This passage has some interesting and troubling things to say. Having grown up Lutheran (not charismatic Lutheran), I didn’t have much exposure to speaking in tongues. There is a lot of emphasis here on that, and I think that is helpful for the whole church. The gift of tongues is a precious gift, but not all have it, and when we hear such a beautiful, unknown language being spoken, it is impossible to be strengthened when you don’t have an understanding. For the person speaking, there is a true manifestation of the spirit, for it is the spirit within us speaking, so the benefit is limited to the speaker.
Even to this day, I have only been to a couple worship services where the spirit was speaking through others and manifesting itself in many different ways. Those are powerful moments for all believers to watch the Spirit come alive in ways we are not accustomed to allowing it. It can even be frightening to those who have not seen such things happen!
So, Paul is trying to set some boundaries here, it would seem, to benefit the whole church on a continuing basis. Having order to worship is helpful for those leading for those in the pew. Having an expectation of what is coming can be reassuring and comforting.
What did you think about the part about women being silent in worship? I thought that was an abrupt segue from talking about the order of worship and to be careful about speaking in tongues. Where did that come from? Thanks to my curiousity, I checked with one of David’s commentaries, and there is speculation that Paul didn’t actually write those verses, that they were inserted sometime later. It would seem that it contradicts what Paul had said before, and historically there were plenty of women in pastoral roles and leadership within the early church (Phoebe, Prisca, Junia, etc). Instead of forbidding women to pray or prophesy in church, it may be more of don’t let them speak (gossip, whisper, disrupt) or even ask questions, which would also distract.
God’s word speaks to us differently. What were your thoughts? I’d love you to leave a comment below? Conversations about this passage, or any of the posts would be great fun!
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father I thank you for another beautiful day and an opportunity to live in your world. Help me to live a life of worship, beyond Sunday mornings. You are worthy of our praise and I love to sing your praises. Lift me up today and shine through me as I encounter others. Shine down your healing power on those walking with affliction today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
How we handle our spiritual gifts is very important. Paul cautions us here to be careful in how, when and where we use our gifts. He places a lot of emphasis on the gift of prophecy being a very helpful gift, and those who can speak in tongues must watch that they don’t exclusively talk in the Spirit lest those around them that cannot speak or cannot understand are left out. It is not God’s intention that we set ourselves apart because of our gifts. To the contrary, we are to use our gifts to glorify him and help each other.
We’re here! The “love” chapter. I bet you can’t even count the number of times you’ve heard this, whether it be at a wedding or elsewhere. Maybe you even had it read at your own wedding (if you’re married). There are some really beautiful passages in this chapter.
I have always liked how this passage describes the body of Christ. What do you picture when you hear reference to “the body of Christ”? Even more exciting, we are part of that body! This is a great carryover from our reading yesterday on spiritual gifts in that our “part” of the body is dependent on our gifting.
This is only one of several places where spiritual gifts are discussed. As Paul tells us, a spiritual gift is from God given to us to help others. We don’t all get the same gifts, God gives us the gift (or gifts) he wants for us. Paul needed to corral in the Corinthians because they were misusing their gifts with showy displays of spirituality. They were disrupting worship gatherings by drawing attention to themselves. Paul has to be careful in his cautioning so as to not dispute the authenticity of their experience. It was also important for them to remember who initiated the gift giving, it was God and not themselves.
