“ He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

And even —-things without life —-giving sound—-, whether —pipe or —harp, except they give a —distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the —trumpet give an —uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.

Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may ——-excel to ——the edifying of the church. 

Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will —-sing with the spirit, and I will —-sing with the understanding also.”

—- 1 Corinthians 14:4-15

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1 Corinthians 13, or the paean to love/charity, is a portion of scripture regularly used for Christian weddings, and for good reason…. it is simply sublime! In it, the apostle opens with …. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. “ - 1 Cor 13:1… 

(Hey musical instruments !! … )

What the apostle means of course,  is that if you are answering your spouse’s question of “what would you like for breakfast?” by tapping out a catchy rhythm, or playing a soulful sax solo, your subsequent hunger will be your own fault, because you completely failed to communicate anything intelligible regarding your meal preferences —— regardless of how beautiful and lovely ( or not! ) those sounds may have been !!! 

You can speak the language of angels, but lack the vocabulary of love …. awwww….  

The whole charity thing was just a side topic, the main issue was this question of tongues ( the opener for chap 13 ) , and the discussion wraps up in chapter 14 ( our text for this week ) where the apostle is at pains to belabor a topic that should ALSO BE PREACHED AT WEDDINGS ….. COMMUNICATION !!!!!!!!!!

We apologize for extending the wedding service by tacking on an additional chapter —- when everyone just wants to get to the reception —- but bear with us, this is some great new material for married couples  !!!… and we will of course link it to our study of music …

In the text, the apostle paints the picture of intelligent communication by using specific examples.

A. The intent of a language is to communicate INFORMATION. 

“Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?” 

The intent of the apostles speech is to —deliver information—, revelation, knowledge, prophesy/preaching/foretelling, doctrine. Speech, language, tongues, are a —medium, not the —message.

B. The receiver of the message should be able to decode it from the medium, and extract the message ( the whole point of communicating something ). 

The apostle uses musical instruments as an example …. unless they are played correctly, you will not be able to figure out the song !! 

He goes on to reference the many human languages that exist. Unless we speak in a language the listener understands how on earth will we get our message across?

This is why he says speaking in tongues helps the speaker, but listeners are out of luck unless somebody can interpret. 

Who can understand “shanda la bawanda “ … or whatever people seem to be saying in public … ? 

( Ya’ll are gorging yourself while people are starving around you , stop it and FEED somebody !!! )

Compare that to a trumpet making an “uncertain sound” …. ( some of you you may have been “privileged” to hear a kid practicing on the trumpet … you can relate) …. nobody is going to roll out of bed for that kind of call !!!

And so ladies, and gentlemen… as —newly weds—-, please learn to speak each other’s language , or ( more realistically )  —— just pick one standard to communicate !!!   Just so you are clear as to what message you are sending…  always !!  ( Hint: Men are simple creatures… keep it simple ?) 

And that was the apostles answer to the Corinthian controversy on tongues… UNLESS  someone can understand what you are saying, they are not going to benefit…. so REAL tongues and interpretation go hand in hand. Why would the LORD send a message in such an attention getting fashion, IF NOBODY WOULD UNDERSTAND IT? 

In the very first instance of tongues at Pentecost, while the disciples did not know what they were saying, THEIR LISTENERS DID! The disciples were speaking IN THEIR LOCAL DIALECT!  

“ And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, —-wherein we were —born?” - Acts 2:7-8

THAT is what a PUBLIC speaking in tongues looks like.

What about “Shanda bawanda“ then ? Is that all fake?

Sadly, —sometimes—yes. 

But praying in the spirit, such deep feelings that even trying to wrap our head around putting them into words is painful—- it is very freeing to be content with just pouring out your heart without regard to language….that is the private benefit Paul was referring to….. and there are also “groanings which can’t be uttered…”… we need the Holy Spirit to pray those….

And that connects so deeply with Music ….. we now understand why the apostle concluded with —singing with the spirit—-, and singing with —-understanding—- to wrap up his point.

An opera singer performs a piece with understanding… it is a technical performance as much as a “spiritual “ one. It is usually a well known piece, and has to be sung with an orchestra… and there is feeling and emotion in the performance as well.

But when someone is improvising, all the knowledge comes together and gets out of the way to simply allow the musician to express their spirit and be one with the moment , just reacting on instinct and feeling …. They are “praying” via their instrument.

It’s not a question of which one is better, or preferred… both have their place!!

The apostle is telling the church that it is BETTER to speak a few words of doctrine, revelation or encouragement to edify the church, than to (a) privately revel in one’s “holiness” or (b) publicly try to draw attention to oneself.

Music is a whole separate mode of language & communication between the information-parsing beings we humans are… we are grateful for all of it !!!

Hallelujah!!