Bible Reading Challenge #48
Women in Worship
1 Corinthians 14:34–40
34 The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.
35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?
37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.
38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.
39 So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
40 But all things should be done decently and in order.
What do we do with this difficult statement: “Women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission”?
To understand this verse, we need to place it in both its immediate and larger context.
Larger Context: In 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul mentions women praying and proclaiming God’s goodness in worship. He also commends women like Phoebe, who served the church faithfully, and Priscilla, who helped teach others the way of Christ. Finally, Paul affirms in Galatians 3 that in Christ there is no distinction in worth or belonging between male and female — even while recognizing distinct roles within the life of the church.
Paul’s teaching throughout his letters makes it clear that he values women as co-laborers in the gospel, so there must be a specific concern he’s addressing here.
Immediate Context: In addition to the many problems already addressed (sexual immorality, improper worship, abuse of spiritual gifts), some women in the Corinthian church were creating disruption or controversy. In that culture, many women had less access to education, so it would have been natural for them to ask questions during worship. Paul encourages them to wait and ask those questions at home for the sake of order in the church gathering.
While some see this as a universal command for all churches, others understand it as a situational instruction meant to address disorder in Corinth. Given the context, Paul seems most concerned with maintaining reverence and order in worship — not silencing women from serving or speaking altogether.
As we have discussed before, God has established distinct roles for men and women to serve for the good of the church. Even when God’s Word challenges our preferences or runs against cultural trends, we are called to humbly submit to it.
Bible Reading Challenge #47
Orderly Worship
1 Corinthians 14:26–33
26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.
28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.
29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.
30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.
31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged,
32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints…
While it’s easy to focus on the discussion about tongues, I want us to notice verse 26:
“Each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”
The expectation is that every believer comes to worship ready to contribute — to bring something that builds up the body.
Sadly, this expectation is often lost in our churches today. We expect the pastor to have a prepared message and the worship leader to have songs that fit the day’s theme, but few expect to come prepared with something to share. Even our schedules rarely allow space for it.
The expectation should be that God is regularly speaking, leading, guiding, convicting, and comforting us. If I asked, “What is God teaching you?” how many of us would have an answer that’s less than a week old? How many could point to a specific way God is teaching, encouraging, or correcting us through His Word?
I was encouraged this past Wednesday night when Cooper May led our prayer time and pointed us to Psalm 121 — a psalm he’s been returning to repeatedly during this season of life.
We all should come ready to share encouragements of who God is and how He is working in our lives — all for the building up of the body.
Note: This is why we begin most of our discussions at church with the prompt: “What is one big thing God is teaching you?” The expectation is that there is at least one.
Bible Reading Challenge #46
Prayer and Understanding
1 Corinthians 14:13–19
13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.
15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.
16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?
17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.
18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.
Blessed to Be a Blessing
This concept goes back to Genesis 12, where God calls Abram to:
“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”
The gifts of God are not for self-promotion but for the common good.
The Holy Spirit moves and works in the hearts and lives of believers so that the rest of the congregation and community may benefit. When God gives me comfort, I am then called to be a comforter. When God gives me finances, I am called to be generous. When God gives me talents or wisdom, I am called to use them to bless others.
Paul once again addresses the issue of hoarding gifts for personal gain. God didn’t bless you for your sake alone. God wants to bless you so that you can be a blessing!
There is a place for personal worship of God, but there is also value in public worship — just as there is a place for learning, praying, and encouraging.
We are knit together as believers, unified under the cross and sharing a common hope for eternity. May we be focused on the common good, not our own comfort.
Bible Reading Challenge #45
Speaking in Tongues
1 Corinthians 14:6–12
6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?
7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played?
8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?
9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air.
10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning,
11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.
12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
I must confess that I have no direct experience of worshiping God in this manner or being part of a gathering where God was worshiped in this way. That is not to say it cannot happen in our day, but this personal form of worship can become dangerous to the church if handled improperly — as Paul warns here.
Paul gives several cautions about speaking in tongues during worship:
Tongues can be abused as a counterfeit style of worship. Some may fake a spiritual moment by speaking in gibberish and calling it worship.
Tongues should have purpose. Just as an instrument makes a distinct sound, human speech should be sensible and intelligible — even if it requires interpretation.
Tongues without interpretation are not beneficial for the common good.
John MacArthur says it well: “The purpose of every language is to communicate, not to impress, and certainly not to confuse, as the Corinthians had been doing with their counterfeits.”
I personally do not hold to a strict cessationist view of spiritual gifts. Cessationists believe that the sign gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 ceased after the death of the apostles. I do not believe we must limit God’s gifts to a specific era. I believe God can still use miracles, languages, and signs to bring people to Himself all over the world. While this is less common in our Western culture — where we enjoy the blessings of modern medicine, Bible translations, and the internet — I am not willing to say that God has stopped using signs altogether.
Bible Reading Challenge #44
Prophecy and Tongues
1 Corinthians 14:1–5
1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.
4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
Over the last two chapters, Paul has taught on spiritual gifts and then focused on a “better way” — the way of love. Now Paul returns to the topic of gifts to remind us that we must not ignore the gifting God has given the church. We are to use the gifts God gives us for His glory and for the common good!
You may be a bit confused when Paul encourages the church in Corinth to “prophesy.” Our first inclination may be to think of the prophets of old who predicted God’s future actions, but that is not the full meaning here. Following the resurrection of Jesus, the fullness of God’s message has been revealed. There is less need to foretell than to forth-tell — to proclaim. Proclaiming the Word of God, the truth of salvation, and the good news that brings great joy is what Paul has in mind here.
To prophesy, then, is to bring to the people a message of hope, mercy, and love.
You and I are called to live this out. We are called to show and share the love of God in our everyday lives — with those we love and those we have just met.