1 Corinthians 14:6-12 - A clear call

14:6-8

Paul now expands upon the point he has just made. If Paul came to the church and all he did was speak in tongues, what would the point of that be? No one would understand what he was saying, and so no one would benefit. For something to be understood or intelligible in some way, there needs to be a clear distinction in what is said. Note the practicality of Paul’s approach to things, and that this practicality is linked with using spiritual gifts. We have a habit of either thinking being practical means the supernatural goes out of the window, or “let’s be supernatural or spiritual, so anything goes”. Verse 8 brings in a note of urgency. We are not playing games, but fighting a battle, so we need clear instructions and teaching.

14:9-12

So when speaking to the church one should speak in English (or whatever the local language is). There is no point whatsoever in speaking in another language, not even in tongues. Someone might say, well it is a spiritual language so it is bound to be useful. That is just super-spiritual nonsense. This is an area where charismatic churches today sometimes fall down (though probably less so than used to be the case), encouraging people to speak in tongues in the middle of a service. What is the point? And this is what the Holy Spirit says, for it is here in the Bible. We should seek to excel in gifts that build up the church.