Wait, Which Is For Who?

Brethren, 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 for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.  Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?  But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man 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 14:20-25 NASB)

Okay, here is the first really hard passage in this chapter.  While the previous stuff may be hard to hear, this is the first one really hard to understand.  The two questions are, 1) "How are tongues a sign from God to unbelievers, not believers?" and 2) "How is prophesy a sign from God to believers, not to unbelievers?"  Good luck with these, because it appears to be written backwards to support such answers.

My first thought is that this is a corruption, that it appears much more sensible in some manuscripts.  Wrong.  All the manuscript evidence of this passage has verse 22 stated exactly the same way.  Seriously.  There are variants all around it in other verses with minor differences.  But verse 22 appears in the same words in each ancient text we have with this passage in it, even referred to it.  We have lectionaries from the early church and apostolic fathers, and when they reference this verse, it is worded exactly this way.  I learn two things from that: 1) That's how God inspired it to be written; and 2) That's how He wants me to understand it because He protected its transmission this way for 2,000 years and more.  So, it is what it is.  I have to find another way to understand it, no easy way out.

So, taken together (verses 20 through 25), sit as part of Paul's argument to the church in Corinth that gifts need to be for building up of the church through intelligibility.  Tongues isn't intelligible, so it doesn't build up the church.  Prophesy is intelligible, so it does build up the church and therefore belongs in worship.  But here Paul includes those outside the church in his argument.  This is now a bit outside the scope of 'building up the church' believers (i.e. people) by including unbelievers from outside the church.  It's now about building up the church as a 'collection of people'.

Paul supports his point that tongues is a sign for unbelievers with the illustration of everyone in worship speaking in tongues and unbelievers (and ungifted - not sure about that one) think they are insane.  So, how is considering the congregation speaking in tongues insane a sign from God?  And what is 'on the sign' for the unbelievers?


I've used Gordon Fee's commentary on 1 Corinthians in the New International Commentary on the New Testament for help. Here I think I disagree with him, but only slightly.  What he says fits best is for tongues to be a sign to unbelievers that they are under God's judgment (in other words, 'not saved').  I hesitate here because I wonder if God would use a 'sign' that says, "You Lose", rather than, "Danger: You will lose if you continue".  It's very possible that Dr. Fee intended something like that, but since the example of Paul wasn't a 'suggestion' but a warning of what not to do, it's sort of hard to land on specifics here.

What I suspect is that tongues is a sign, not for believers (that they are spiritual - which, like Dr. Fee says, is what the Corinthians believed, and with which I agree), but for unbelievers that they are not a part of the congregation.  In other words, if tongues is used in personal prayer or some other non-worship venue, then witnessing it an unbeliever would still be faced with the inexplicable apart from God.  It might be a sign that someone has something they don't.  I think Paul's continued point though is that they wouldn't necessarily want it either.  In which case, perhaps Dr. Fee is more right in that it's a sign of judgement. 

Paul's point, regardless of what might be 'on the sign' for the unbeliever, is that tongues won't bring them to God, won't help them be saved, which is of primary importance.  Prophesy on the other hand does, yet it's not a sign for the unbeliever...which is unexpected.

Paul supports his point that prophesy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers with the illustration of everyone in worship prophesying, and unbelievers being convicted and falling on their faces acknowledging that God is among them.  So, how is this a sign for the believers when it sounds like it so strongly affected the unbelievers?  And, again, what's 'on the sign' for the believers?

Here I agree with Dr. Fee.  He says that the response of the unbelievers is a sign from God to the believers that affirms God is among them; in other words that they are spiritual, which is what they were after through tongues.  Of course, Paul qualifies such a conclusion with all of chapter 13, so it's not a 'sign' that they've 'arrived' or something.  Love does that.

These explanations are as difficult to understand and accept as the passage is difficult to understand.  What I think is clear though is that Paul is interested in the effect of the worship on unbelievers.  To that end, he points out that tongues doesn't help them, but prophesy does.  Therefore prophesy belongs in worship where unintelligible speech does not.  So uninterpreted tongues is fine on our own, but not in worship; including corporate prayer, especially because of 'visitors' to worship.  What needs to be in focus is building up of the church, the people. Exercising of intelligible gifts in worship does that. 

But what about me?  Where is my application?  I don't and never have spoken in tongues.  I've witnessed the 'whole church speaking in tongues' and while I didn't think they were insane, I did tell them they were 'unbiblical' (which they were).  I don't think I prophesy as a 'gift' as such.  So, where is my application?  It needs to be in Paul's point and challenge to build up the church in worship.  That worship isn't about me, it's about everyone of us there, including the unbeliever. 

So, my practice needs to be about all of us before the throne of God proclaiming His greatness, acknowledging Him as our King, and declaring His glory and presence among us.  Perhaps as we are overwhelmed by Him, unbelievers will be overwhelmed as well.  But has to be a 'we' involved, not only a me.  Here I need to be about others, not me. 

It's a challenge because being intrusive in worship can be distracting, so where do I draw the appropriate lines?  I don't want to distract from God in worship, but I want to include others in my worship.  Therein is my application.  As I learn to do that, I will learn to apply this passage to my own life.