14:27,28
Earlier Paul has said that speaking in tongues in a public meeting, without interpretation, was something of a waste of time. There are two key points here. One is that at most two or three were to speak in tongues, and then one at a time. The other is that there had to be an interpreter. In the absence of an interpreter anyone speaking in tongues should do so quietly, to themselves and to God, not to the whole congregation. On this latter point, charismatic churches seem to ignore this point. There are one or two implications of Paul’s teaching here. Sometimes people refer to tongues as “ecstatic speech”. It is clear from what Paul says that the tongue speaker is in control of himself. It is a gift we can choose if and when to use. We are in control. A second implication is that there can be people who know how to interpret tongues, it is not something that suddenly comes upon someone.
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