from my inbox: tongues, or prophecy?

which should i prefer—in public worship/service, that is?

 

(hmm…yeah, a rather common source of befuddlement for those of us in Christian churches, especially with the proliferation of public displays of “Spirit speaking.”  now certainly there are many other questions to be answered, i only seek to deal with the aforementioned phenomena in public worship, as i gather that Paul does in the text.  for in private, many of my Pentecostal friends have described the great utility of their “prayer language” for personal empowerment and solace.  so…)

 

  

the text (new century version): 

 

 22 so the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages is a sign for those who do not believe, not for those who do believe.  and prophecy is for people who believe, not for those who do not believe.  23 suppose the whole church meets together and everyone speaks in different languages.  if some people come in who do not understand or do not believe, they will say you are crazy.  24 but suppose everyone is prophesying and some people come in who do not believe or do not understand.  if everyone is prophesying, their sin will be shown to them, and they will be judged by all that they hear.  25 the secret things in their hearts will be made known.  so they will bow down and worship god saying, “truly, god is with you.”  (1 corinthians 14:22-25)

 

 the question:

 

so, i am reading 1 cor. 14:22-25 and i am thoroughly confused.  it says speaking in tongues is meant for the unbeliever and not for the believer.  i got that part.  then it said that prophecy is not for the unbeliever but for the believer.  i got that part too.  but then it says if an unbeliever walks in while you are speaking in tongues he will think you are crazy.  but if you prophesy he will come to confess his sins.  which unless i am reading it wrong goes against what was stated in the first part of the scripture.  so i am confused.  which is supposed to benefit the unbeliever and which is supposed to benefit the believer?  i copied the scripture below for easier access.  thanks for the help!

 

 my response:

 

well, two things: first, yeah, Paul does seem to contradict himself here and does make the text in question rather complex without scrupulous attention to what one can discern to be his aim….

 

second, though, and most importantly, understanding the issue he seeks to address in the chapter helps in interpreting the passage in question…

 

reading the chapter in its entirety, one sees that Paul is esteeming prophecy over tongues (in public worship settings, that is) because of its transformative abilities.  in other words, the crux of the argumentation says that tongues would just be like a sign for the unbeliever in these contexts (really, he’s referring to the fulfillment of prophetic literature which evinces how god confounds the understanding of the stubborn [v.21])…

 

prophesy though is for reproof, edification and “turning,” so to speak…thus, it’s much better for the unbeliever to hear prophecy instead…otherwise there is no repentance only further ostracizing by their knowledge of “never hearing” (again refer to verse 21)…

 

so when Paul says that prophecy is for believers, he’s saying then that the hearing of prophecy enables these to believe, hence salvation (an ongoing work, in my view) is possible…

 

but if they (unbelievers) only hear tongues they are forever condemned as “not listening to me [god]” (again, c.f. v.21)

 

in short, Paul often uses these dualities (believers, unbelievers — tongues, prophecy) to press his point, permitting me to paraphrase in my vernacular here: 

 

“come on people, i know u got gifts—good…spk in ur tongues if u wish…but true edification comes through prophesy (mostly forthtelling in modern times).  So prophecy is what’s best, esteem her…”

 

and maybe he’s saying: “and stop bragging and thinkin u da stuff cause u spk in a tongue…more, don’t let others make u feel less spiritual if u can’t…”

 

“the way is Love, but prophecy is better than the tongue, if u wanna compare gifts (or the execution of them in service to others (god)…”

 

“cause tongues ain’t never turn nobody around…only pushed people who ain’t been raised in the church away…cause they say, “what the ….?”

 

so again (so i’m somewhat clear here):  tongues are a sign for unbelievers, yes – in that it is a “sign” that unbelievers stand condemned, according to the Hebrew Scriptures (v. 21)….  prophecy is for believers, yes—meaning that  even if the unbeliever hears prophecy, then maybe, inferring from Paul’s argument, the unbeliever is to become a believer in our god…

 

hope this helps some…if not i’ll clarify more if needed…

 

best,

me