Jeremiah 11 – A curse lies over the
heads of those who do not observe the terms of God’s covenant, the Lord says to
Jeremiah. “Urgently and constantly
I warned your fathers to obey my voice, from the day I brought them up out of
the land of Egypt even to this day” (11: 7). He tells Jeremiah not to try to
intercede for them. It is too late. Outward
observance alone is not enough: “Can vows and sacred meat turn away your
misfortune from you?” (11:15). Jeremiah then learns that people from his own
city, Anathoth, are out to kill him, so that no one will listen to his message.
1 Corinthians 14:1-25 - Prophecy is
preferable to “tongues” in Paul’s estimation. Tongues or “glossolalia” is an
emotionally-driven vocalization of sounds that was common in the early church
and still very central to many Christian believers - Pentacostals: if you have
never seen it practiced, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZbQBajYnEc].
I say “emotionally-driven” instead of “spiritual” as Paul calls it. I confess
it is just my “take” on it, having never experienced it. Paul believed that
prophecy was important because it edified and built up the church. He thought
of prophecy as an “intellectual” gift. It is best, Paul says, to have a unity of spiritual and intellectual gifts. The personal, emotionally satisfying gift
is not as good as the gift exercised for the building up of the community.
Tongues are more a sign to those outside the faith, like miracles.
We are asked to
exercise our MINDS as well as our SPIRITS in God’s service. Paul seems to say
even for the unbeliever, the gift of understanding is to be preferred, for the
unbeliever will have his spiritual condition addressed and not come away
thinking believers are crazy.
It
is interesting here too to read this passage in light of what Paul says about
the cross in 1 Corinthians 1:18-20, which many use as a justification for anti-intellectualism in the Church: “For the message about Christ’s death on the
cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved
it is God’s power. The scripture says, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and set aside the understanding of the scholars.’ So then, where does that
leave the wise? Or the scholars? Or the skillful debaters of this world? God
has shown that this world’s wisdom is foolishness!” Here he seems to be
saying that the intellectual gift is not one that will necessarily lead one to
truth, so he isn’t completely dismissing “spiritual” or more emotional ways of
comprehending the gospel. I think he is encouraging a balance.
Paul
says here, “[For] if I pray in a tongue, my spirit is at prayer but my mind is unproductive. So what is to be done? I will pray with
the spirit, but I will also pray with
the mind. I will sing praise
with the spirit, but I will also sing
praise with the mind. . I give thanks to God that I speak in tongues more
than any of you, but in the church I would rather speak five words with my
mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (14:14-19).
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