1 Corinthians 14:26 - Meaning and Application

In this passage, the apostle corrects their disorder and tries to guide their behavior in the future.

He first blames them for the confusion they brought into the church meeting by showing off their gifts (1 Corinthians 14:26). When they came together, each person had something to bring, a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, and so on. That means either they were mixing up the different parts of worship, so one person had a psalm by inspiration while another had a teaching or revelation, or they were crowding into the same part of worship all at once. Many of them wanted to bring psalms or teachings at the same time, without waiting for one another. Was this not complete disorder? Could it be helpful? All public worship should have one aim: let everything be done for building up the church.

He then corrects their faults and gives rules for the future. As for speaking in an unknown tongue, no more than two or three should do it in one meeting, and they should speak one at a time, not all together. Even then, it should only happen if someone is there to interpret (1 Corinthians 14:27, 1 Corinthians 14:28). There should be another interpreter besides the speaker himself, because speaking in a tongue and then interpreting it himself would only show off. But if another person could interpret, then two spiritual gifts could be used at once, and the church would be helped while the hearers’ faith was strengthened. If no one could interpret, the speaker should keep silent in the church and use the gift only before God and himself (1 Corinthians 14:28). That is, as I understand it, in private at home. Everyone present at public worship should take part in the worship, not be off having private devotions in the middle of a church meeting. Private devotion is out of place when the church has gathered for shared worship.

As for prophesying, he orders that only two or three should speak at one meeting (1 Corinthians 14:20), and they should speak one after another, not all at once. The others should examine and judge what was said, meaning they were to test whether it truly came from God. There could be false prophets, people only pretending to speak by divine inspiration. The true prophets were to weigh these claims, tell who was truly inspired, and judge what was really from God and what was not. This seems to be the meaning of the rule. But where a prophet was already known to be truly inspired, no one could put him on trial in the same way, for that would mean placing even the Holy Spirit under human judgment. A man who was truly inspired and known to be so stood above ordinary human judgment.

The apostle also says that if another prophet received a revelation while one was speaking, the second should wait and be silent (1 Corinthians 14:30). Many understand this to mean that the first speaker had to stop at once, but that does not seem natural to me. It does not fit the context well. Why should a man already speaking by inspiration be cut off as soon as another person received inspiration, as though the same Spirit could not guide both? The one with the new revelation could speak in his turn, after giving proof of his calling. But why should the one already speaking be silenced before he finished what the same Spirit had given him to say? Would the Spirit of God move one man to speak, and then interrupt him before he was done by moving another to stop him? That seems unlikely.

This interpretation fits the context better, and it also fits the reason given next, that all might prophesy one by one, or one after another (1 Corinthians 14:31). That could not happen if one speaker were cut off before finishing, but it could happen easily if the prophet who came later waited until the first had finished. Paul soon adds to support this idea, The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (1 Corinthians 14:33). That means spiritual gifts do not take away a person’s reason. The person still has control over how to use the gift. Divine inspiration is not like the wild frenzy seen in pagan priests, who acted as if they were out of their minds. God’s work is calm and orderly, and the inspired person can still act like a rational human being and follow proper order and decency when giving the revelation. His spiritual gift is, in this sense, under his control and should be used with judgment.

The apostle then gives the reasons for these rules. First, they are for the church’s good, for learning and comfort. The prophets should speak in the orderly way he recommends so that all may learn and all may be comforted or encouraged. The purpose of ministry is the instruction, building up, and comfort of the church. Ministers should do all they can to fit their work to those purposes.

Second, he says that God is not a God of confusion, but of peace and order (1 Corinthians 14:33). So divine inspiration should never throw Christian meetings into chaos or break through all proper rules of decency. That would happen if several inspired men all spoke at once and none waited their turn. God’s honor requires that Christian assemblies be managed so they do not violate the ordinary rules of decency. If worship is done in a noisy, confused way, what idea does that give observers about the God being worshiped? Does it suggest that he is a God of peace and order, and not of confusion? Worship should be conducted so that no ugly or disrespectful idea of God is left in the minds of those who watch.

Third, Paul says that this was the order followed in all the other churches: as in all the churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33). They kept these rules in using their spiritual gifts, and that was clear proof that the Corinthian church could do the same. It would be shameful for them, since they had more spiritual gifts than most churches, to be more disorderly than any of them in using those gifts. Other churches are not our final rule, but their respect for decency and order should keep us from breaking those rules. In that sense, they can be examples for us, and it is a shame not to follow them.