June 15, 1 Corinthians 14
Here’s a riddle: When is 5 more than 10,000? Paul said the answer is when five understood words are better than ten thousand words that no one understands. Allow me to illustrate. Which do you prefer? <a> A proclivity for compendious and perspicuous conveyance of requisite data is preferable; or <b> When communicating important information, brief and clear is better.
Here’s another one: <a> A propensity for verbosity precludes the unambiguous promulgation of imperative intelligence; versus <b> Using too many big words keeps people from getting the important message. Can you tell I’m having fun with my new thesaurus?
Paul encouraged the Corinthians to behave in love and desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy (inspired teaching). Gifts were given to build up to body, not to show off. They were to be used in a manner consistent with their purpose. Tongue-speaking (talking in a language they had not learned) was impressive. But it did not serve the highest purpose of building up the body through clearly understood teaching. So Paul regulated how to use the gifts in the assembly: no more than two or three, one at a time, when another starts the first should stop, the wives should ask their prophesying husbands questions at home, no tongues without interpreters present. The rules were to promote peace and prevent confusion.
I suspect a first-century assembly would surprise us. I doubt there was an “order of worship” printed in the bulletin, dictating what was done when. But Paul said it was all to be done decently and in order to facilitate understanding.
“Decently and in order” isn’t a code word for our comfort zone, what we’re used to or how we like it. This phrase comes up whenever a church changes something in its meetings. If we confuse tradition with command, we’ll call any variation from our experience indecent and out of order. In context, Paul was describing how to use the gifts to build people up and promote understanding. No building, encouraging or consoling takes place without understanding. If the goal is showing how much we know, then pile on the obtuse verbiage. If we want people to feel uncomfortable and distant, obscure the meaning in unfamiliar language. But to reach people and change lives, brief and clear is better.
This is true about teaching people inside the church, and reaching people outside the church. The longer we’ve been in, the harder it is to hear how we sound to outsiders. We know the jargon; we’re fluent in “Churchese.” It’s not just the words we use—it’s also the channels through which we speak. Guess what? Most post-moderns do not know church vocabulary, and they don’t get formal sermons based on a centuries-old communication model. It’s like broadcasting on a frequency they’re not monitoring in a language they don’t speak. The goal is understanding. If we’re serious about bringing people to Christ and building them up in Christ, we’ll make it brief and clear.
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament,
Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—June 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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