The gift of preaching God's message
1You must always love God and other people, and never stop doing it. But you must pray and work hard to get the spiritual_gifts that the Holy_Spirit wants to give you, and the most important is to preach God's message to other people. 2Because when someone speaks_in_tongues, he does not talk to people. He talks to God. No one understands it, because he talks about the secret things of the Spirit. 3But when someone preaches the message of God, he talks to people and that makes their faith strong. It helps them keep on believing and it comforts them. 4When someone speaks_in_tongues, it makes his own faith strong but when he preaches the message of God, he helps the people of the congregation and makes their faith strong. 5I wish you all had the spiritual_gift of speaking_in_tongues, but more than that I want you to preach God's message. Someone who preaches God's message is more important than someone who speaks_in_tongues. If someone wants to speak in tongues, then there must be someone who can interpret it and tell the people what he has said. Then it will be good for the congregation because it makes their faith strong.
6Friends, it will not help you if I come to you and I speak_in_tongues. I can help you only if I tell you something that God has shown me or when I explain to you what God wants, or when I preach God's message or when I teach you something.
7It is the same with musical_instruments, things that are not alive. Think of a flute or a harp: If someone does not play a flute or harp in the right way, then other people will not know what song he is playing. 8And if someone blows the trumpet for all the soldiers to come to war, but he does not blow it loudly and clearly, then they will not hear it and they will not come.
9It is the same in the congregation when someone talks, but you do not understand what he is saying. You will not know what he wants to tell you. Then it is like someone who speaks, but the wind blows his words away and you can not hear what he says. 10There are many languages in the world and each language has people who understand the words of that language. 11If I do not understand what someone is saying, then we are like people who come from different lands and speak to each other in different languages. 12Now in your congregation you really want to have the spiritual_gifts that the Holy_Spirit wants to give you. That is why you must ask God to give you those gifts that will help all the people in the congregation to believe strongly.
13Therefore, when someone speaks_in_tongues he must also pray that he can tell the people what it means. 14Because when I pray_in_tongues, my spirit is praying but I do not think about what I am praying.
15What must I do? I will pray in my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind and think about what I am saying. I will sing to the Lord in my spirit, but I will also sing to the Lord with my mind and think about what I am singing. 16Remember, if you pray in your spirit and you praise the Lord, there might be someone who does not have the gift of understanding the language that you speak. Can that person then agree and say ‘amen’ when you thank the Lord? No, he can not, because he does not understand what you are saying. 17Maybe you thank the Lord in a wonderful way, but it does not help the other people or make their faith stronger.
18I thank God that I speak_in_tongues more than you all do. 19But in the congregation it is better to speak only 5 words with your mind, so that people can understand you, than to speak 10 000 words in tongues. Because when I speak with my mind and people understand, then I can teach the congregation. 20Friends, you must not think like children. You must only be like innocent babies in doing things that are wrong. No, you must think like adults. 21In the Old_Testament it is written:
‘The Lord said: I will talk to these people
in languages that they do not know,
in the languages of people from other lands,
but still they will not listen to Me.’
22This means: The gift of speaking_in_tongues is a sign for those who do not believe. It is not a sign for people who do believe. But the gift of preaching God's message is a sign for people who believe. It is not a sign for people who do not believe in Christ. 23So when the congregation comes together and you all speak_in_tongues and some people who do not know you come and visit you, they will think you are mad. Or when people who do not believe in Christ come to you, they will also think you are mad. 24But if you all preach the message of God and someone comes in, someone who does not believe in Christ, or someone who does not know you, he will feel that everyone is talking to him about the things that are wrong in his life. He will feel as if everyone tells him that God will judge him for his sins. 25He will say it is true that there are bad things deep in his heart, things that other people do not know. Then he will bow down and worship God and say: ‘God is really here with you.’
What the congregation must do when they come together to worship God
26Friends, this means that when you come together to worship God, each one must serve the Lord with the spiritual_gift that God has given him. There are different gifts: singing a song, teaching people something, telling people about things that the Lord has shown him, speaking_in_tongues and interpreting what that person has said. But remember, you must do everything to help the congregation and make their faith stronger. 27If people want to speak_in_tongues, then only 2 people may speak or not more than 3 people. They must not talk at the same time. They must wait and talk when it is time for them to speak. And there must be someone who can interpret what they have said and say what it means. 28If there is no one who can interpret what he says, then he must not speak_in_tongues. He must keep quiet in the congregation. He must speak where he is alone and talk to God to make his own faith stronger.
29And when the prophets preach God's message, it must only be 2 or 3 prophets who speak. The other prophets must listen and see if they are saying the right things. 30When one prophet is speaking and God shows another prophet something that he must say to the congregation immediately, then the first prophet must stop talking. 31Each prophet can preach God's message to the congregation, but only one at a time. That is how God teaches everyone and makes their faith strong. 32Remember, a prophet can stop talking and ask another prophet to speak. 33God wants everything you do to be done in the right way and peaceful when you come together. It must not be confusing, because God loves peace.
Women do not speak in other congregations 34and they must also not speak in your congregation. God does not want it. Women must listen to their husbands. It was the same in the Old_Testament. 35If women want to know something, they must ask their husbands at home because it is not good if a woman speaks where the congregation comes together.
36You are not the first congregation who preaches the message of God and you are not the only congregation who has heard the message. 37Anyone of you who is a prophet or has a spiritual_gift will know that the things I write about to you come from the Lord Himself. 38And if someone does not accept what I write, then God will also not accept him.
39My friends, you must keep on preaching God's message, but you must not stop people who speak_in_tongues. 40And remember that everything you do must be peaceful and done in the right way, one at a time.
