All Gifts Of The Spirit Should Be Useful To All That Hear It.

1 Corinthians 14:26 - Well, my brothers, let’s add up what I am saying. When you meet together some will sing, another will teach, or tell some special information God has given him, or speak in an unknown language, or tell what someone else is saying who is speaking in the unknown language, but everything that is done must be useful to all, and build them up in the Lord.

 

Paul spends a great amount of time addressing the gift of tongues. Many Christians had been filled with the ability to speak in an unknown language…but the gift had been overused and become a problem for the Corinthian church.  They had let it become a sign of spiritual power…and pride was taking over when and why it was used.

 

Paul is clear that using the gift of tongues should have purpose for all that heard it… it should be interpreted and used to enhance the whole church. It should never be used alone…but as a part of the full worship service. It was always better to choose the language that people spoke where you were preaching…so full understanding could be made by all. The final goal of all worship practices being to save the lost.

 

I struggle to fully explain my personal views on this gift…God has never seen a need for me to possess it…even though I have asked for it. I have heard tongues that deeply disturbed my spirit…feeling that it was faked…orchestrated for emotions to run as high as possible.  I have also heard the softest prayers lifted in a sweet tongue that blessed me just from the intenseness of its offering….hanging onto every soft syllable and hoping it would never end. I have heard stories where missionaries never trained in the language where God sent them are given the gift of speaking exactly the foreign words they need to share the gospel in an unknown tongue. It seems that the last two scenarios are the only ones that follow Paul’s directions here.

 

I will take Paul’s words here as reminder to make sure that all my worship time is spent glorifying God…preparing my heart to hear God’s words with music….learning new wisdom from his Bible through preaching… reflecting on the sins I have yet to purge from my heart so that God can draw me closer to him each day that he allows me life. It’s okay for tongues to be a part of that…only if they enhance that full experience of worship and lead others to God in salvation.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you have given us supernatural gifts of the spirit that can help us to spread your gospel. Forgive me for the times that I have failed to grasp the full use of this power in others…and judged too harshly whether it was needed or not. Help me to open up my heart to all the supernatural powers that you can embed in me to do your work…so that if you ever see a need for me to use an unknown tongue…I will accept and know its power in that moment. Amen.