Propriety in Worship
July 16
Paul addresses propriety whenever the church meets together. He sums up his position in 1 Corinthians 14:40. He says that everything that’s done in the public assembly of believers is to be done with excellence to the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ.
We have already seen that the purpose of Spiritual gifts is for building up the body of Jesus. Paul drives this point in today’s readings. No one should ever seek attention when they use their Spiritual gift(s) when we gather as a church. And we must remember the context of chapter 14: it follows the love chapter, chapter 13.
Some Christian leaders have argued that the gift of tongues is no longer for today because the gift is often abused. That makes no sense at all! I would argue that prophecy/preaching has been abused more – and with more harm to the body of Christ – than any other spiritual gift. Should we eliminate the use of the gift of prophecy because it has been abused so much? I think not. The use of tongues may not always be exercised properly during a worship service, but no one has been wounded (spiritually or emotionally) because someone violated Paul’s instructions regarding tongues. He says that if someone speaks in a tongue – in the gathered assembly of believers – it must be interpreted. If there is no interpretation, the tongue-speaker is to keep silent. (1 Corinthians 14:28) Note that Paul does not say that the tongue-speaker should be silenced by someone else. Instead, Paul says that they should silence themselves.
Paul says that he would rather speak five words in a language that is understandable than 10,000 words in a language that is not understandable. Paul is our model here. Again, everything in the public assembly of believers is to be done in order to glorify God, and to teach and encourage everyone. (1 Corinthians 14:31)
If we look at Paul’s statements about praying and praising with his mind and with his spirit, (1 Corinthians 14:14–15) we see that Paul is talking about a prayer language. This is different than a revelatory gift of tongues (1 Corinthians 14:6) which requires interpretation. If someone is speaking to God in a prayer language, they’re speaking to God. Since they’re speaking to God, there is no reason for that prayer language to be heard by anyone else.
He says that the gift of prophecy should be done by no more than three and that others should evaluate the prophecy. (1 Corinthians 14:29; 32) This ensures accountability. No prophet is to “go rogue”.
In the context of his discussion of accountability among the prophets, Paul says that the wives are to be silent. Again, he doesn’t say that they should be silenced (by someone else), but that they should keep silent. It seems – again observing the context and my previous comments about how translating woman or wife depends on the context – that Paul says a wife should not evaluate her own husband’s prophecy. He has already seen that women can prophecy. (1 Corinthians 14:26) and we know that Phillip’s daughters prophesied in the early church. (Acts 21:9)
Application
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:9 that edification (building up) requires intelligibility (understanding)[1]. So, what does that say about our individual Bible reading? If you can’t understand a particular Bible in your own heart language, it will be very difficult to grow as a believer. For example, unless you speak Elizabethan English every day to everyone, including your spouse, you probably need to use a reliable modern English translation of the Bible that is much easier to understand for modern readers.
I normally use and recommend the following trustworthy modern translations, which I frequently quote in my writing and preaching:
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
English Standard Version (ESV)
New Living Translation (NLT)
New International Version (NIV)
Berean Standard Bible (BSB)
Do not use the following translations:
The Passion Translation (Among other reasons, the Passion Translation was recently (extensively) exposed to contain large sections of Scripture that had been plagiarized.)
The New World Translation (This translation is heavily influenced by the theological biases of the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult. The “translators” were not sufficiently schooled in the biblical languages, if at all![2]
[1] This concept is discussed at length in Mark Ward’s writings and YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@wardonwords
[2] https://www.4jehovah.org/translators-of-the-new-world-translation/