"… tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers …" (1 Cor. 14:22).
In vv. 20–25, Paul sends a wake-up call to any church that encourages the chaotic exercise of tongues. He tells them to put off such evil behavior and to be mature in their understanding and use of their gifts. The apostle references the Old Testament as an object lesson. “The Jews had refused to hear the prophets speaking their own language, and God threatened to bring upon them a people (the Assyrians) whose language they could not understand,” Hodge wrote. “This was a judgment; a mark of displeasure designed as a punishment and not for their conversion. From this the Corinthians might learn that it was no mark of the divine favor to have teachers whose language they could not understand. They were turning a blessing into a curse. The gift of tongues was designed, among other things, to facilitate the propagation of the Gospel, by enabling Christians to address people of various nations each in his own language. Used for this purpose it was a blessing; but to employ it for the sake of display, in addressing those who could not understand the language employed, was to make it a curse. The Spirit of God often confers gifts on men, then holds them responsible for the way in which they exercise them.”
Because the Corinthians were speaking meaningless gibber without interpretation, the gift had become a curse. Tongues, therefore, had become a sign, or manifestation of God, to unbelievers. God had sent unintelligible teachers to unbelievers as a sign of judgment. But when He sent prophets, those whom the people could understand, they were blessed and believers were edified. If tongues had been rightly used, been interpreted for the people, it would have been a blessing, a prophetic message of conversion.
The Corinthians, however, were using their gift foolishly, without giving any thought to the unbeliever in their midst. As a result, the unbelievers who heard them were hardened in their sin. But if the Corinthians had spoken the Word of God clearly and intelligibly, the unbelievers would have heard, not unknown tongues or foolish gibberish, but the truth of God, the Good News of Jesus Christ; and hearing such divine truth, they would have been convicted of their sins and publicly confessed faith in Jesus Christ.
It is common to walk into some churches today and find people speaking, praying, and singing in tongues, most of which are a cacophony of sounds and not real languages. This is often done without interpretation or order. Using today’s study and verses, what would your response be to such a display? Let your words be gracious.
