Music to the ears

In this powerful continuation of our series on making disciples, we delve into 1 Corinthians 14 to uncover how the Apostle Paul's teachings on spiritual gifts can guide us in our mission. We'll explore the importance of communicating the message of Jesus in a way that resonates with others, just as musical instruments must play distinct notes to create harmony.

Join us as we learn how to harmonize with the Holy Spirit and effectively use our spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ. We'll discuss the significance of speaking a language that others can understand and how, like the apostles at Pentecost, we are called to reach out to people from all walks of life.

Whether you're a fisherman, a tax collector, or someone trying to find your place in this diverse team of disciples, this episode will inspire and equip you to share the gospel in a way that truly touches hearts. Don't miss out on this enriching discussion that will help you make a lasting impact.

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Transcript

MAKE DISCIPLES

PART THREE: MUSIC TO THE EARS

     We have been studying our command from Jesus “to make disciples.” So far we have looked at the idea we are supposed to let our light shine into the darkness and by inviting others to Jesus by putting the nets down where He tells us. While there are many lessons in making disciples, our series will only focus on one more.

     Just as we started this series, we will dig into what may seem like an unusual area. But if you bear with me, 1 Corinthians 14 will give us an important insight into making disciples.

     1 Corinthians 14:6-12(CEB):

     After all, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I help you unless I speak to you with a revelation, some knowledge, a prophecy, or a teaching? Likewise, things that aren’t alive like a harp or a lyre can make a sound, but if there aren’t different notes in the sounds they make, how will the tone from the harp or the lyre be recognized? And if a trumpet call is unrecognizable, then who will prepare for battle? It’s the same way with you; if you don’t use language that is easy to understand when you speak in a tongue, then how will anyone understand what is said? It will be as if you are speaking into the air! There are probably many language families in the world, and none of them are without meaning. So If I don’t know the meaning of a language, then I will be like a foreigner to those who speak it, and they will be like foreigners to me. The same holds true for you; since you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, use your ambition to try to work toward being the best at building up the church.

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

     The book of 1 Corinthians is a letter from the Apostle Paul to a Church in a city called Corinth. It was a troubled group, receiving this letter aimed at correcting their behavior. In this particular section, Paul addresses spiritual gifts, because the Corinthians had developed an attitude of superiority around a particular gift. Paul speaks of the most excellent way in chapter 13, but here in chapter 14, he is explaining the trouble with their focus.

     Paul highlights the gift in verse 6, writing, “If I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I help you unless I speak to you with a revelation, some knowledge, a prophecy, or a teaching.” “Speaking in tongues” is the spiritual gift, one given to the apostles on the day of Pentecost. They were driven into the streets, where everyone was able to understand the message of Jesus shared by the apostles in their native language. It was a gift given to them by the Holy Spirit as a public sign of God’s power and salvation through Jesus. As a gift, Paul is saying it is useless if the listeners have no idea what is being said.

     Verses 7 and 8 contain illustrations to Paul’s point. Musical instruments make noise. In an unskilled hand, that is all they do. But with teaching and practice, the noise becomes particular notes. Notes played with no order or reason are torture on our ears, but when the notes are placed in an order and played in a sequence that produces music. The image of a trumpet is about its use on the battlefield, specific calls relay different signals to an army. Music was used with a purpose, if not they could sound “charge” when the general ordered retreat. Paul is saying the Corinthians should use their spiritual gift in harmony with the Holy Spirit, who understands the purpose of supplying them with such a gift.

     Paul, still on the language being used in things of God so people can understand, in verse 11 says, “So If I don’t know the meaning of the language, then I will be a foreigner to those who speak it, and they will be foreigners to me.” In other words, people who cannot understand what the other one is saying can have no relationship that is beneficial for building up the body of Christ. Language becomes a wall that alerts others that they are not one of us and we are not one of them.

     All of that brings us to verse 12 where Paul writes, “Since you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, use your ambition to try to work toward being the best in building up the church.” The objective of any spiritual gift given to any person by the Holy Spirit is to build up the body of Christ. Speaking in tongues is a gift for such a purpose, helping those outside the faith hear the message and understand. It also encourages those inside the faith because they see others coming to the knowledge of Jesus.

     What does this have to do with us? What does this have to do with making disciples? First, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given for the elevation (or the building up) of the Church. A simpler way to say that would be “to help make disciples.”

     Second, in Genesis 11, humanity attempts to build a tower into the sky as a marvel of man’s greatness. It was a sinful attempt to elevate man’s place in the world, flying in the face of God. In response, God confuses their languages, causing everyone to speak a different one. The event is known as the Tower of Babel. But in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit comes on the apostles, God in some ways undoes the Tower of Babel, making Jesus accessible to all through the Holy Spirit eliminating language as a barrier.

     Language is more than speaking the same sounds though. Different areas and people have different meanings to certain words. So a person can learn to speak the language without actually learning to speak the language. Marriage is one person coming from a family and another person coming from another family learning to speak the same language in love. Their backgrounds will have learned to live expressing love differently, but now they must learn a new one together. Together they learn to sing one song.

     And that is precisely the point being revealed in this passage about making disciples. You and I as believers in Jesus are being led by the Holy Spirit to learn His songs of “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and “Worthy is the Lamb.” We are growing in our attempt to harmonize with His voice and another. But at the same time, God is sending us to others outside the faith to undo sin’s confusion in their lives. They need to learn a new song, but they need to hear it from us in a way they can understand. The Holy Spirit will help us, but notice the word “us.”

     The team Jesus formed was made up of fishermen, a tax collector, a religious nut, a thief, and momma’s boys. But a fisherman would better understand the language of fishermen, a tax collector would better understand the world of tax collectors, a religious nut would better understand how to connect with religious nuts, and momma’s boys make up the Dallas Cowboys. As one member of a team better understands how to recruit certain people, they can help train those who struggle. Those who struggle can partner with those who are more fluent in a language they do not understand. Ultimately, we cannot effectively make disciples together without working together. And we cannot work together without learning to harmonize with the Holy Spirit.