Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written: “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the Lord. So then, tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is not for unbelievers, but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church gathers together and all the people speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are insane? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.
1 Corinthians 14:20-28
What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be by two or at the most three, and each one in turn, and one is to interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he is to keep silent in church; and have him speak to himself and to God.
We must speak with the goal of edification in mind; if you want to teach, it must not come from wanting to get attention or prove your status. We must use the knowledge and gifts God gives us humbly. If you can’t speak to someone in a way they understand, it is better not to speak at all.
Ethan Kirl
Originally Published April 30, 2021
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