Journey of Paul
Week 1
Friday, February 2
Tongues and Cymbals
1 Corinthians 13:1
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
God bless the music teachers. Have you ever walked past an elementary school music room? Particularly when the whole class is learning the recorder?
In Meredith Wilson’s, The Music Man, there is this great scene at the end where the students are “playing” their instruments, but their parents are so filled with pride and joy that they didn’t notice the awful sound. I found that scene really funny until I went to the first music concert for my children. I became that parent in that scene. When those 60 students all started to play, it sounded like 60 bags of hammers crashing onto a tin roof. Yet, it was still music to my ears. But if I’m honest with myself, as in, if I went to the concert and I didn’t have a loved one in it, I would only hear the clanging cymbals and resounding gongs.
This is the image the apostle Paul uses to describe those who speak but do not have love. If this doesn’t communicate the importance of being a person of love, then just insert your favorite skin-raising sound. Would it be something like nails on a chalkboard, the squeaking of sneakers in a hallway, or a car alarm? You can get the point. But let’s connect it into what Paul was trying to do and say with this congregation. Remember that this passage isn’t just talking about speaking in the tongues of angels, but also of men. It doesn’t matter whether it is the language or earth or heaven, if it is separated from love, it is something that isn’t pleasant to the ears.
After the initial greeting and words of grace and peace, Paul gets right down to business in 1 Corinthians 1 by addressing the divisions and quarreling among them related to who they choose as their leader. This is the tongues of men mirror example. It doesn’t matter what is said or who says it, if it is done without love, it is a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. But you might be considering this passage to be more about the tongues of angels. Check out what Paul addresses in the previous chapter -
1 Corinthians 12: 7-11
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
If this congregation wanted to divide over earthly leaders or even a spiritual hierarchy with the different gifts that people might possess, we are reminded that even the gift of tongues is for the common good. It is given by the same spirit and is determined by God and not by a person's worth or ability. Paul also goes into great detail and description in 1 Corinthians 14 about tongues, prophecy, worship, and the edification of the church.
You can speak with the greatest eloquence of language, or you can even express the mysterious inexpressible language of the angels, but if you do not have love, it sounds like a bag of hammers hitting a tin roof or a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. Ouch.
Prayer
Lord, I want to have love before I speak. Amen