“But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
~ 1 Corinthians 14:40
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know what it means to speak in tongues? To speak in tongues is to speak a language that only God can understand. Do you know what it means to prophesy? To prophesy is to foretell what is going to take place before it takes place. Would you like to speak in tongues? Would you like to prophesy? As a regional trade center, Corinth had become a quite large, multi-cultural city. Guys and gals from different nationalities lived in and visited Corinth. Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth probably came from different ethnic and cultural people groups that led them to very probably have different core beliefs and ethical standards. Some Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth thought that it was expected of them that they speak in tongues. Some Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth thought that it was expected of them that they prophesy. In the first letter that he sent to the Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth, Paul told the Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth to not speak in tongues if there was no guy or gal present who could translate what was being spoken. In the first letter that he sent to the Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth, Paul also told the Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth that if they were not edifying and encouraging the entire Corinth Christ-follower community of guys and gals that they were not to prophesy. Paul was emphatic in 1 Corinthians 14 when he told the Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth that speaking in tongues and prophesying should only be done with guys and gals who also spoke in tongues and prophesied.
In the first of at least two letters that Paul sent to the Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth, Paul expressed a serious concern about the Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth who were causing angst when they spoke in tongues and/or prophesied in the presence of the Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in Corinth who were not into speaking in tongues and/or prophesying. Paul in verse 40 summarizes his personal thoughts regarding speaking in tongues and prophesying by telling the Christ-follow guys and gals who lived in Corinth “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” Speaking in tongues is not fitting when there is no guy or gal around who can interpret what the guy or gal is saying as he or she speaks in a tongue. Prophesying is not an orderly thing to do when there is no guy or gal around who can reveal or confirm what the guy or gal who is prophesying is saying. Your grandpaa believes that when Christ-follower guys, gals and kids get together that it should be a time when each Christ-follower guy, gal and kid edifies every other Christ-follower guy, gal or kid as he or she proactively invests in his or her Christ-follower fellowship versus making it a time of confusion. When your grandpaa interacts with guys who are studying in a Bible education program that your grandmaa and grandpaa are instrumental in implementing, your grandpaa tells the guys that when they are preaching or teaching that they should just preach or teach what the Bible says. Your grandpaa believes that if a guy is just preaching and teaching what the Bible says instead of trying to fix interpersonal problems and/or differences that invariably are in a Christ-follower fellowship of guys and gals that the interpersonal problems and/or differences will fade away.
Why do you think that guys and gals want to form Christ-follower fellowships? Do you think that guys and gals join Christ-follower fellowships because they like to sing or pray or listen to the Bible being preached and/or taught with other Christ-follower guys and gals or do you think that guys and gals join Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals because they like to speak in tongues and/or prophesy with other Christ-follower guys and gals who do? There are today on planet Earth a lot of fellowships of Christ-follower guys and gals where speaking in tongues and/or prophesying is very important to the guys and gals who are fellowshipping together in these Christ-follower communities. Your grandpaa one day scheduled a visit with the President of a large denomination in Guatemala that has at least 2000 fellowships of Christ-follower guys and gals. The leadership of this large denomination had made a list of goals to reach by the end of 1999 for each one of their fellowships of Christ-follower guys and gals. The very top goal on the list of goals that your grandpaa saw – which were listed on a large piece of cantilena and tacked to the wall behind the denomination’s President’s desk, was to have every guy and gal in every single Christ-follower fellowship speaking in tongues by the end of 1999. For some denominations of Christ-follower guys and gals, to speak in tongues is proof that a guy or gal has made a true life changing decision of faith to believe in Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. Your grandpaa does believe that speaking in tongues 2000 years ago was a sign to the early followers of Jesus Christ of God’s supernatural power. Your grandpaa believes that speaking in tongues today is still a sign of God’s supernatural power working through a guy or gal who He specially elected for Himself before He created planet Earth. Your grandpaa believes that nothing should ever take place between guys and gals in a Christ-follower fellowship that does not edify or encourage every other guy or gal in the fellowship. During a presentation one day of the Bible education program concepts to a fellowship of Christ-follower guys and gals who believe that it is very important to speak in tongues, a young gal said that she does not need to formally study the Bible as all that she has to do is to open up her Bible and the Holy Spirit will teach her what she needs to know. Your grandpaa believes that God in continually using other Christ-follower guys and gals to teach him how to edify.
1 Corinthians 14 (294)