1 Corinthians 14:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

NIV: You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

NASB: For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified.

CSB: For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up.

NLT: You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.

KJV: For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.

NKJV: For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.

Verse 12 indicated that the Christians in Corinth should be striving at building up the church by building up each other. That's the reason spiritual gifts are given by God. That's what those gifts are intended to be used for. If spiritual gifts don't help with that purpose, they should not be displayed in the church.

That's why Paul is restricting the exercise of the gift of speaking in unknown languages during church services if no interpretation is available. Some of the Corinthians may have objected that they were using the gift to pray to God, and He understood them. Paul's response is that praying to God without knowing what is being said makes the experience only a spiritual one and not mentally engaging. For those who listen to unintelligible words, it is neither spiritual nor intellectual. It is meaningless.

In the previous verse, he wrote that those who hear a prayer of thanksgiving to God without knowing what is being said cannot respond by saying "Amen." Apparently, this was a common response in the church to prayers of blessing or giving thanks to God. Saying "Amen" was a way of expressing agreement with the one who was praying. This practice continues in many churches today.

Paul writes now that the problem is not with the prayer itself. The speaker may have given thanks "well enough," but they have not contributed to the mission of the church: They have not built anyone up.

Setting the discussion of spiritual gifts aside, Paul's teaching here shows that one purpose of public prayer in church is to build up those who hear, as well as communicating to God personally.

First Corinthians 14:1–25 describes why the gift of prophecy is superior to the gift of tongues in church services, especially when nobody with the gift of interpreting tongues is available. Prophecy benefits everyone in the room with a revelation from God. Praying in a tongue, when nobody can interpret, only benefits the one praying. In fact, displaying the gift of tongues without interpretation may do more harm than good—it generates confusion and division. In contrast, the use of prophecy provides the opportunity for unbelievers to hear from God, be convicted about sin, and come to faith in Christ and genuine worship.

Paul encourages the Corinthians to desire the gift of prophecy, especially, among the other gifts. He shows why its use in the church service is superior to the use of the gift of tongues if nobody is available to interpret. Prophecy benefits everyone; praying in tongues with nobody to interpret benefits only the speaker. Only two or three tongues-speakers should contribute to any service, and only then one at a time and followed by interpreters. The same applies to prophecy and the gift of discerning spirits. Orderliness and building up the church are guiding principles for any worship meeting. Modern churches are divided on the extent to who which these gifts are given, or should be practiced.

1 Corinthians 14 concludes Paul's teaching on the spiritual gifts begun in chapter 12. Between them, chapter 13 declared that Christlike love matters most of all. The gift of prophecy is better than the display of the gift of tongues in worship services unless someone with the gift of interpreting tongues is available. Even then, only those things which build up the church should be included in any service, and everything should be done in an orderly way, reflecting the character of God. The final two chapters of this letter discuss the resurrection of Christ and Paul's concluding remarks.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.