What should church gatherings look like? When you walk into a church, any church, what should you expect to take place? Should all church gatherings, in all churches, be exactly the same regardless of whether you’ve walked into a Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Mennonite, Episcopal, AME, CME, Catholic, or Bible Church? When you walk into a McDonald’s or Starbucks or Chick-fil-A you already know what to expect. Should church gatherings be the same way? Those are great questions.
I could take you to different churches this morning that do things in very different ways, so different that if you simply focused on the surface experience of what was happening, you might wonder if they have anything in common at all. Let me explain. If I took you to a liturgical church, I can almost guarantee you that you would see the priest in his robe walking down the center aisle at the beginning of the service, you would hear the pipe organ playing, smell incense burning, and hear the people reciting prayers and creeds together. The sermon, or what they call the homily, would come from the lectionary which follows the church year, and they would observe the sacraments.
We could leave that service and head on over to a charismatic church, what the members would say is a “spirit filled” church, where you would find more of an emphasis on the workings of the Spirit. There would be no formal liturgy, no priestly robes, no incense or pipe organ, and you might or might not celebrate the Lord’s Supper depending on which Sunday you attend. The music and singing would be very different from the music and singing found at the liturgical church. On the surface these two types of churches would “feel” different, very very different, and yet, if you were able to move beyond the surface you would find that at the heart of both kinds of worship is the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
There are many different ways to “do” church gatherings. What we read about in Acts 2, at the birth of the church, looks different than what we’ve been learning about the church in Corinth. What we will learn about the gathering in Corinth this morning looks different than what takes place here at Britton Christian Church on Sunday morning.
Paul has been teaching us, while he has been teaching the people of Corinth, about what we should seek to do when we come together. At the same time, he has been teaching us what we must not do. Paul wants the people in Corinth to know that there is freedom in how we worship the Lord, but their gatherings were not to become a free for all. Ray Stedman wrote,
When the church comes together it can be built up in marvelous ways. It can be such a strengthening thing to meet together, to encourage one another in our faith, to share in the exercise of spiritual gifts, to be taught by the mind of God, by the Spirit of God, through the Word of God, and to be comforted in times of trial and testing and pressure. This is the purpose for the church getting together. But whatever you do, do not let it become an endlessly confusing ministry, misrepresentative of the character of God, who is a God of order and decency. (Stedman, Ray. When You Come Together.)
There are many different ways for the followers of Jesus to gather and worship, but whatever a church does must reflect the character of God which Paul tells us in verse 33 is order and not disorder, peace and not chaos. In verse 40, Paul writes,
40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. (1 Corinthians 14:40 NIV)
In these last verses of 1 Corinthians 14, Paul talks about the limitations the church should establish so their gatherings would reflect the order and peace of God’s character. Trigger warning ladies. As we read our Scripture don’t jump to conclusions before we take time to examine what Paul writes in the context of God’s Word. With that said, let’s read our Scripture beginning in verse 26.
26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two– or at the most three– should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace– as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. 34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 36 Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? 37 If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38 But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored. 39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. (1 Corinthians 14:26-40 NIV)
After a long discussion about spiritual gifts, how and when they are to be used or not used, Paul says, “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters?” He’s wrapping things up and he does so by painting a picture for the church of what is to happen when they come together. Remember, Paul spent 18 months in Corinth and during that time he started the church. There’s no question that while Paul was in Corinth he led the gatherings, but he had been gone for some time now, his ministry moved on to Ephesus, and things had changed in Corinth.
Paul pointed out that when they came together with other believers, not ordained pastors, but the people of the pews, they brought something to share with the other believers–something that would be helpful for building up their brothers and sisters in Christ. Somebody came prepared to share a song, another person came ready to teach something from God’s Word, another shared something the Lord had revealed to them since the last time the church had come together, if there was someone to interpret, someone shared a tongue. Each of these gifts has already been mentioned by Paul in this chapter. Paul is not laying down some rigid line-by-line order of worship for the church. He is simply pointing out what is presently taking place in the church.
The church in Corinth, and the early church in general, was much different than what we experience in most of our modern-day churches. Many different people participated in the gathering. Some of what happened was preplanned, like teaching for example, but some parts of the service weren’t preplanned, some parts were more spontaneous. There was more interaction between all of the people since several different people contributed instead of just a couple.
The spontaneity and having many people share during the gathering can be a good thing, but it can also lead to chaos. This is why Paul gives the people guidance in this section about how to share, when to share, and who can share. Take a look at verses 27-28 with me.
27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two– or at the most three– should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God. (1 Corinthians 14:27-28 NIV)
In verse 26, after having described some of the gifts people bring to church to share with their brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul says, “Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” If you’ve been with us from the beginning of our study of 1 Corinthians 14 then you’ve come to the conclusion that Paul sounds like a broken record when it comes to emphasizing the building up of the entire church. He’s mentioned it five times in this chapter alone. He also mentioned “building up” in 1 Corinthians 8:1 and 10:23. Here, in verses 27-28, Paul sets limitations on the use of the gift of speaking in tongues so that the entire church might be built up. What limitations does Paul set up for the church? He sets three in place:
- First, he says “two–or at the most three– should speak.”
- Second, Paul let’s them know that those speaking in tongues should go “one at a time.”
- Last of all, Paul reminds them, “someone must interpret.” If there is no interpreter then the person must remain quiet while the church is gathered.
We’ve talked before about how speaking in tongues was not a uniquely Christian activity. At all of the pagan temples you could find people speaking in tongues, but there it was chaotic, totally out of control. Paul doesn’t want the genuine gift of speaking in tongues to be confused in any way with what was taking place at the pagan temples. It’s pretty obvious from what Paul has written in this chapter that it had already happened. Paul wanted to correct the situation so he urged them to establish order.
What’s interesting is that Paul gives almost the same guidance to those who would prophesy in the gathering of God’s people. Read verses 29-33 with me.
29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace– as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. (1 Corinthians 14:29-33)
Paul has made very clear that he places the gift of prophecy, or speaking God’s Word, at the top of the list of gifts that are most useful for the edification, strengthening, and comfort of all of those in the church. Still, Paul believes in order so he doesn’t simply turn those who speak the message of God loose in the church. David Garland writes,
Though Paul prizes prophecy over tongues because of its greater usefulness for building up the community (14:5) and convicting unbelievers (14:20-25), it too needs to be regulated. Hering (1962:153) describes it as a need to ‘dam the floods of eloquence.’ Paul limits the number of prophets speaking, instructs the one speaking to be silent whenever a fresh revelation comes to another, and expects the assembly to appraise all that is said. (Garland, David. 1 Corinthians. pg. 660).
Paul lays out the parameters for the church so that “everyone may be instructed and encouraged.” Like the guidance he gave for those who were going to speak in tongues, if there was an interpreter, Paul says,
- First, “two or three prophets should speak.”
- Second, “others should weigh carefully what is said.”
- Third, “if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.” In other words, don’t hog the pulpit.
There is something about Paul’s instruction that we need to talk about before we move on. What does Paul mean when he writes, “others should weigh carefully what is said.” This is such an important lesson for you and me to have etched in our minds. Just because someone holds themself out as speaking for God doesn’t mean that’s the case. Many people have said the Lord gave them a “word” for someone else and it just wasn’t the case. We need to test everything. You need to test what I have to say on Sunday morning or in any of the Bible studies I teach throughout the week. I love what Luke writes about the brothers and sisters in Berea in Acts 17:11-12. Read it with me.
11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. (Acts 17:11-12 NIV)
They were listening to the Apostle Paul…THE Apostle Paul. It didn’t matter, what Paul said needed to be tested against what Scripture taught to see if what Paul was saying was true or not. This is exactly what Paul was urging the brothers and sisters in Corinth to do whenever someone would stand up and speak for God. Paul wrote to the followers of Jesus in Thessalonica and urged them to do the same thing. Read it with me.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NIV)
“Test them all…” The difficulty with this encouragement from Paul is that many of us don’t know the Word of God so how can we test what is being said? The answer is “we can’t.” The good news is, this is a fixable problem if we will make the decision to learn God’s Word. If we are not willing to put in the time and make the effort then we are going to continue to be subject to every persuasive, convincing speaker that comes along. John makes it clear to us that not every person who speaks for God is from God. He writes,
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1 NIV)
It is obvious that in the first century, those who were most influential in the spread of the Gospel, people like Paul and John, who was a disciple of Jesus, were concerned that the followers of Jesus knew not to accept everything at face value when someone stood up and said, “God has given me a word.” It is interesting that in 2 Peter, right after Peter tells his readers that “prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried by the Holy Spirit,” writes,
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them– bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. (2 Peter 2:1-3 NIV)
Test everything. How do you test what is being said? You test it by the Word of God. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: There is no substitute for the Word of God.
Now, I want to spend the rest of our time taking a look at verses 34-35. So much has been said about these verses and I believe so much harm has been done because people have taken these verses, along with verses from 1 Timothy 2:9-15, to teach women that they have no place in teaching God’s Word in the gathering of Jesus’ followers, in the church. Let’s read our Scripture and we’ll see what we can learn.
34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. (1 Corinthians 14:34-35 NIV)
First, let me say that we are never to read God’s Word through the lens of our modern-day understanding of societal norms, if there is anything normative in society any more, to determine what is true and what is false about God’s Word. God’s Word is true…period. We need to turn things around and view life through God’s Word if we want to understand life, community, and society.
When we come to passages like the one we are taking a look at now we tend to do one of two things. First, some today take these passages and say, “Well, that’s it. Women aren’t allowed to speak in the gathering of God’s people.” They do this without considering these verses in the context of the rest of God’s Word which will always get us in trouble. The second group says, “That’s preposterous. Paul was a misogynist. This has nothing to do with the world we live in today so there’s nothing for us to learn here.” Both of these groups are wrong in their approach to understanding God’s Word. I’m so grateful to my friend Dr. David Darnell who taught me, “When you come to a section of God’s Word you don’t understand, don’t move on, but do pray for the Lord to give you insight as you study those passages in the context of the rest of God’s Word.” That approach has allowed me to learn things I would have otherwise missed. Let’s give it a try.
Back in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul told the women in Corinth that if they were going to pray and prophesy they needed to keep their heads covered. He didn’t tell them they couldn’t pray or prophesy, but he gave them directions on how they were to pray and prophesy. So, did Paul change his mind or is there more to the story? I believe there is more to the story.
Remember, the overarching theme of the Scripture we are taking a look at this morning is “order” and “peace.” In verse 33, Paul wrote, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace–as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.” Then, in verse 40, he wraps up his teaching by writing, “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” (1 Corinthians 14:40 NIV)
Speaking in tongues with no guidance, no order, would lead to chaos and that is why Paul put some rules in place. If those who would stand before God’s people and prophesy or share God’s Word had no guidance then the gathering could easily devolve into chaos. You know how preachers are, don’t you? Someone once said, “Some preachers have something to say and some preachers just have to say something.” No more than two or three people speaking God’s Word at a meeting and one at a time. If someone is speaking and God gives a word to someone else then the first person speaking needs to stop and allow the next person to share.
Those who take these verses about the women in the church remaining silent literally, really don’t practice what they preach, even if they aren’t allowing women to be in any leadership roles or teach God’s Word. When Paul says, “Women should remain silent in the churches,” the implications of that are all encompassing if taken literally. Silent means silent, right? Women can’t give the announcements, lead a committee, serve in any leadership role at all, teach a class, or sing or speak in the gathering of God’s people. These things must be true if you interpret what Paul wrote with no qualifications. Now, the truth is, even those who hold this view have gotten creative in getting around the unqualified interpretation of what Paul has written.
I want to finish up our time by sharing with you what I believe and what many other Bible teachers believe to be the situation going on in Corinth which led to Paul urging the women to be silent. Remember, women were already ministering by praying and prophesying in Corinth. The problem is not with women ministering in Corinth, but with them being disruptive, like some tongue speakers and prophets were being disruptive. The Greek word that Paul uses to tell women to be “silent” is the same word he uses in verse 28 and verse 30 to tell those who speak in tongues and those who prophesy to be “silent.” F.F. Bruce, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians says that the imposition of silence and forbidding women to speak is only in the context of interrupting proceedings by asking questions of their husbands. Asking questions should be done at home.
Of course the women in Corinth would have questions. Women, in Paul’s day, weren’t educated at all. Women in Greek and Roman culture weren’t allowed to even speak. In the Jerusalem Talmud, Rabbi Eliezer is quoted as having said, “It is better to burn the Torah than to teach it to women” (J.Sotah 19a.7). Of course the women in the church would have questions about what was being taught, but they weren’t to be disruptive in the service.
Women in the first century really had no place outside of the home, but when you read the Bible you will find women who had been gifted by God and given a place for them to use their gifts. I’m so grateful that the Lord chose to include the stories of Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noahiah, and Isaiah’s wife–all of these women are called prophets, and in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, we have Phoebe, who Paul calls a deacon in the church of Cenchreae. There’s Junia, whom Paul says is “outstanding among the apostles.” Then there is Priscilla and Aquila, the husband/wife ministry team. Funny how Priscilla’s name is always mentioned first in Scripture. I could go on, but we are running out of time. Just one more, how about the woman at the well, the despised Samaritan woman at the well, whose life was changed by Jesus in such a radical way that she went back to her village and told everyone, men and women, and they all came out to see Jesus. Oh, my friends, men and women, if Jesus has changed your life then tell someone, but do so in a way that brings glory and honor to the Lord and also builds up the body of Christ.
Mike Hays
Britton Christian Church
January 6, 2022
1 Corinthians 14:26-40