1 Corinthians 14

1 Corinthians 14 is a difficult chapter from Paul.  It falls on the heels of the love chapter and he reminds us of that as he begins with “pursue love”.  That is the excellent way as he described it.  He once again goes back to talking about spiritual gifts and says “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts”.  You will recall that in chapter 12, Paul lists out the gifts and gives us some guidance around them.  Gifts are given to us as Christ Followers by God through His Spirit and are given for one major reason – to build up the body of Christ.  Paul reinforces that when he teaches “strive to excel in building up the church”.  And later he says “let all things be done for building up”.  Gifts should never divide or tear down – if so they are not from God.  We have to keep them in balance with His framework for the church.

Paul focuses on two of the gifts primarily in this chapter – the gifts of prophecy and tongues.  I don’t think they are called out as being the only ones that matter but rather as examples of how they can take us off God’s track into the weeds.  Both are gifts from God with a very specific purpose.  Prophecy is described as a gift for unbelievers that they may be drawn to the truth while tongues is a gift given for the believers.  Both have very specific guidelines for appropriateness and use and must be kept in the framework of building up the body, not just personal use.

Paul does give us a very clear roadmap on the power of prophecy done well.  He gives us the steps that occur when a non-believer hears this gift in action:

–       “Convicted

–       Called to account

–       Secrets of the heart are disclosed

–       Falling on his face

–       He will worship God

–       Declare that God is really among you”

When God’s gifts are used God’s way – powerful results occur.  When they are used incorrectly – division can happen.  We have to be careful to follow His direction and make sure they are used to build up the body of Christ.  “God is not a God of confusion but peace”.  His gifts will never cause disruption in the ministry but will guide it toward His glory!

There is one other difficult section in this chapter regarding women.  Check out what Paul writes: “women should keep silent in the churches….they are not permitted to speak…..but should be in submission…..If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home”.  At first glance this really is troubling for many.  But I think the lesson her is not focusing on the literal translation that women need to keep quiet but rather than the reality that men need to step up.  Most churches would have to close their doors if women kept silent and did not serve.  Why?  Not because men shouldn’t or can’t lead and do the work of the church – but because men don’t. 

This does reinforce the reality that God has a very specific design for the home.  Men are given the task of leading.  But our world is very different than Paul’s world 2000 years ago.  I don’t claim to understand exactly how these verses should be applied for women – but I am absolutely confident how they should be applied to men.  Men need to step up and lead.  They need to quit passing the buck and pushing their responsibility to know God’s truth and teach it to their families onto their wives.  The problem is not with the women – it is men who fail to do what God has instructed and designed.  I’ll let someone much smarter interpret the first part.  I only know that before we can worry about that – men have to get their act together!