so it was much more organic, so for someone to share a revelation or prophecy in front of the whole would be more like you sharing something you sensed God saying in a small-group setting. We’ll get to some of the practical stuff like that in a bit.

Paul then says something a bit curious and convoluted, but I think we’re going to make the best of it.

The New International Version Chapter 14

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 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 understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

What does he mean by this? What is the difference between his mind and his spirit?

As best as I can tell from my own plain reading and consulting with commentaries, he seems to be suggesting it is critical that we bring together all of ourselves in our gathered worship - our conscious and subconscious - we need to bring together our mind and our spirit - our spirit, in Paul’s understanding is all-encompassing - There is no dualism of body and soul - In the same way that our bodies themselves are temples of the Holy Spirit, are bodies are not simply “containers” for our soul.

An integrated self takes into account our intellect, our emotion, our desires, our physical bodies.

Paul is in essence saying, “You’re not giving these poor people a chance to say amen. When you speak in tongues (with no interpreter) they have no idea what is being said and thus cannot participate”. (Kenneth Bailey)

When we gather there will be inquirers or seekers present. Paul seems to work under that assumption. If that’s you this morning I want to especially welcome you. In Corinth these inquirers may have been non-believers, new believers or uneducated believers - they may have been non-Christian Jews or people that had never heard of the Holy Spirit. Whatever the case, Paul’s point is clear:

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 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 understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

The New International Version. (2011). (1 Co 14:13–17). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. These inquirers may have been non-believers, new believers or uneducated believers - they may have been non-Christian Jews or people that had never heard of the Holy Spirit. Whatever the case, Paul’s point is clear:

Don’t add barriers to their understanding.

Paul is in essence saying, “You’re not giving these poor people a chance to say amen. When you speak in tongues (with no interpreter) they have no idea what is being said and thus cannot participate”. (Kenneth Bailey)

So combine not just your intellect, not just your emotions, not just your inward thoughts, but your whole self - body, soul, and mind - strive for intelligibility in both your verbal and non-verbal cues. What sort of language is your body speaking in worship? Is it building up the church? Is it intelligible?

For me this is personal - as someone in a role overseeing both our outreach and our worship, this passage is sort of the synthesis of both - Let’s make our gathered worship make SENSE to those who are still skeptics and questioning. This is a significant issue for churches of all types.

And the early church had already dealt with this sort of thing. In at the Council at Jerusalem, there was sharp discussion about whether or not non-Jewish converts to Christianity had to follow Jewish law, which would have been complex and confusing. One of Jesus 12 disciples, Peter said to the council:

The New International Version Chapter 15

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

And this is similar to what Paul is speaking about in Corinth - people’s Spiritual Gifts were were becoming barriers to those experiencing the community of Jesus’ people.

And again, Paul is not in any way dismissing the gift of tongues - he is calling the church to maturity - to think of others more than themselves. He says “stop thinking like children”. As the father of a beautiful 3-year-old I can appreciate the connection. A child doesn’t have much in the way of “need” filters. They want what they want and they want it NOW. A church that demands to have their gift rise to a level of prominence is a church acting like an entitled child. You can imagine this has far more implications than just tongues, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Paul is applauding their passion - BUT Paul wants us to have equal zeal for the building up of the church.

One last perplexing statement made by Paul. After all this, he goes on to say:

The New International Version Chapter 14

Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers

The New International Version Chapter 14

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

So after all this about tongues confounding unbelievers, Paul then perplexingly says that tongues are a sign for UNBELIEVERS even though everything previous and everything that follows sort of says the opposite.

Lots of debate over this one.

Early Church father John Crysostom said, “Tongues are a sign to unbelievers not for their instruction, as prophecy is for both believers and unbelievers, but to astonish them”.

And sometimes astonishment can go either way - sometimes we can be astonished by something and drawn INWARD. Sometimes we’re astonished by something and it becomes an offence to us - in THIS way tongues become a sign to that person for the positive or negative.

This is where we have to admit the fallibility of the preacher because I’m not 100% sure on that. That was my best stab at it based on my own reading and the reading of people much smarter than I. But I admit it’s not perfect.

--------

Whatever spiritual gift we are talking about - wherever our thoughts and opinions lie - maybe you had a negative experience with these gifts - Paul encourages - Paul commands us to use our gifts not for our good and our glory, but for the building up of the Body of Christ.

So if we’re building the body of Christ, are we building the Sistine Chapel or are we building a house of cards that will blow over at the slightest breeze? Are we building something beautiful or are we building something fractious and frail?

All of us - We are stonemasons building a temple together - are we building the Sistine Chapel or are we building a house of cards that will blow over at the slightest breeze?

At the end of chapter 14, Paul circles back to this central idea. He says:

The New International Version Chapter 14

39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Building up the church through the gifts. Intelligibility.

One of the responsibilities of the pastoral team is to pray and think through how a passage like this looks for our little expression of the Kingdom, and so with the short time we have remaining, I’d like to ask a provocative question:

What does building up the church and intelligibility look like for Kortright Presbyterian Church?

We don’t have people running around trying to usurp the microphone and speaking tongues. But I know there are some of you have the gift of tongues and wonder, “Is this a place where I would be embraced?”

We don’t have people running around giving prophetic words either, although I know that many of you are very in tune with God’s Spirit. In fact, it was one of your very own here that ran into me at a coffee shop not long before I was even hired here and sensed that I needed prayer and we prayed together in the middle of the coffee shop - and in fact, I did desperately need that prayer.

We ALL desire to bring honour to Jesus and to build up his church - but sometimes we just have different ways of going about it. Everyone’s version of fitting and orderly is different. An African charismatic church would say they are doing things in an intelligible and orderly way. A Western Presbyterian church strictly following a lectionary might say they’re doing things in an orderly way.

Presbyterians, as I understand have a rich heritage of “fitting and orderly” to the point that they’ve become the butt-end of a lot of jokes.

A church that is filled-with the Holy Spirit is a church that desires to follow and to have the same attitude of Jesus.

What we see in the Scriptures is that tongues build up the church when

What does this look like?

Christian satire site The Babylon Bee posted a great article a few years ago. Let’s just throw the headline on the screen:

“Motion Activated Lights Turn Off During Presbyterian Worship Service”.

“I checked my church bulletin, but having the lights go out wasn’t in the detailed program of planned events for the morning,”

According to witnesses, the reverend simply continued preaching in the dark. When his hour-long sermon was over, the church remained still for the closing hymns and offertory, with the lights finally coming back when they were dismissed and began to stand up to walk out of the building.

There are practical tensions that we need to wrestle with that help us answer the question of intelligibility.

here are some practical tensions that we need to wrestle with that help us answer the question of intelligibility.

Every church has some practical tensions that we need to wrestle with that help us answer the question of intelligibility and building up the church. It helps us discern whether we are swinging too far one way or the other. I think when we address these tension, all of a sudden the issues of tongues and prophecy and building up the church through our gifts comes into light in a significant way. There were a ton that I wanted to go through, but time simply didn’t allow, so I chose three: The tension of head vs heart, planned vs spontaneous, and historical vs relevant. All of these tensions play into the building up of our church and intelligibility.

Is it possible that while Paul was correcting the issue of over-use of tongues, some churches have over-corrected Paul’s correction?

You don’t have to answer that

One quick note: When I refer to “the church” here, I am referring to the big C church - If I’m being critical about something, it is being directed at the broader church - which might mean it applies to Kortright. I have fallen in love with this community, so my heart is to build up - but I also have fresh eyes on some things maybe our community has become unaware of.

Intelligibility at Kortright looks like wrestling with the tension between:

We may not be able to fully answer that this morning, but there are some practical tensions that we need to wrestle with that help us answer the question of intelligibility.

Intelligibility at Kortright looks like wrestling with the tension between:

Head // Heart

Our intellect is given to us by God. Paul is a great example of this. Read through the book of Romans and that was like his personal act of worship to God. So well written, and the DEPTH is unparalleled. We bring our MINDS into our worship gatherings. We’re never called to check our brains at the door.

And yet our heart and our emotions are also given to us by God. King David worshipped with all his might before the Lord. David and other Psalmists cry out to God in lament and also with joy. God isn’t scared of emotion. God intricately wired our bodies this way.

Engaging both our head and heart involves even our physicality. When Paul speaks about worshiping with his heart and mind, he want his worship to be intelligible to those watching. How is something intelligible? With our words, but also with our actions.

My former colleague had a saying - He’d preach against something he called “face of thunder”, which is basically someone who stands in church with their arms crossed looking unimpressed, rather than holding a posture of openness to the Spirit at work.

To reference Paul, how can someone say “AMEN” when your entire demeanour suggests that NOTHING is going on? Maybe God is even melting that person’s heart and there’s renewal stirring up in them. What if we actually got to see that on their face? What if you stepping out of your comfort zone and expressing yourself in worship would actually raise the faith of the people around you? What if you took personal responsibility for your facial expressions and your demeanour, because when we gather together, we don’t know who might be looking at us and thinking, “God doesn’t seem to be among these people” or “God is really among you!”

What is more attractive to an outsider - a new attender or a non-believer? To come into a room of semi-grumpy looking people - zero passion, blank expressions - or to come into a room where people actually seem excited - Their hearts engaged, their MINDS engaged - because every week we get to gather and we get to celebrate our risen saviour. And so we greet with excitement, we sing with excitement even if we don’t know the words, we listen to our sermons with excitement - because Jesus sent his Spirit to be with us and that is incredible..

I think you know what MY answer to that question is.

By the way please don’t take my words as sweeping admonitions of Kortright, I’m speaking about what is common to any church I’ve ever attended…except maybe Catch the Fire.

Head and heart.

Both matter. Both are modelled for us in Scripture. Are you devaluing one over the other?

Prostration and Reverence // Celebration and Boldness

Reverence and prostration before God - This is when we get to reflect inwardly on our prayer

Vertical Worship // Horizontal Worship

The Scriptures encourage us to sing and speak praises directly to God. But the Scriptures also encourage us to be “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs...” ()

Planned // Spontaneous

God works in our planning. God is a meticulous planner - He thoughtfully planned out the entire existence of the universe and included YOU in His plans.

Having a planned schedule in our church gathering helps us to be prayerfully considered, thoughtful, consistent, and thematic.

Having a sense of where we need to go allows

But it also runs the risk of becoming stale, predictable, and for some, maybe even boring

God works in our planning. God also works in the moment too. We see this throughout the book of Acts.

The Holy Spirit is notorious for ruining our man-made plans. This cultivates an utter dependence on God’s Spirit. It makes us adaptable to when something unexpected happens.

But it also runs the risk of being thoughtless and meandering.

Spontaneity can also be challenging in a larger group setting like this one - Like I said earlier, the church in Corinth was likely a network of house churches and their gatherings would have looked very different from ours. Some of the gifts Paul is talking about here make more sense in a smaller, more intimate gathering.

Planned and spontaneous.

Both matter. Both are modelled for us in Scripture. Are you devaluing one over the other?

Historically Rooted // Culturally Relevant

This one is going to be a touchy one for some of us because it is going to brush up against some “sacred cows” for both sides.

The Western church has a long and rich history of liturgy, tradition, and hymns that we love. The church is also ever evolving and reacting to culture and redeeming culture and engaging culture.

Just as one way of thinking on this, I want to read two different lines from two different songs we sang this morning.

“Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be Let that goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee”

As a guy who grew up at a church that did not do hymns until probably the last 15 years or so, I didn’t exactly have a strong grasp on hymns. I love them and treasure them now, and I have a deep love for them. But if you grew up with them and prefer them to modern music you may take for granted that we are growing into an increasingly post-Christian world that hears a verse like that and has ZERO understanding of what a fetter is. When I was a youth pastor I took our kids to a worship event and this song was sung and they all leaned to me and asked me what a FETTER was. I had to Google it because I had NO idea. In case you still don’t know - a fetter is like a chain - shackles. The more you know.

Corporate // Individual

Now contrast that with another song we sang:

reah

“Holy Spirit, You are welcome here Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for To be overcome by Your presence, Lord”

This might be, for another group of you, equally foreign as “fetters” were to me. What does it mean for the Holy Spirit to “flood” a place and “fill the atmosphere”?

This speaks to a younger generation’s yearning for something experiential. It speaks to a believer’s desire to have an encounter with the LIVING God. This is good, and noble, and right.

It runs the same risk as singing about fetters. It’s possible that different groups of you would call either lyric inaccessible for unbelievers or new believers - It’s possible that people from other generations could call the other song “unintelligible”.

This is a tension that we have to grapple with without being judgmental and dismissive.

So what’s the solution?

According to our passage, it’s that we need an interpreter - someone to explain what is happening . Someone to bring to life a confusing line in a song, someone to explain why we sing, why we pray, why we do announcements, why we read Scripture.

When we explain WHY it bridges the gap for ALL people in the room - it puts us ALL on the same level since the ground is level at the foot of the Cross. It helps us all be built up when we can all understand.

I think one of the things I am aiming to do is bridge the gap between our generations better.

Young people or young at heart - do not value your preferences over those who have come before you. This goes deeper than simply respecting our elders. It is about honouring the spiritual legacy of a faithful generation.

To those that are later on in years - do not value your preferences over the generations that will come after you. They are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today, and if we do not engage the next generation at their level, we will continue to see churches declining and closing. I don’t have some sort of way of fact-checking this, but my sense is that demanding our preferences holds more responsibility for churches declining than secularism.

What might we need to do for the sake of cross-generational intelligibility in worship and building up the church??

The answer is the same answer to when I ask my daughter what she learned about in Sunday school - the answer is always Jesus. We are to carry the same attitude as Jesus on this - did Jesus demand his preference?

A church that is filled-with the Holy Spirit is a church that desires to follow and to have the same attitude of Jesus.

Philippians 2:1–8 NIV

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Imitating Christ’s Humility

Philippians 2:18 ESV

Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

NOTES FROM COMMENTARY:

Benefits of Prophecy:

Upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation

oikodome can mean both the building of an edifice and the metaphorical building as a process.

All of us - We are stonemasons building a temple together - are we building the Sistine Chapel or are we building a house of cards that will blow over at the slightest breeze?

On intelligibility:

Paul uses the image of a harp, flute, and bugle that isn’t playing any distinct notes - how then will we know what they are playing?

Similarly, are we speaking an intelligible language?

This isn’t just about tongues. Paul assumes inquirers or outsiders will be present in our gathering. And if that’s you this morning, I want to especially welcome you.

Paul wants us to have equal zeal for the building of the church.

Paul is in essence saying, “You’re not giving these poor people a chance to say amen. When you speak in tongues (with no interpreter) they have no idea what is being said and thus cannot participate”. (Kenneth Bailey)

“…edification in the church utterly depends utterly on intelligibility, understanding, and coherence.” - D.A. Carson

On Tongues:

Wherever you may sit on the question of tongues, this much is clear:

-The gift clearly does more good than harm in terms of a personal prayer and worship language.

-If interpreted, tongues can be used for the upbuilding of the church.

-Whether heavenly tongues (glossolalia) or an unlearned language (xenoglossia), the application is about intelligibility

“…edification in the church utterly depends utterly on intelligibility, understanding, and coherence.” - D.A. Carson

Let us

The New International Version Chapter 2

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

As we consider the works of Jesus on the cross - Jesus laid aside his preferences and his superiority - Jesus humbled himself — He gave of himself - he poured his LIFE out for the building up of his church.

And the question for us to prayerfully consider - are we willing to do the same?

Order and Chaos

Intro