Brothers, do not be children in your thinking.  Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

1 Corinthians 14:20

The above principle applies to our Christian walk in so many ways.  Evil is the only thing about which our Lord wants us to have child-like innocence due to being less and less involved in it due to our spiritual growth (Rom. 16:19; Matt. 18:3; cf. Rom. 6:1-23).  In the meantime, he directs us to “mature” in our “thinking” (14:20; cf. Heb. 5:12-14).  This happens through daily study of God’s Word (Ps. 1:1-3) as well as through continual coming together as a church to be edified and instructed (Heb. 10:24-25).  One of the major reasons evangelists, shepherds, and teachers within the church use the inspired writings of the apostles and prophets found within the New Testament to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” is to bring all within the church “to mature manhood” so that “we may no longer be children” in a spiritual sense (Eph. 4:11-14).   Each of us should consciously give thought every day to whether we are growing more mature.

The Corinthians were acting like children in how they thought about miraculous spiritual gifts.  Rather than considering whether those listening to them could understand what they were saying and thus be spiritually edified, they cared more about showing off to their fellow Christians in their worship assemblies the ability to be fluent in other languages…even though there was no one who could interpret what they were saying. 

In correcting this, Paul quotes from Isaiah 28:11-12:  “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord” (14:21).  Isaiah had said this because the Israelites of his day were refusing to listen to God’s message spoken to them by the prophets, resulting in God turning to foreigners speaking in foreign languages – specifically, the invading Assyrian army who would take them into captivity – to teach them the error of their ways.  If the Israelites had simply chosen to heed God’s message spoken initially to them in their own language by Isaiah, things would have been much better for them. 

Paul’s point is that the spiritual gift of “prophecy” – i.e., speaking a message given directly from the Lord in the native tongue of both oneself and one’s brethren – was much more spiritually beneficial to one’s fellow “believers” at Corinth than speaking in tongues (14:22b).  The purpose of speaking in tongues was to bring the saving message of the gospel to “unbelievers” from other nations who spoke different languages (14:22a; cf. Matt. 28:19; Mk. 16:15; Lk. 24:47; Acts 1:8).  Speaking miraculously in other languages in their worship assemblies without having anyone to interpret what they were saying would not accomplish that goal and would actually be an obstacle towards getting lost souls to open their minds to the gospel.  Paul points this out by hypothesizing, “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?” (14:23). 

On the other hand, Paul points out in his hypothetical that “if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you” (14:24-25).  In other words, if a local non-Christian visited their worship assembly and heard from them a prophetic message from God in his own language, what would happen?  He would hear…and understand!…a message that would convict him of sin, righteousness, and judgment (cf. John 16:7-11), a message that would help him to realize deep in his heart what he needed to change in order to be reconciled to God (cf. Heb. 4:12-13).  Basically, it would be far more likely that he would obey the gospel and become a converted believer.

It’s easy to get so focused on what we want that we forget about the bigger picture.  Focusing on what is best for souls – our own as well as those of our brethren and the lost – is always a sign of true maturity in Christ (Phil. 2:1-5).                                                                                          

— Jon