1 Corinthians 14

Paul has been talking about how every member of the body is different and necessary. I’ve always had a bit of a challenge in seeing how a ministry of vacuuming the church building amounted to manifesting a gift of the Spirit. Is it necessary? Can it be a ministry? Sure, but is it also a spiritual manifestation if the church board decides to pay a janitorial service for this service? I think Paul meant something more than the “gift of helps” when he said that to each of us is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the benefit of all. In 1 Corinthians 14, he gives us some hints as to what the typical meeting of the church in his day was like. He isn’t criticizing the basic pattern here, but rather giving some fine-tuning to the method of ministry to one another that he himself had taught the Corinthian church to follow.

I like this photo of the forest in Spearfish Canyon. There are so many different kinds of trees shown, yet they all make up one forest. Even in a healthy coniferous forest you see such a diversity in the plants that grow there. Should the church be like this? With every member sharing himself and the particular gifts God has planted in his life with the his sisters and brothers?

Verse 1

This is a segue from chapter 13. (Not that Paul would have known or expected that his writings would be divided up into chapters and verses.)

Love is the foundation and the highest goal. Without love, none of the stuff that follows makes much difference just as the sleekness of the bathing suit, the oiling and shaving of a swimmer’s body, his or her highly developed musculature and the best of coaches make no difference if the swimmer doesn’t know how to swim.

In the next breath, Paul says that, given that love is our foundation, we should desire spiritual gifts and especially the ability to prophesy. Prophesy is here seen as a believer being used by God to deliver a word of encouragement and exhortation to the brothers and sisters. Sometimes prophesy included knowledge of future events, but in most cases it consisted of the word of God delivered through a believer for the building up of fellow believers.

Verse 2

Speaking in tongues (languages, whether earthly or heavenly, not known to the speaker) is not jabbering to the air. It is, in fact, talking to God, but doing so in a way that others (and in most cases the speaker himself) could not understand. There is a proper time and place for speaking in tongues, as Paul will later explain.

Verse 3-4

Prophesy imparts benefits to others rather than to the speaker only. Strengthening oneself in the Lord is important–vital–but it is an activity to be engaged in at the right time. Since this activity does not strengthen the whole church, the meeting of the church for mutual exhortation and corporate worship is not the time for it.

Verse 5-6

Apparently all of the Corinthian believers had not received the gift of speaking with tongues. Paul says he wishes they all did have this gift, and some have interpolated from this remark that all believers can and should receive the gift of speaking in tongues. It does seem to have been a very common gift, but I don’t agree that Paul’s statement indicates that God desires to give it to all believers. Paul says next that he wishes even more that all the believers could prophesy, and yet I’ve never heard it argued that believers who do not prophesy haven’t really received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I have heard that argument, and frequently, with regard to speaking in tongues.

Tongues plus interpretation together amount to pretty much the same thing as a gift of prophesy, although not in as compact a package. One person speaks out in tongues and another (or the same) person delivers an interpretation of the message. Because prophesy (or tongues plus interpretation) strengthens the whole church rather than strengthening only the individual exercising the gift, it is considered a superior gift.

Speaking in tongues without an interpretation is compared to coming into a room full of Armenians and speaking to them in Mandarin. It’s not that your words mean nothing, but the words mean nothing to the Armenians and do them no good. If you were to come into the room speaking Armenian or speaking with an interpreter and tell the people that, for example, dinner is served and they should all head for the cafeteria, then you will do them some good.

Verse 7-19

Paul expands on his explanation. The Corinthians must have really been in love with the gift of tongues. Remind you of anyone? Full disclosure here–I do speak in tongues in my personal prayer life and have done since I was a teenager. I do find that it strengthens me spiritually. I don’t understand why, and as far as I know, I’ve never had anyone interpret anything I said in this way. To do this in a room full of believers as part of a church meeting would be silly. What good would it do?

If I were to pick up a flute and play a wandering, meandering spontaneous melody, no one would recognize it; it would not bring praise to God, nor build anyone up, though I might enjoy it and it might even have a pleasant sound. To actually communicate, I’d have to play a recognizable tune and preferably one whose lyrics pointed men to Jesus. If I used a bugle to call the city to arms, but didn’t know how to play “Charge!”, that wouldn’t work very well. (I can play “charge” on the flute. Does that count?)

Paul insists that speaking with tongues is not meaningless gibberish (“you may indeed give thanks well”), but that, to a person who doesn’t know the language, it is useless. Meetings of the church are designed to help and build up the church. Speaking in uninterpreted tongues during this type of meeting is selfish. During a specified prayer meeting or worship session, this may be appropriate, but not during the regular meeting of the church.

Verse 20

Essentially, “Grow up.” Paul sees his exhortations as common sense and appeals to the Corinthians to use reason in the matter.

Verse 21-22

The Gentiles were destined to preach God’s word back to His own people, but this preaching would be ineffective. For the believers, preaching to one another in foreign languages was not only ineffective but inappropriate as well. Because of God’s judgment toward the Jews, foreign and unintelligible preaching had been prophesied and was therefore a sign. To the believers, God gave the privilege of hearing His word in a way they could understand, and in their own language.

Verse 23-25

This doesn’t contradict Paul’s earlier statement, as the earlier statement refers particularly to unbelieving Hebrews. He fully expects the intelligible prophesying of the church to speak to unbelievers attending their meetings.

When was the last time you saw an unbeliever fall to his knees in the midst of a typical church service and declare that God was truly there among you? Is something wrong with the unbelievers these days, or is it the Holy Spirit Who isn’t getting the job done? Or could it possibly be the way we conduct “church”?

Verse 26

Paul now describes what he sees happening in a typical meeting of the Corinthian church and gives a few instructions. One has a song, another a teaching; someone else shares a revelation and another person speaks a message in tongues which is then interpreted by someone different. All these things that are done in the church, Paul says, must be things that will strengthen the church.

Note here: Paul does not say that all these things should be designed to appeal to seekers or unbelievers. He doesn’t exhort the Corinthians to always present the basics of the salvation message or to make sure their music is culturally relevant and attractive to pagans.

This is my speculation and something I’ve mused over for a long time. Have you ever noticed that with the things of God our first inclination is usually wrong?

We want to be holy so we get out the rule book and determine to obey God’s law. BEEP. Wrong answer. Rest in God and depend wholly on His grace. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to us. (James 4:8) Only He can change us. If we walk in the Spirit, we won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

We want to live; Jesus tells us we must lose our lives if we are to find them. (Matthew 16:25)

We want lots of stuff. Jesus tells us to lay up treasures in Heaven by giving up the treasures of earth. (Matthew 6:19-21)

We want to lead; He tells us to be the servant of all  . . . to be like the youngest . . . to follow Him.  (Mark 9:35, Matthew 18:4,  Luke 22:26)

Could it be that if we want to reach the lost what we really have to do is to build up the body of Christ so that a true picture of Jesus shines forth to unbelievers all around us? That all we have to do is to shine with His light and that He will do the rest, through His submitted and glorious church? That no matter how great our music; how talented our orators; how edgy our visuals, it doesn’t matter? All that matters is that people see Him in our midst? And if they don’t see Him, the rest of our efforts are worse than useless? (John 3:14-15, John 12:32)

Verse 27-28

Don’t overdo it on the tongues and interpretation thing, Paul tells the Corinthians. He knows you really have to spell things out for kids, especially with kids enamored of a new toy.

Verse 29-33

Two or three (not one gifted individual) people are to prophesy, and this prophecy is more of a conversation than a sermon. Others are allowed to interrupt and interject a thought God has given them. God gets to direct the meeting, not just be the “honored guest”. And don’t try to hog the floor, Paul says, by saying that “God had a hold of me and I just couldn’t stop talking.” The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet.

Verse 34-35

I’m going to go into this and the other “limiting passage” in a separate post . . . maybe directly after this one, or more likely when I’ve finished the entire letter (as I’m near the end).

Verse 36-38

Paul puts the Corinthians in their place here. Like a teacher saying, “I don’t want to hear it!” to their expected objections. “You’re not the first nor the only to have heard the word of God, and if you’re really a prophet or spiritual, you should easily see that this teaching I’m giving you is in accord with Jesus’ teachings.

Jesus taught that we should love and be considerate of one another. Paul is teaching the same, with some specifics appropriate to the subject at hand thrown in. Paul is really just giving the Corinthians a lesson in good manners and he expects them to see that this lesson is consistent with Jesus’ teachings on loving one another and denying oneself.

Verse 39-40

Lest the Corinthians go overboard and end up in the opposite error by forbidding to speak in tongues (as is consistent with their impetuous and immature nature), Paul specifically tells them not to forbid people from speaking in tongues. I’ve heard pastors grudgingly admit this verse and their implication seems to be: “Do it in private if you must, but I don’t ever want to hear it or to hear about it.” That attitude might not be quite in line with the spirit of what Paul is saying here.

The main thrust of this passage is to correct some points of order and to curb excesses in the Corinthians’ meetings. Paul once again exhorts them to do everything properly and in order. This is a message that goes beyond the specifics addressed in the chapter to the heart of the matter, namely that the meetings of the church should be a time of each member building up the others, taking turns and being polite and considerate, having as their motivation the benefit of their brothers and sisters, not their own aggrandizement. Not a bad lesson for any part of our lives.

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1 Corinthians 13: The Love Chapter

For as long as I can remember, I’ve referred to 1 Corinthians 13 as the “Love Chapter.” The Greek has several words which could be translated “love,” and none of them is able to express the fullness of the meaning of the word “love” as used here and elsewhere in the New Testament. I suspect that human languages have no such word, though agape or its verb form, agapao has been conscripted in the NT to fill the gap.

Some descriptions of love in the Old Testament help explain what is meant by the word agape in the NT. Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18) gives us one aspect of God’s idea of love. In Deuteronomy 6:5, He tells us how He wishes to be loved by us: Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

In the case of God’s love toward us, the word agape signifies a love “just because.” We don’t deserve it, and the only thing God can hope to gain from us is our love in return which, though He desires, He does not need and usually does not receive. Yet God does love us. It is this kind of love, this love called in the NT, agape for lack of a better word, which Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13.

We who live in the Kingdom of the Heavens are becoming the sorts of people–the people of God–who manifest agape toward God, toward our family of believers, and toward those who are in the world. We can only live this kind of love because of His Spirit living within us; because we have died to this world; because the life we now live, we live by the Son of God, and no longer is it we who live, but Christ Who lives in and through us. Humanly, it’s not possible, which may explain the lack of a suitable human word to symbolize this kind of love. Paul, playing off some things he’s said earlier to the Corinthians, describes some aspects of what he terms agape–what it is, and what it is not. This is not a shopping list for his readers to fill or a to do list to accomplish. It is a description. Do we have this agape love living within? Here’s how we can tell. If we don’t, the only thing to be done is to draw closer to Christ, for He is the source of agape, and there is no other supplier from whom we can obtain it. We haven’t the power to build it on our own–it can only grow within us as a response to hanging out with Jesus.

Verses 1-3

To start, Paul emphasizes that agape is the preeminent manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Many have used this portion of Paul’s letter to justify passing over the gifts of the Spirit (here mentioned: tongues, prophecy, knowledge, wisdom, special faith) as having any significance, however that is misreading Paul. He is here correcting the Corinthians’ imbalances, and they have, like many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches of today, placed far more emphasis on the gifts than on agape. This does not, in any sense, suggest that the gifts of the Spirit are bad or worthless or unimportant–it simply explains that, without agape, they are worthless.

The outward manifestations of agape: giving alms, and even submitting to martyrdom, mean nothing if they are not motivated by true agape within the person–which can only be the work of grace. We cannot, in ourselves, live agape. It is the gift of God alone.

Verse 4

Love is patient: Patience is possibly better translated in the KJV as longsuffering. Love may suffer because of the beloved’s unlovely behavior, but it does not give up.

Love is kind: Kindness means to show oneself useful, or to act with benevolence. Kindness, like love, is not just a feeling. It manifests itself in action.

Love does not envy: Envy (dzayloo) means to have warmth of feeling, either for or against, so it encompasses possessiveness toward the beloved as well as desire for his/her possessions or talents or attributes. Agape is not the sort of love that must possess the beloved.

Love is not boastful: Love is not a braggart–it doesn’t need to be seen as superior or to invoke the admiration of the beloved for him or herself.

Love is not conceited: This funny word means “to inflate,” and is, in the Greek, phusioo, like the sound one might make in puffing oneself up. The KJV translates it: puffed up. In nature, animals sometimes puff themselves up, either to ward off attackers or to attract mates. Love doesn’t do that–it’s vulnerable and genuine.

Verse 5

Love does not act improperly, behave itself unseemly, is not arrogant or rude. These are just three translations of this phrase, from the Holman Christian Standard, King James, and Revised Standard. There are more. The Greek word is aschemoneo, which Strong’s has as behave self uncomely or unseemly. I think probably all of the translations give us some aspect of this. An example of improper and unloving behavior might be the refusal of the Corinthian wives to show agape toward their husbands in the wearing of head coverings and in interrupting the church assembly with rude challenges to their men.

Love is not selfish. The King James translates this literally as “seeks not its own.” <i>Agape</i> isn’t out to please and benefit itself, but rather to benefit and bless the beloved. As an example, Paul has earlier explained to the Corinthians why flaunting their freedom to eat meats sacrificed to idols is unloving toward those weaker brethren it might cause to stumble.

Love isn’t easy to provoke: Agape isn’t overly sensitive, touchy, doesn’t make the beloved “walk on eggshells.” It doesn’t imagine offenses where none were intended, and is even capable of overlooking offenses which were, in fact, intended.

Love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs. How many of us do this? An argument surfaces and presto–all the hurts our beloved (or not so beloved) has ever committed against us bubble right up to the surface. We may not verbalize them, as most of us know this is a bad thing to do, but do we silently ennumerate them and allow them to build the hostility of the situation?

Verse 6

Love finds no joy in unrightesness. The word used here, adikia, means “moral wrongfulness.” Love doesn’t rejoice in immoral acts–specifically immoral sex acts. Paul has discussed this matter with the Corinthians already in this letter at some length. “If you love me, you’ll do it” doesn’t work, for “if you really love,” you will refuse to engage in immoral behavior or to even imagine doing so with your beloved. Lust is not love. Love rejoices in righteousness–not in immorality.

Verse 7

Love bears (or endures) all things. This word, stego, means literally to place a roof over, and figuratively, to cover with silence. That is, to endure patiently and without complaining or gossiping. Love shelters the beloved, hides his flaws, protects him. The lover suffers, but quietly and without complaining either in words or in manner . . . Believing all things–or having faith in Jesus Christ for the beloved . . . Hoping for the perfecting of our beloved with confident expectation . . . Enduring all things–refusing to give up on the beloved.

Verses 8-10

Unlike the spiritual gifts under discussion in chapter 12, love never ends. There will always be a place and a job for love, though it will not always require the rigors described in verse 7.

Prophecy will one day not be needed, for we will be with God. What need will we have for some brother or sister to tell us what God is saying to the church when we can speak with Him face to face? Speaking in unknown languages will no longer be needed as a sign (there will be no unbelievers) or to help in our prayer lives . . . and possibly there will be no more unknown languages, as we will know them and understand them all. The special gift of knowledge will likewise no longer be needed, for all knowledge will be available to us. The gifts of knowledge and prophecy could be compared to looking through a telescope. You can see only a very limited part of the sky or land through a telescope at any one moment, but when the perfect is available to us–when we’re actually there, we no longer need the telescope. We can see the whole picture.

During a sea voyage, we might find the help of a telescope, a GPS, a computer navigational program,  etc., essential to our voyage. Once we arrive, we have no more need of these things we found so useful in our journey. How silly we would look, trying to see the land we were standing on by looking at it through a telescope! Or looking at our handheld GPS receiver to find directions to a location we could see down the beach a few hundred yards! (Incidentally, I can see my dad roaming around Heaven, entering check-points on his GPS though he knows perfectly well where they are and can be there in a moment. I expect there are way cooler things in Heaven than GPS receivers, though, so maybe not.) 😉

Verse 11

Paul compares our present perceptual abilities to those of a child in an adult world. Kids see what’s going on, but often don’t understand it. It’s as if they go about in a haze, walled in by their own little concerns and understanding very little of the wide world around them. As they grow, this limited perception broadens–and for most of us, this process doesn’t (and shouldn’t) come to an abrupt halt when we reach adulthood.

Verse 12

The mirrors in Corinth (which was famous for its high quality mirrors) weren’t like our mirrors of today. They were made of bronze, and no matter how you polish even a fine metal such as bronze, it will give you a dark and imperfect reflection. It’s better than nothing, but it’s not the same as seeing a person face to face. Our perception of God and one another in this world is like the reflection we might see in a bronze mirror. In the next world, we will know fully. Therefore, the helps God has given us to assist us through this age–the spiritual gifts–will no longer be needed.

Verse 13

Why do we still need faith and hope when we have reached the full manifestation of the Kingdom of God? The Bible Knowledge Commentary suggests that faith and hope are  characteristics of love. That makes sense to me. Another point of view that I like very much, from the People’s New Testament commentary, asserts that: “As long as the redeemed saint shall have future ages before him, so long will trust in God and hope give them brightness, while love itself is the very atmosphere of the divine life.” Doubtless, these both have the element of truth.

How do we walk in this divine love? We can’t. As I said earlier, this is a description. If it doesn’t accurately portray where and how we find ourselves being, then we’re not walking in God’s love. The solution is not to try to do the things and to have the motivations Paul has described here. It is simply to seek God. He’s promised that when we search for Him with all our hearts, He’ll be found of us. He’s here, after all, all around every one of us. In Him we live and move and have our being. Our strong and genuine desire for Him makes Him perceptible to us, and when we see Him, we’ll be like Him. The more of Him we see, the more of His character will live in us.

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1 Corinthians 12:12-31

If you see a little of the influence of Barna and Viola’s Pagan Christianity here, you’re not imaging things. I find myself agreeing with them more the more I read, and the part of 1 Corinthians (chapters 11-14) I’m presently studying just coincidentally (yeah.) happens to be one of the passages they rely on heavily to make their case for a fellowship in which all believers are full participants. So, with that product warning, let’s look at 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.

Verse 12

The body of Christ, like our physical bodies, has many parts. This is one of many metaphors used in the Scriptures for the church–that is the sum total of people who believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and who have truly confessed Him as their Lord.

Verse 13

Whether we are rich or poor, retired or unemployed, clergy or laity, white, black, red, yellow, or a combination, Hispanic, Germanic, Jewish, Polynesian, Native American, plain-ol’ American or Martian, we are all a part of the one body. No one is more valuable or less valuable than anyone else in the body of Christ.

Verse 14

How many churches have one or a handful of active members? The pastor, maybe the song leader (who might also be the pastor), a few Sunday school teachers. Everyone else is a spectator, and everyone except the pastor and music team is a spectator during the worship service. The majority of the congregation is not involved except as passive recipients, beyond perhaps attempting to answer the odd question in Sunday school.

Verses 15-16

Which is it more prestigious to be? A foot or a hand? An ear or an eye? If your part in the body seems less prominent or attractive, that doesn’t make you less necessary. All members of the body are needed. Imagine doing without your feet or your ears. Even for those of us whose ears don’t work as well as they once did, we treasure them. Wouldn’t we look odd without them? And how would we wear our glasses? If you or I consider ourselves to be less necessary and therefore don’t use the ministry gifts God has given us, we cripple the whole body. We are needed.

Verse 17-20

As far as sensory organs are concerned, the eye takes prominence in the human body.  Next would probably be the ear. Smell (and taste and touch) run a distant third, but we still relate strongly to them. So the whole body isn’t an eye–we need and use all of our senses, and the body of Christ, the church, is no different. If we must rely on the giftings on one or a handful of persons while all others are silent, we are severely handicapped.

Verses 21-22

Paul has exhorted the “lesser” parts of the body not to feel inferior or neglect to offer their gifts. Now he reminds the more prominent parts of the body not to forget their need for the hands or the feet or even the seemingly “weaker” parts of the body.

Verses 23-27

I’ve spent a lot of thought and prayer trying to figure out what Paul meant by the “less honorable” or “unpresentable” parts which need to be treated with greater modesty. My commentaries say this means the entrails, and though this wasn’t exactly my first thought on the matter, it doesn’t help in any case. I don’t know whether the feet and the hands and the ears and the eyes refer to any specific ministry gifts, but the “unpresentable” parts obviously refer to people who need some sort of protection from being openly seen as they are or as they appear to be.

One commentator suggested this may refer to brothers or sisters who have fallen into some publicly disgraceful sin and have repented and are being restored. This could be, but I don’t see that this would correlate with the body parts we typically feel the need to cover, let alone the body parts that would have been covered by the Corinthian Christians (they covered most everything in those days). While it might be shameful to display these parts, that’s not because the parts have somehow done something wrong that needs to be kept from prying eyes.

I wonder if this doesn’t refer to those “irregular” people who are present everywhere in small numbers, and mildly embarrassing because of their social disabilities. If, out of love, we cover for one another and particularly for those socially inept though well-meaning members, wouldn’t this correlate? They are needed because of a wide range of reasons . . . First, Christ died for them and loves them. Second, they too, carry a part of the image of God. Third, they help us to learn to respect everyone, and to learn from and love all our brothers and sisters, even those who seem different or odd.

Or Paul might be referring to the bumbling new believer who has a great abundance of enthusiasm but is still fleshly and lacking in knowledge and humility and love and all those things Jesus develops in us as we walk with Him. Would it not please our Lord that we cover for these new little siblings? Yet they, too, have a wealth of things to teach us. What loving and responsible parent has not learned volumes from his or her children?

Perhaps Paul is talking about that needy member of the body who always seems to have a disaster in her life . . . medical, marital, parental, financial . . . you name it. This person is always in the midst of an emergency. Nevertheless, God does expect us to take care of her–she’s our sister. We’re not sure why all these things seem to follow her around, but she doesn’t need to be scrutinized by the world, so we cover her.

Whoever these people may be, we’re to treat them with love and extra care. In this way, every member of the body has equal respect . . . whether it’s the respect of people who recognize and value giftings and service to the body or the respect of caring for a needy sibling.

We are to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. If one member is honored, we, the loving family, are not envious but overjoyed. If one member suffers, we are not annoyed, but we truly suffer with him. Think about the last time you had an infected toenail. Did your whole body not suffer with it? But where was the pain? Only in one small part. We need to care for one another well because we are all one in our Lord.

Verse 28

Here we have another list of gifts, different from the list in verses 8-10, though overlapping in some places. These are not offices to which we might appoint people we deem called of God or competent or deserving. These are functioning parts of the body who are what they are because God has made them so.

As far as gifts of the Spirit, Paul consistently lists “tongues” or “languages” last. I don’t know whether he lists it last because it is the least of gifts or because the Corinthians so highly valued it. As is often the case today, that which was least beneficial to the body was also the thing everyone wanted. The gift of speaking in unknown languages is a good gift and a useful gift, though it’s not the best gift. God doesn’t give bad gifts. The problem is, I think, that we have so highly valued it that we have exalted it above all other spiritual gifts. As a result, it is frequently the only gift we’re able to receive.

Verse 29-30

Paul asks, “Does everyone have every gift?” Today we might add, and does anyone have all the gifts to enable him to carry on all the ministry of the body whilst everyone else sits in pews saying nothing and trying to keep their minds from wandering? His point . . . we have differing gifts. None of us has it all. We need one another, and we needn’t fret because we don’t have this or that coveted gift–we each have the gifts God has chosen for us. Nevertheless, we can desire and pray for the best gifts, as we’ll see in verse 31.

Charismatics will tell you that the gift of a personal prayer language is evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Here, Paul asks, “Do all speak with tongues?”, with the implied answer being, “No.” However, he follows the question with another: “Do all interpret?” I believe that the Charismatics are right in saying that this question refers to the public gift, not the private gift of tongues and that everyone can, indeed, have his or her own prayer language. However, I do not believe that this gift is either evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit or that the lack of it is evidence of not being filled. All believers are filled with the Spirit and though Scripture does give some support for a “second blessing,” I don’t think the gift of tongues is required evidence of having received that additional infilling.

We don’t all possess all the gifts, nor does any one person possess all the gifts. We need each other. That’s the way God designed the church to operate. What I lack, you supply and what you lack, another supplies. Only together do we see a complete picture of our Lord.

Verse 31

Some use this verse to negate all that Paul has just said about the spiritual gifts. “I show you a more excellent way.” Does this mean we no longer need the spiritual gifts? Let’s think of this more excellent way as the foundation to a house. If you have the foundation, do you cease to require walls and a roof? Will you be satisfied without electricity or water? Not in this country. “A more excellent way” does not mean we don’t need the gifts or that the gifts aren’t worth having. It just means they’re not worth having alone. What good are walls without a foundation? Not much, and not for long.

The more excellent way does not cancel all that Paul has written of spiritual giftings. If it does, why did Paul waste his time going through all this? How much simpler to have said, “Oh you don’t need all that. Forget about it. Come here–I’ll show you the good stuff.”

Rather, I hear him saying, “Yes this is good–and you should go for the very best of the gifts.” What are the best gifts? I’ve heard it said that the best gifts are the ones needed at the moment, and I think that’s a great definition. I doubt Paul would disagree with it, but I think perhaps what he had in mind were prophecy and teaching and gifts that do the most to build the body.

All this, and there’s something even better! And Paul’s going to tell us about it . . . next time.

Grace and peace,

Cindy

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