Scripture Daily

Context No. 2103 of 4322 · 1 Corinthians

Context · Reflection

1 Corinthians 14:26-40: in context

26What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has another language, or has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build each other up. 27If any man speaks in another language, let there be two, or at the most three, and in turn; and let one interpret. 28But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29Let two or three of the prophets speak, and let the others discern. 30But if a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first keep silent. 31For you all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be exhorted. 32The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, 33for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints. 34Let the wives be quiet in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to be talking except in submission, as the law also says, 35if they desire to learn anything. “Let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a wife to be talking in the assembly.” 36What!? Was it from you that the word of God went out? Or did it come to you alone? 37If any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize the things which I write to you, that they are the commandment of the Lord. 38But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. 39Therefore, brothers, desire earnestly to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking with other languages. 40Let all things be done decently and in order.

Paul addresses a Corinthian church whose gatherings had become disorderly, with people speaking over one another and confusion prevailing. His counsel gives two guiding principles. First: when you come together, whatever anyone brings, let all things be done to build each other up. And second, grounded in the character of God himself: God is not a God of confusion but of peace. He concludes with a summary rule for their life together: let all things be done decently and in order. Edification and order, reflecting God's own peace, were to govern their gatherings.

Two principles order Paul's counsel here, and both are worth taking to heart. The first is that everything in the gathering should aim at building one another up. Whatever anyone contributes, its purpose is not self-display or personal expression for its own sake, but the edification of others; let all things be done to build each other up. The measure of what we do together is whether it builds up the body, not whether it exalts ourselves. The second is that our life together should be marked by order and peace, because God himself is a God of peace, not confusion. The disorder at Corinth, everyone speaking at once, contradicted the character of the God they worshiped; and Paul calls them to let all things be done decently and in order, reflecting God's own peace. These principles reach beyond the ancient gathering to how we conduct ourselves together as God's people. First, the aim of edification: what we bring to our common life is meant to build others up, not to serve our own display or preference. This searches our motives. Do we act, speak, and contribute in ways that build up others, or in ways that serve ourselves, seeking to be seen, heard, or admired? Let all things be done to build each other up; edification, not self-display, is the measure. Second, the value of order and peace: because God is a God of peace, not confusion, our life together is to reflect that peace, marked by order rather than chaos, by consideration for others rather than everyone pressing their own way at once. Order here is not rigid formality but the peace that lets a body function together, each considering others, all aimed at the common good. This calls us to conduct our shared life in a way that reflects the God we worship. Is what we do together aimed at building others up, and marked by the order and peace that reflect God's character? Or does self-display and disorder prevail? God is not a God of confusion but of peace; and our life together, in the church and beyond, is to reflect that, doing all things to build each other up, decently and in order, so that our common life shows something of the peace of the God we serve.

In my life together with God's people, is what I bring aimed at building others up, or at serving my own display, being seen and heard and admired, and does our common life reflect the order and peace of the God who is not a God of confusion but of peace, and can Paul's principles, let all things be done to build each other up, and decently and in order, move me to seek the edification of others and the peace that reflects God's own character rather than self-display and disorder?

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