Quote:
Originally Posted by Pressing-On
Sure, but you have a church body with say, 120 Spirit filled people, and three receive the Holy Ghost. That means that they are speaking in tongues, more than likely, loudly. You may have 5 or 10 visitors who don't know what is going on. I've been in a service where that happened. The visitor questioned what the person was doing. So, how does that work with the admonition to only speak in tongues when an interpretation is given?
|
Paul also explains that tongues are a sign for unbelievers. (
1 Corinthians 14:22) So, as you point out, there's certainly a place for unbelievers to hear
someone speaking in tongues. (IMO,
Acts 8 seems to be a prime example of unbelievers being awed by the demonstration of others receiving the Holy Ghost...likely, speaking in tongues. Even though Simon was a believer who was baptized, he was new to the faith and was fascinated by the power of God when he saw the Samaritans receive the Holy Ghost.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pressing-On
Forbid not to speak in tongues. Paul just wants order and he wants the gifts to be in evidence. He doesn't want everyone standing around - all the time - every service - edifying themselves and not ministering to the body. That is all he is saying, IMO.
|
This is my understanding of the passage, as well. Actually, kind of reminds me of those church services that people would brag about being in..."blow out" service where "the preacher didn't even get a chance to preach"...where all the congregation is just praising and praying in tongues the whole time. Seems to me that this isn't an experience to be coveted, but actually that Paul is saying that those types of services don't really edify the body and certainly don't edify unbelievers. Something to think about.
But bringing this topic back around to its origin...since your understanding of
1 Corinthians 14 seems to line up very closely with my own...how DO we explain Paul's passing comments that insinuate not every believer speaks in tongues?
Threaded Mode
