Continuing my analysis of Robert Morris’ message on “Praying in Tongues,” he uses for his first passage 1 Corinthians 14:2: “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.”
The type of tongues that the Corinthians were practicing had no edifying value to it. At best it could only speak to men (or “to self”), it could not give others no instructions or exhortation. It could only speak to God as if God needed people to speak to Him in jibberish when He is the one who gave intelligible languages in the first place (Gen. 11:7).
In Part 2, I mentioned that Paul is being sarcastic in verse 2. Another example of Paul’s sarcasm can be seen in 4:8-10: “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!” This sarcasm reaches even higher in 14:36: “Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?”
Paul is saying, “Listen, even true tongues won’t help a single person unless it is interpreted and understood. So how in the world can your jibberish help you without it also being understood?” It cannot. Therefore, praying in tongues cannot possibly edify anyone, including the person speaking it, without interpretation and understanding. The so-called satisfaction many of the Corinthians were experiencing in their abuse of tongues was simply “self-satisfaction,” which stem from a pride-induce emotion, not from love which would lead to spiritual edification of others.
Now let me also point this out for your consideration. When Paul says in verse 2, “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God,” may also be translated like this: “. . .does not speak to men, but to a god.” In the Greek, there is no definite article “the” before “God.” Here is how this same construction is translated in Acts 17:23: “For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god.” The words, “to an unknown god” is the same construction (no definite article before God) as found in 1 Corinthians 14:2. Therefore, it is very likely Paul is saying, “Does not speak to men, but to an unknown god.” After all, Paul did tell them that demons had a part in getting them to say, “Jesus is accursed” (12:3).
In Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, in which the Son poured His heart and soul to the Father, when God communed with God, the language Jesus used is remarkably simply, clean and full of understanding. No jibberish was spoken. If there ever was a time for Jesus to show us the value of praying in tongues, John 17 (Jesus’ high priestly prayer) and Luke 22:42 (Jesus praying for the cup of suffering to pass from Him) would have been a perfect time to do so. But Jesus does no such thing!
Jesus warned not to use “meaningless words or repetitions” (Matt. 6:7). By saying this, Jesus was teaching that God does not hear or accept repetitious, unintelligible gibberish of pagan tongue-speaking, in which certain meaningless sounds were repeated over and over again. The instructional prayer that Jesus provides following, commonly known as the “Lord’s Prayer,” is a model of simplicity and clarity.
But these carnal Corinthians were much more interested in the sophisticated than the simple, in the mysterious rather than the edifying. They prayed and spoke in unintelligible syllables and careless phrases that no one understood, including themselves. Their concern was for their own personal excitement and self-gratification. In order to give their selfish practice some form of credence, they labeled it, “Self-edification,” and said, “We all need to be building ourselves up.”
No, 1 Corinthians 14:2 does not teach what we should be doing, but instead what we need to stop doing, or better yet, not even get started!
End of Part 3
No comments:
Post a Comment