We are beginning a chapter this morning that requires some clarification to be made right off the bat. This chapter deals with the subject of speaking in tongues and with the interpretation of tongues. First we are going to need to stop and consider what "speaking in tongues" actually means.
On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 we found the believers gathered together, praying and waiting to be baptized with the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised them. Jesus told them to remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit was given to indwell them. At Pentecost, when converts to Judaism from various nations were pouring into Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit was poured onto the believers, and the visitors heard the believers speaking the gospel and praising the Lord in their own tongues. Unfortunately, some versions of the Bible translated Acts 2 into English by using the term "unknown tongues", leading many people over the centuries to believe that Luke was telling us that the believers spoke in tongues no person of their times had ever heard. This is simply not true. The believers were speaking in tongues they had not been taught. The believers who had grown up speaking and understanding nothing but Aramaic were proclaiming the gospel in the languages of the nations around them. A list of these nations is provided by Luke in Acts 2:9-11. If the believers had been speaking in ancient languages that no longer existed, how did the visitors to Jerusalem proclaim that they heard the Galileans speaking in their own tongues?
I personally have doubts that the gift of tongues still exists in our day, but I will not be dogmatic about that. I know not everyone agrees with me and I'm not going to be offended by anyone who disagrees. I hope no one who disagrees is offended with me either. I am open to the idea that the Lord may still use this method at times. But if He does, those who are speaking in tongues will be speaking genuine languages just as those at Pentecost spoke in genuine languages. I once heard someone lapse into tongues during a sermon. It did not have any of the characteristics of a genuine language (it sounded like he was saying "lalalalalala" over and over) and I did not feel, in my spirit, that he was exhibiting a true gift. Did he think he was speaking in the Spirit? Possibly so. Or possibly, because his followers hold anyone who can speak in tongues in very high esteem, he felt pressured to pretend to possess such a gift. Another big problem became evident immediately following his display: there was no one to interpret what he said. As we will learn as we go through Chapter 14, no one is to speak in another language unless someone is present who can interpret it. Those who spoke in other languages on Pentecost had interpreters available (the visitors to Jerusalem who overheard them), and we are to follow this same rule in our own times.
It is going to take us several days to go through Chapter 14, but Paul begins by saying, "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy." (1 Corinthians 14:1) I think the believers at Corinth had come to value the gift of tongues above the gift of prophecy, but Paul is going to point out that prophecy is more beneficial to the church than tongues. We have already seen that all gifts of the Spirit are valuable, but they are used for different purposes. Being made able by the Spirit to speak in tongues one has not been taught is primarily for the benefit of the speaker and for the benefit of unbelievers, as Paul will say later in Chapter 14.
"For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 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." (1 Corinthians 14:2-5) There were genuine gifts of tongues at Corinth, and I think because it was more dramatic to have someone stand up and speak in a tongue than to have someone stand up and give a word of prophecy, the church was granting far more esteem to those who spoke in tongues. But this no doubt caused a problem to arise: the problem of fakes. Some who did not possess the gift of tongues were probably pretending to have it so they could be admired by the church. This is why Paul cautions them that there must be someone present to interpret.
If someone who has never been taught Spanish stood up in my church and began talking to the Lord in Spanish, I would not be able to understand them because I can only speak English. But if there is someone else sitting in the congregation who speaks Spanish, he or she can interpret what was said. This is why Paul says that anyone who stands up in the Corinthian church, and speaks in a language the Corinthians can't understand (Aramaic for example), isn't going to impart any worthwhile knowledge to the congregation. That person may indeed be sincerely speaking to the Lord, but no one in the congregation will be able to tell for certain. But if there is a person present who speaks Aramaic, he or she can stand up and tell the congregation what was said. So Paul says that displaying the gift of prophecy in the church is better than displaying the gift of tongues, unless someone interprets. (verse 5) He's not saying that the gift of tongues isn't important, but that unless an interpreter is present, or unless the speaker himself understands what he has said, he should remain silent and speak in his heart to the Lord.
There could very well be genuine instances of speaking in tongues today. Just because I've never personally witnessed it doesn't mean it isn't happening. By by and large it is probably one of the gifts of the early church that we don't often see in modern times. The signs of the apostles and the gifts of the early church also included things like being able to raise the dead (as Paul did in Acts 20) and the performance of astonishing signs and wonders and the ability to perform healing miracles similar to those Jesus performed. I have never seen anyone raise the dead. I have never seen anyone lay hands on a person and lift them up healed from a bed of sickness. I've never seen anyone touch the eyes of the blind and make them see. I've never seen anyone command a crippled person to rise up and walk. These signs were given to the early church in order to convert unbelievers, so if any of the gifts of the early church still exist (tongues, miracles, etc.) they are for the purpose of converting unbelievers. This is why Paul tells us that prophecy is more valuable in the church than the display of signs and wonders, because prophecy helps the church (not unbelievers) and signs and wonders help unbelievers more than they help the church.
We will be taking an in-depth look at the subject of tongues and interpretation for the next several days as we continue on with Chapter 14.
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