Read the Word:
1 Corinthians 14:1-12
Meditate on the Word:
When the Holy Spirit caused the disciples to speak in tongues on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), that ability served a purpose. There were those hearing who heard the wonderful works of God in their own language from people who never would have known how to speak that language. It was an undeniable miracle. By the time Paul was writing to the recently established church at Corinth a couple of decades later, this did not seem to be the case. It seems that people were just making noises to be heard; they thought that having this gift was a sign of superior spirituality. Pride got in the way. Paul encouraged people to use their gifts to build up the church, not to cause chaos in it.
Paul states that he would rather have people prophesy than to speak in tongues, because prophecy builds up the church. To be clear, when one prophesies, he/she is merely sharing the message that God has given them by divine inspiration. While prophecy can involve the prediction of future events, this is usually not the case. The most usual prophesying is when the preacher stands up and delivers the message from God to the congregation, or when the Bible teacher teaches what God has revealed to them through their study of the scriptures. This is not something to be taken lightly; it is important.
There are many who do not exercise their gift of teaching, and many who do not exercise it properly (i.e., proper preparation). If we stand up to represent the God of all creation, we had better be prepared to do it right. And we had better be fully relying on the Holy Spirit to do so.
Pray the Word:
Pray this week for the ones who preach and teach at your church, that their message will be truly from God and will build up the church.
Leave a Reply