Tag: tongues

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James Devotionals

A perfect man

For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. (James 3:2, ESV)

The above words really struck me this morning, because while the word above translated “man” can refer to both men and women (and in this context probably does), it most often refers specifically to men.

And being a man, it particularly struck home with me. I don’t think many men think of their tongues as the thing keeping them from being “perfect.”

I certainly don’t.

But James says here that it is the one thing that often prevents us from being the men we ought to be.

It certainly prevents us from the husbands we ought to be. It prevents us from being the fathers we ought to be. For those who are single, it prevents us from being the boyfriend we ought to be.

How much damage do we do to our wives, our sons and daughters, and to our girlfriends by the things that come out of our mouths?

Men, I don’t know about you, but I want to be like my Lord. I want my words to heal, not burn. I want my words to be marked by the gentleness that comes from wisdom.

Lord Jesus, let me be the perfect man, controlling my tongue. Lord Jesus, let me be like you.

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1 Corinthians

Understanding our gifts

1 Corinthians

This is one of the harder passages to interpret. I’ve heard several interpretations on it.

I’m not sure that the one I have is the correct one and it may change in the future, but for what it’s worth, here it is.

Again, Paul is talking about the contrast between tongues and prophecy and why he prefers to see prophecy in the church rather than tongues. He first says,

Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. (1 Corinthians 14:20)

In what way were the Corinthians like children?

They were acting like children in that spiritual gifts, particularly the gift of tongues, was like a new toy to them.

They played with it, without really thinking about what it was for or what effects it might have on others.

All they knew was that they enjoyed “playing” with it, perhaps for the spiritual benefit it gave them in their souls (verse 4), and perhaps for the fleshly benefit of showing off what they could do to unbelievers.

And Paul says, “Hey. With regard to evil, be as innocent as infants. But in the way you think about spiritual gifts and other matters, grow up. Don’t just consider yourself. Consider the unbelievers among you and how your actions affect them.”

How were the Corinthians thinking?

This is a guess, but it seems that they thought it actually had a positive effect on unbelievers, possibly because of what happened on Pentecost.

But they failed to take into account something very important. There were actually foreigners visiting on Pentecost who could understand what was being said.

In their church services, however, there were unbelievers who had no idea what was being said when the Corinthians spoke in tongues.

Because of this, they were not impressed by the Corinthians speaking in tongues; rather, they were turned off.

So Paul is saying, “You guys are all speaking in tongues during your services, and you seem to think that unbelievers will be impressed by this gift that you have and come to Christ. But think about what the scripture says.”

Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me. (1 Corinthians 14:21, quoting Isaiah 28:11-12)

The context is that the people of Israel were considering the words of God as babble.

And so God was saying, “Fine, you consider my words babble. I will show you what babble is. You will find yourselves exiled in a land of people whose words to you will truly be babble. And even then you won’t repent.”

Paul then applies this passage in reference to tongues and says, “Don’t you see? Tongues uninterpreted and used in front of unbelievers is indeed meant as a sign for them. (1 Corinthians 14:22)

But it’s not a sign meant to convert them, but to express judgment on them. They rejected words that they could understand, and so God makes all his words babble to them.

The result of this is not that they repent, but that they become even more hardened.”

And so Paul says,

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? (1 Corinthians 14:23)

Even on Pentecost, you see the unbelieving Jews saying this (Acts 2:13).

Prophecy, on the other hand is a sign for those who believe. (1 Corinthians 14:22)

But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare.

So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25)

Now, full disclosure here: there is no word “would” before “believe” in verse 22. But it does seem to me that it best explains Paul’s meaning here in context.

So what do we take from this?

The Corinthians didn’t rightly understand their gifts and what they were for. As a result, Paul warned that their gifts could have the opposite effect of what they were expecting.

How about you? Do you rightly understand and use your gifts, remembering who and what they are for?

If you use them wrongly, whether it be with wrong motivations or in wrong situations, you may be shocked by the results you reap.

The most important thing, though, is to remember that our gifts are not primarily for our benefit or blessing, but to accomplish God’s purposes and to glorify him.

How are you using your gifts?

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1 Corinthians

Speaking for the strengthening, encouragement, comfort, and instruction of others

1 Corinthians

We’re in territory that I must admit I have little confidence to speak upon.

I suppose I’m in kind of a weird position. I’m not one of those that believe that certain gifts such as tongues have disappeared.

I have, for example, known a Japanese home church in which someone spoke in tongues, and they happened to be speaking Chinese which that person had never studied.

But at that church, there was someone actually there who did speak Chinese who interpreted. And they said it was words that were glorifying God. I’ve heard other similar stories as well.

That said, I don’t speak in tongues myself.

As for prophecy, I don’t believe as some do that it is merely “expository preaching.” When I look at prophecy, it seems to be much more than that.

It was used as Paul describes in verses 3 and 31, for strengthening, encouragement, comfort, and instruction.

Now this may sound like expository preaching because good preaching will do that. But I think the one main difference here is that good expository preaching comes from a careful study of the scripture.

Prophecy, according to Peter, doesn’t seem to be that way. Rather, Peter wrote,

Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)

And looking at this whole passage in 1 Corinthians 14, I think prophecy is dealt with in that sense of being carried along by the Spirit as they speak, rather than speaking from self-study.

Anyway, this whole passage is talking about the difference between tongues and prophecy.

And Paul says here that the main difference is that when you pray in tongues, it really does no good to anyone except the person who is praying. (It edifies them somehow in the spirit).

The exception to this is if what they are saying is interpreted.

Prophecy, on the other hand, is more useful in itself because it is spoken in the language that everyone knows.

And so while Paul encourages the Corinthians to speak in tongues, he encourages them to be eager for the gift of prophecy even more.

Paul says,

He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified. (1 Corinthians 14:5)

And again,

Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:12)

I could say much more on this topic, and probably will in the next few blogs, but here’s the thing that strikes me the most of all that Paul says.

The words we speak in the church are to be finely tuned instruments. And through those words, we should be strengthening, encouraging, comforting, and instructing others.

Those are the main functions of prophecy. But that should be the goal of all who are Christians.

The gift of prophecy, I believe, augments the ability to do this by attaching special supernatural power to it.

But whether we have the gift or not, those are the kinds of words that should be coming out of our mouths as we talk to the people around us.

How about you? Are your words doing these things? Do your words build up the people around you?