Today in Sunday school we talked about 1 Corinthians 14. Here is a taste of that chapter:
5 I would that ye all spake with tongues but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?
7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?
8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.
I was always pretty mystified by the concept of speaking in tongues, and these verses kind of summed it up. What’s the point?
But today something clicked. You may have read my last post about the Power of Moments:
There I discussed something they call elevation. That is, in order to create a lasting and important memory, it is important to create an emotional experience that is outside the normal range of experience. This is precisely the purpose of speaking in tongues. It represents getting carried away with spiritual passion in a way that opens you up to an important memory.
But if speaking in tongues represents emotional elevation, what does prophecy represent? The most obvious connection would be to insight. But I would like to make a slightly more general take. Paul’s concept of prophecy corresponds to the strategic element of moments. An emotional experience doesn’t become part of the overall narrative unless it has a strategic purpose.
Paul noticed that members of the church were so focused on having intense spiritual experiences that they started to ignore the need to direct these experiences toward a higher purpose. Prophecy, then, represents insight that motivates people to make some kind of behavioral change that fits in with the grand strategy.
