Summary - 1 Corinthians 14:20-25

N.T. Wright reads verse 20 as a statement of general principle. Paul is calling on the Corinthians to be wise - to figure out what should happen in a church service and why. They should grow up and discern the difference between babbling, indiscriminate use of their gift (Baker, p. 200) and when its judicious use is helpful to the church. Tongues may be a sign to unbelievers* and not needed by believers. They could drive away visitors who would see Christians as crazy and it could look like exhibitionism to other believers. Prophecy, however, was a sign which could be useful for building up both believers and non-believers. When prophecy revealed unknown secrets of the heart, listeners would marvel at God's presence in the service. They too would worship him.

Extra source: Cornerstone Biblical Commentary 1 Corinthians (William Baker), 2 Corinthians (Ralph Martin & Carl Toney), ed. by Philip Comfort. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, c2006.
*Since tongue speaking was also a characteristic of many cults and temples, the value of the sign could be debated.

Summary - 1 Corinthians 14:13-19

Praying: Since Paul keeps pounding a drum about the gift of speaking in tongues, readers have to assume it was a major problem. Evidently members did speak in tongues during the service. Evidently it sounded like a cacophony. Evidently nobody knew what anybody else was saying. Evidently it was off-putting to visitors, new-believers, and mature believers alike. Who knew what was going on?

Helpful to listeners and to speakers alike is the gift of interpreting tongues. Paul urges them all to pray for understanding. He himself would rather pray five meaningful words than ten thousand words in obscurity. At the center of building up a church is the maturity level and spiritual wholeness of every individual within the church. What Paul has to do is teach the members to be concerned about the whole church by and through the growth of each individual. A spiritually mature church and a spiritually mature individual has blended, not compartmentalized components (N. T. Wright). Corinthians needed to place their hearts, minds, bodies and souls under control of the Holy Spirit and grow to be like the one who is worshiped, Jesus Christ. Putting others first is Paul's continuing message and solution.