Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

The Prophetic Confusion at Corinth

he must assign to it the place which it deserves as a charisma of the Spirit." 26 Paul handles this delicate subject like a tightrope walker who maintains his bearing on the high wire only so long as the pole he is car rying stays perfectly balanced.

Illustrations ofMeaningless Sound (verses 6-12)

Paul is not yet satisfied that his point is made. He proceeds to reem phasize that intelligibility of spiritual language is essential for building up the Church. People must understand spiritual communication before they can be helped by it. Four graphic illustrations help visualize his point: Musical instruments (verse 7) must have clear, distinct, in-tune tones for music to be pleasurable. Improperly used tongues in a service affects a gathering just as discord offends a musical audience. Writes Simon Kistemaker: "Music must be agreeable to the ear to be acceptable to the audience. The musician must skillfully produce pleasing sounds that dis close the distinct characteristics of the instrument that is played, whether the flute or the harp. Thus a relationship is formed between the player and the listener. But if the player produces a cacophony of sounds, every one will depart from his presence." 27 The army bugle (verse 8) was valuable in ancient warfare. A faulty bugle call could spell disaster for a military unit, especially when under attack. In such a situation the bugle was the only form of communica tion. An army's success depended on quick response to the trumpet call, so the sound had to be clear and identifiable. Imagine the impact of a bugler posted on the city wall who lost his lip and made squawking sounds as an enemy force prepared to take the city! Unclear conversation (verse 9) leaves a person dissatisfied and frus trated. Meaningful conversation depends on the cooperation of two peo ple speaking clearly and understandably. Every language in the world (verse 10) has its distinctives, and each language carries special meaning for its native people. Unknown foreign words (verse 11) create a significant communication barrier. Words must register meaning in the minds of the hearers. Paul ties these crystal-clear illustrations to speaking in tongues with out interpretation in the church service. It is best, he stresses again, to speak meaningful spiritual language in a public service so that all may benefit. One purpose of congregational worship, after all, is building up the whole church, and we should seek zealously to fulfill this objective in our pursuit of spiritual activities. 219 ■