Category: Correction & Counsel

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 3:1-17 (day three)

“You are still worldly.”

Paul has articulated how ridiculous the church’s proclamation of the kingdom of God will sound to the wider world’s thought systems: scandalous to Judaic thinking, foolhardy to Hellenistic thinking.  Their prospects don’t look good.  For this project of cultural shift, they will need all hands on deck.  But they can’t muster all hands on deck.  You know why?  The energy one spends on outmaneuvering those who disagree—so that one’s own faction can achieve and maintain dominance—leaves little-to-no energy for anything so demanding as representing that apparently ridiculous kingdom.  And furthermore, no kingdom will be represented at all if factions and dominance are the treasures of the church.  They will have sold their birthright for worldly gain.  The strength of the gates-of-hell-crashing church isn’t political muscle.  It’s the clasping of one another’s hands in weakness.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 3:1-17 (day two) 

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. Vs. 5

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Mega-church pastor retires – church never recovers. It seems a frequent headline for those in evangelical circles. Churches are built by a hard working, well-intentioned pastor. Good things happen, but in the end the institution cannot support its own weight when the cornerstone is removed. To be fair, I think this is never the desired effect.

We are drawn to the gregarious. We love preachers who can craft a sermon in a memorable way. But Paul reminds us as well as the church in Corinth that any good that happens is due to God alone. Likely our most beloved pastors will continue to remind us of that. When we are focused on the work of the Holy Spirit in our churches, then we are less likely to fall victim to the cult of personality.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 3:1-17 (day one)

“And I, brothers, could not speak to you as spiritual men, but to men of flesh.”–v 1

Is it possible to genuinely believe in Christ and still live out the desires and agenda of the old, unredeemed life?  Can sincere Christians live like the world in action and attitude? Yes.  Insert sad emoji.  Paul calls it being carnal (fleshly).

Having received the Spirit of God at conversion, the carnal man has not learned (or not obeyed) Christ’s call to crucify the old life.  This immature Christian calls Christ Lord, but in his choices and priorities, is a stranger to “life in the Spirit”.

Dangerous territory.  “Those who sow to the flesh will reap the harvest that always comes with flesh.  Those who sow to the Spirit will reap the glorious results of His life in us.”–Galatians 6:8

Friends, are you filled with God’s Spirit?  Are you walking in His power?

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (day seven)

Paul takes an unusual stance in 1 Corinthians 1 that can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit.  He claims that we cannot come to God through logic or miracles, but only the cross.

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 1 Cor. 1:21

Our natural tendency when talking to a non-believer is to win them over through an intellectual debate about life, and if that does not work we imagine what they would think if only they saw a miracle of God.  Paul argues an intellectual debate is fleeting, and unfortunately, Jesus already told us how they would respond to miracles as well:

“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”Luke 16:30-31

Neither logic nor miracle will win your friend to Christ, but we must follow in Paul’s footsteps to simply lead people to the cross.  We preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (day six)

All good things come from above. Hebrews 1:17

True wisdom isn’t home grown, it’s a gift given from above. The homegrown kind isn’t wisdom, it’s hubris. That’s the kind of wisdom some in the Corinthian church were dealing, self-exalting, division causing hubris.

Godly wisdom leads to peace and unity, not a fractured church. It brings people together; it doesn’t push people away. This is why the simplicity and the foolishness of the Gospel is the greatest gift of godly wisdom. It does what our hubris could never do.

We know we are living by the wisdom of God when the kind of Gospel we live (and tell others)results in the tearing down of walls, not building them.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (day five)

vs. 18 “But to us who are being saved”.  Isn’t it interesting that Paul refers to himself as one of those who “are being saved”? Hasn’t he already trusted Christ to save him?  Why would he say, “we” instead of “you”?  The answer is that salvation happens in 3 tenses (past, present, and future). Each tense requires faith and trust.

Each one who is saved can look back to a moment where WE confessed, repented, and by faith in Christ, trusted God to save us. He was (past tense) saving us from the penalty of sin.

The faith and trust WE have in God’s promises of the future (heaven and eternal life) indicate one day, WE believe that through Christ, He will save from the presence of sin.

How are WE being saved currently (present)?  WE trust, through faith in Christ that God is – by His power, wisdom, and forgiveness saving us from the power of sin. It is the tension and struggle we sense.

So, we trust and proclaim that God has saved us, will save us, and is currently saving us. That is great news!!

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (day four) 

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians was intended to correct the false reasoning and practices going on in the church.  The Greeks had a deep love for philosophy and when many of the converts came into the church at Corinth, they brought with them the false thinking they already had.  Paul was trying to teach the church that the wisdom of God did not need any of man’s ‘wisdom’ to be added to it.  The Corinthians held on to many of their presuppositions about God that effectively created an idolatrous image of how God should act and be.

How often do we do the same as the Corinthians? We develop our own image as to how God should look and respond and we then twist the truth of Scripture to match up with our image.  This is called idolatry.  Paul says in our very best ‘wisdom’, we cannot compare to God’s ‘worst foolishness’.  Believers are called to trust the wisdom of Christ…the very power of God.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (day Three)

Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.

Let’s all spare one another the claims of how we’re big-time on board with Paul’s words: “Of course we’re on board!  It’s the Bible!”  Look, if we’re already on board with everything the Bible says, then we…really don’t need the Bible.  Come on.  Jesus punched holes in conservative theologians’ tests for purity and devotion, and found little worth conserving in the ways most people actually mapped out their spirituality.   He refused to lift a finger to build a sycophantic following, and his rejection of political finesse got him killed.  But we get it now, right?  We love him now, right?  Jesus pointed out our tendency to cherish prophets safely after the fact.  Paul gets in our faces here, declaring it’s time for a gut check.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (day two) God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. vs 21b

He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. Luke 1:52

If there is one narrative thread running throughout scripture it might be best summed up by the prophet Isaiah: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 55:8

Power, authority, popularity = meaningless to the kingdom work to which you have been called. The cross was a pointless end to a life mis-spent if you measure by culture’s norms. But if we have an inkling of trust that God is greater than our limited scope and vision. If we can trust that his way is always better, then the cross comes into focus a bit more clearly. We begin to see our sin, his perfection, and the majesty of his sacrifice. God is not in it for the headlines. He simply wants our misplaced hearts to come home.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (day one)

“For the word of the cross is for those who are perishing foolishness.”–v 18.

Our national pastime.  One of them.  Every 4 years we sit in front of TVs or tablets, waiting for election results.  “Based on the exit polls and early results, CNN is able to project _____________as the winner of the state of ___________.”

A metaphor of Paul’s perspective in 1 Cor. 1.  The results are in.  And rather than a mixed map, some states blue, others red, the Roman vote map was all one color.  They were united.  The word of the cross is crazy-talk.  Nonsense!

Certainly makes us a minority.  Vocal and unashamed advocates of a truth that lives in raw adversarial tension with the world.  We know by faith and experience that ONLY the message of the cross (sin, Savior, substitution, faith, Spirit) has power to reconcile humans to God.

Ok, we may lose every election.  Can we still win the world?