The Gift of Making Sense: Edification Above All Text: 1 Corinthians 14:6-12
Introduction: The Point of the Gifts
The church at Corinth was a gifted church. The Spirit of God had been marvelously generous with them, and they were not lacking in any spiritual gift. But like a child with a new set of very sharp tools, they were doing more harm than good. They were fascinated with the spectacular, enamored with the ecstatic, and in their childish zeal, they had forgotten the entire point of the exercise. The corporate worship of God's people had become a stage for spiritual showmanship, particularly with the gift of tongues, and the result was not edification, but confusion. It was a clanging gong and a clashing cymbal.
Paul, having just completed his magisterial discourse on love in chapter 13, now brings that principle to bear on their chaotic worship services. Love, he has just argued, is the "more excellent way." And what does love do? Love builds up. Love serves. Love considers the good of the other. Therefore, any true manifestation of the Spirit of God in the gathered church must be governed by this principle of loving edification. The central question Paul forces upon them, and upon us, is this: are we building the church up? Is anyone profiting from this? Is the body of Christ being strengthened, equipped, and instructed? If not, then whatever you are doing, no matter how spiritual it feels to you, is out of order.
This is a profoundly practical and deeply theological matter. The worship of God is not a private, mystical experience that happens to take place in a group setting. It is a corporate, covenantal act. We are the body of Christ, and the members have responsibilities to one another. The gifts of the Spirit are not merit badges for the spiritually elite; they are tools given to build the house. And a tool is judged by its usefulness for the task at hand. In our passage today, Paul uses a series of plain, common-sense analogies to drive this point home with inescapable clarity. The governing principle for all speech in the church is that it must be intelligible. It must make sense. For the church to be built up, the saints must understand what is being said.
The Text
But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching? Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? For if the trumpet produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? So also you, unless you utter by the tongue a word that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of sounds in the world, and none is without meaning. If then I do not know the meaning of the sound, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me. So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.
(1 Corinthians 14:6-12 LSB)
The Test of Profit (v. 6)
Paul begins with a rhetorical question, putting himself into the scenario to soften the rebuke.
"But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching?" (1 Corinthians 14:6)
The apostle, the founder of their church, asks a simple question: "What good will I do you?" This is the acid test. The word for profit here means to benefit, to help, to be useful. Paul is establishing the foundational criterion for all ministry in the church: it must be profitable for the hearers. This immediately cuts the legs out from under any form of self-indulgent spirituality. The question is not "How does this make me feel?" but "How does this build up my brother?"
Paul then lists four ways that intelligible speech can profit the church: revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching. We need not draw overly sharp distinctions between these, as they often overlap. A revelation is an unveiling of divine truth. Knowledge is the Spirit-given understanding of that truth. Prophecy is the speaking forth of that truth for the church's immediate situation, to strengthen, encourage, and comfort. And teaching is the systematic explanation of God's Word to ground the believers in the faith. What do all four have in common? They are all intelligible. They are all forms of communication that engage the mind. Uninterpreted tongues, by contrast, cannot deliver any of these things. It might be a genuine spiritual experience for the one speaking, but for everyone else in the room, it is unprofitable noise.
The Argument from Musical Instruments (v. 7-8)
Paul then turns to the world of music and warfare to illustrate his point with brilliant simplicity.
"Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? For if the trumpet produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?" (1 Corinthians 14:7-8 LSB)
A flute or a harp is designed to make music. But if a person just blows air randomly through the flute or scrapes his hand across the harp strings, it is not music. It is just noise. Music requires distinction, order, and pattern. You have to play actual notes in a sequence for a melody to be recognized. Without that intelligible pattern, the instrument fails its purpose.
The analogy of the trumpet is even more pointed. The military trumpet was a vital instrument of communication. It had distinct calls: a call to advance, a call to retreat, a call to charge, a call to assemble. The life of the army depended on the clarity of that sound. If the trumpeter just blasted a random, indistinct noise, what would happen? At best, confusion. At worst, slaughter. No one would know what to do. The sound would be useless, even dangerous.
The application to the Corinthian church is devastatingly clear. Their worship services were full of indistinct trumpet blasts. People were making sounds, but they were not communicating anything. They were not preparing the saints for spiritual battle. They were not playing the beautiful music of the gospel. They were just making noise, and calling it spiritual. Paul is saying that intelligibility is not optional; it is essential to the very purpose of the gathering.
Speaking into the Air (v. 9-11)
Paul now applies these analogies directly to their use of tongues.
"So also you, unless you utter by the tongue a word that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of sounds in the world, and none is without meaning. If then I do not know the meaning of the sound, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me." (1 Corinthians 14:9-11 LSB)
To speak without being understood is to speak "into the air." It is a wasted effort. The words just dissipate with no effect. It is the verbal equivalent of firing a gun with no target. Paul acknowledges that there are many languages, or "kinds of sounds," in the world. He is not dismissing tongues as meaningless gibberish. He grants that they have meaning, to God, and to the speaker. The issue is not the nature of the utterance, but its function in the corporate body.
His use of the word "barbarian" is potent. To the Greeks, anyone who did not speak Greek was a "bar-bar-ian," because that's what their foreign languages sounded like to the Greek ear, just repetitive, unintelligible syllables. It was a term of exclusion. Paul's point is that when you speak in a tongue without interpretation, you are creating a communication barrier. You are treating your brother in Christ as a foreigner. You are creating alienation, not communion. The very gift that is supposed to be a sign of the Spirit's unifying power becomes a tool of division. Instead of building a bridge, you are building a wall right down the middle of the sanctuary.
The Prime Directive: Edification (v. 12)
Finally, Paul brings it all together in a concluding exhortation that should be written over the door of every church.
"So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church." (1 Corinthians 14:12 LSB)
Paul does not quench their zeal. He redirects it. He says, "It is a good thing that you are zealous for spiritual things. I am not trying to shut you down. But you must channel that zeal toward the right goal." And what is that goal? "The edification of the church." The word edification comes from the world of construction; it means to build a house. The church is God's temple, and the gifts are given to build it up, stone by living stone.
This is the ultimate criterion. Does this practice, this sermon, this song, this prayer, this spiritual gift, build up the body of Christ? Does it make the church stronger, wiser, holier, more loving, better equipped? If it edifies you alone, it is spiritually selfish. It is like a construction worker using the company's materials to build a fancy doghouse for himself while the main building lies in ruins. The gifts are not for private enjoyment in the public assembly. They are for the common good.
Therefore, Paul's logic is simple. You are zealous for gifts. Good. Now, seek to excel, to abound, in those gifts that actually accomplish the purpose for which all gifts are given. And what is that? The building up of the church. This means that prophecy, teaching, and other intelligible gifts are functionally superior to uninterpreted tongues in the corporate gathering, precisely because they are designed for edification.
Conclusion: A Church That Makes Sense
The principle Paul lays down here is timeless. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. And He builds His church through the clear, powerful, and intelligible proclamation of His Word. Our worship services should make sense. They should be ordered in such a way that both the believer and the unbeliever can understand what is being said and done.
This is not a call to a dry, sterile intellectualism. Far from it. This is a call to a worship that engages the whole person, mind and heart together. When the Word of God is clearly taught, when the gospel is plainly proclaimed, when prayers are offered with understanding, the Spirit of God works powerfully. He convicts, He comforts, He exhorts, and He builds. He takes the clear notes of revealed truth and orchestrates them into the beautiful music of a healthy church.
Let us, therefore, take Paul's exhortation to heart. Let us be zealous for the things of the Spirit. But let us channel that zeal away from the spectacular and the self-serving, and toward the steady, patient, and loving work of building one another up in the most holy faith. Let us desire, above all, to be a church that is profitable, a church that makes sense, a church that edifies. For that is the kind of church that glorifies God.