1 Corinthians 14:23 - Printer Friendly

ESV: If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

NIV: So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

NASB: Therefore if the whole church gathers together and all the people speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are insane?

CSB: If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in other tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

NLT: Even so, if unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy.

KJV: If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

NKJV: Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

In the previous verse, Paul declared that tongues are a sign for unbelievers. He seems to have meant this as a negative sign: a display of God's supernatural power that would drive unbelievers deeper into their unbelief. He now describes what that might look like.

Imagine, Paul writes, a church service where believers are gathered and everyone is speaking in tongues with no interpretation of what is being said. Now imagine, Paul continues, that outsiders or unbelievers were to come into the service at that very moment. What would they think is going on? Wouldn't they think everyone in the room, all Christians, had lost their minds? They certainly wouldn't be able to gain meaning from the words being spoken.

Paul's example stresses how seriously he took the impression Christians make on unbelievers. That reputation is especially important when it comes to practicing the worship of Christ. Someone with no knowledge of Christianity who witnessed a scene of mass tongue-speaking would easily conclude the group was possessed or hallucinating. Perhaps they would even associate Christianity with the worship of idols, which in ancient Greek culture often involved shrieking and yelling out frenzied gibberish.

It's important to notice that Paul is not questioning the validity of the gift in this verse. He is not denying that, even in this scenario, the Corinthians would be exercising a legitimate gift from God by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. What he is saying is that the display of that power, when used inappropriately, can do more harm than good, especially for unbelievers. This follows in perfect harmony with his explanation in chapter 13, that spiritual gifts must be applied correctly to be of any real use.

In the following verse, he compares the result when the gift of prophecy is being displayed, instead.

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.