In 1 Corinthians 11-14 Paul addresses issues with the public gathering and worship of the church. He begins in chapter 11 discussing the proper behavior of men and women in worship, along with abuses at the Lord’s Supper. In chapters 12-14 he addresses the (ab)use of spiritual gifts and gives guidance for their proper use. It seems that the gift of tongues was being overvalued and being used in competitive, chaotic, pretentious, and ultimately unedifying ways that might have looked more like the ecstatic, unintelligible, self-centered religious experiences that were often prized in pagan religion. So, Paul provides foundations for understanding the gifts, a discourse on the more excellent way of love, and rules for order and edification in worship.
Here are some summary statements and concluding thoughts on Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14.
Ch. 12: Foundations for Spiritual Gifts
The Spirit enables the church to proclaim Jesus as Lord (1 Cor. 12:1-3). The ultimate test for what is truly the work of the Holy Spirit is the exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord. Those who are led by and filled with the Spirit will speak and act in such a way to magnify the gospel of Jesus Christ and live according to it.
A variety of gifts come from and are empowered by the Triune God to build up the church (1 Cor. 12:4-11). Since every Christian is filled with and united to Christ by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), every Christian is equipped with some sort of gift/service (1 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 4:7). In the kingdom of God there are no second-blessings and no second-class citizens. The Spirit produces fruit in our lives and also gives us gifts. From these opening verses we have arguably the most important details about spiritual gifts: they are Christ-centered not self-centered, and they are church-serving not self-serving.
For those who feel like insufficient and inferior members of Christ’s body: others need you (1 Cor. 12:14-20). Every member of the body is important and plays a unique role. No one member, gift, ministry, or activity sums up the whole body. “God arranged [appointed/set] the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose” (1 Cor. 12:18). To wish you had another gift not only shows a lack of trust in our wise and sovereign God but ungratefulness.
For those tempted to feel like self-sufficient and superior members of Christ’s body: you need others (1 Cor. 12:21-26). The members that seem weak, insignificant, or less “spiritual,” because they might not have “flashy” gifts, are just as important to the body and absolutely necessary for proper bodily function. Why has God composed the body in such a way, giving gifts and honor to all? “That there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25) The opposite division is a unity that results in care and love for one another. It is hard to be divided and full of strife when you realize that every member matters.
Ch. 13: The More Excellent Way of Love
At the heart of the church’s problem of looking more like Corinth than Christ was their failure to love others with the same love God had shown them in Christ. So, along with the command to earnestly desire spiritual gifts, Paul urges the church to purse the “more excellent way” of love (1 Cor. 12:31; 14:1). Gospel-driven love was the answer to their problems with rivalries, divisions, pride, sexual immorality, selfishness and Christian freedoms, dress and behavior in worship, abuses at the Lord’s supper, and spiritual gifts.
Paul begins with the necessity of love (1-3). Without it, even the most impressive spiritual gifts and people will turn out to be of no value at all, suggesting that the true indication of spiritual maturity is not the gifts but the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). This is followed by a description of the character of what God’s love looks like when it is working through us (1 Cor. 13:4-7). Interestingly, all of the Spirit’s fruit is on display in these verses. Love is patient, kind, is not irritable (self-control), endures (faithfulness), rejoices in truth, is not self-seeking (goodness), not resentful (peace), and is not boastful/arrogant/rude (gentleness). Finally, Paul emphasizes the permanence of love in contrast to the transient spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 13: 8-13). When Christ returns, gifts will pass away, but love will remain into the new creation. Gifts are signposts of the future, but love is an actual foretaste of the future.
When we consider what love is, it seems impossible to measure up to. Jared Wilson is unfortunately right when he says that, “Most of us are prepared to love others only up to the point where it begins to actually cost us.”1Jared Wilson, Love Me Anyway, 59. But the good news is that the foundation of our love and the fuel for it comes from seeing this love on display in the gospel. The Christian understanding of love begins with God who is love himself (1 John 4:8) and who is for us in Christ Jesus.
Ch. 14: Rules for Order and Edification in Worship
After explaining how the Spirit gives gifts to edify the church and magnify Jesus Christ (ch. 12), and how love should govern the gifts (ch. 13), Paul brings these two chapters to bear on the issue of tongues and prophecy when the church gathers for worship. Paul’s overarching point is simple: uninterpreted tongues have no place in public worship because they are not beneficial to believer and do not build up the church. The goal of public worship is the edification of the saints; therefore, all speech must be intelligible. If you are eager for spiritual things, for manifestations of the Spirit, you should “strive to excel” in the gifts which build up the church (1 Cor. 14:12).
1 Corinthians 14 shows us the surprising importance of church order. Thiselton writes, “Far from suggesting a lack of concern for the Spirit’s renewal, [church order] provides a medium for the expression of love and respect for others inspired by the Spirit. Church order restrains self-centered individualism.”2Anthony C. Thiselton, First Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical and Pastoral Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), 235 The Holy Spirit’s power at work in the church must be characterized by order, intelligibility, decency, and peace, because the whom we worship is not a God confusion but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33). Any disruptive speech or inappropriate behavior is not edifying to others and thus not permitted in worship. However, D. A. Carson rightly reminds us:
This truth does not of course sanction mere traditionalism in worship, or sanctify stuffiness; but it does warn us sharply about the dangers of the opposite end of the spectrum…[W]ise and biblically informed Christian worship [does not pursue] freedom at the expense of order, or unrestrained spontaneity at the expense of reverence.3D. A. Carson, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12–14 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1987), 121.
Paul ends where he begins: the church must earnestly desire spiritual gifts but all things must be be done for building up (1 Cor. 14:26) and all things must be done “decently and in order” (14:40). Paul also reminds the Corinthians that decency, order, and following (good and biblical) traditions are not only commands from the Lord but actually a mark of what it truly means to be spiritual. Those who are spiritual should not only be concerned with edifying others and having self-control in worship, but they should also recognize Paul’s apostolic authority and the traditions of all the churches (1 Cor. 14:37-39).
Mitch Bedzyk serves as a pastor Emmanuel Community Church, overseeing music and Sunday Classes. He received his Master of Theological Studies from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and works in IT for the NY Office of Mental Health. He and his wife, Sarah, have five children: Kya, Khalli, Oliver, Amelia, and Micah. In his spare time he enjoys reading, coffee, guitar, playing fantasy soccer and fanatically following Major League Soccer and the German Bundesliga
