For many, the desire to be right is central to their belief. After all, truth is of vital importance and so defending what we see as true is a just cause. But there is a danger to the focused defense of the truth. A side effect that leaves victims in our wake as we seek to elevate our own ideas of what is true over the ideas of others. And as Paul continues in this letter he has addressed this danger, but in this chapter he brings his thoughts on the matter to the front.

When coming to Christ is is all too easy to become zealous. Zealous for God, for His kingdom, and for truth. But all too often this zealousness confuses being right with righteousness. And this can be a problem, because when we become zealous for being right, the outcomes can be detrimental to everything that Christ stands for.

There will from time to time arise issues between believers. We are human and we make mistakes, so what do we do when this occurs? Do we take it to the courts, or do we take it to the church? Well, Paul recommends taking these disuptes to the church, and his reasoning for saying this is quite profound.

It is all too easy as a Christian to try to disassociate from people who are engaged in egregious sin. There is a desire to try to remain pure in a world of wickedness and that means not engaging the wicked without addressing their sin. But Yeshua ate with sinners! Not as a way of legitimizing their sin, but as a means of calling them to repentance. So too, Paul recommends continuing relationships with sinners who are outside of the church. But those who continue to sin inside the church, well that is another matter.

Judgment is a hot topic in the modern world. Verses from Scripture are pulled out of context in order to make the claim that people are not to judge each other. And 1 Corinthians 4:5 is one of those verses. But when we take the entire context of this chapter, this verse cannot be a complete moratorium on judgment. Rather it is about engaging in a specific type of judgment.

The division in the Corinthian church was a major issue for Paul. It is such a foundational issue that Paul found it necessary to address this issue first. And with all of the other issues that Paul addresses in this letter to have this be the first, should tell us a lot about its importance. In chapter 3 Paul begins to address the source of unity for the church and to provide metaphors to describe the relationship between the foundation of the Christian faith, and what men build on that foundation.

The church of Corinth was divided and in disarray. Factions were forming and standing in opposition to each other. It is into this fray that Paul sends this letter to the Corinthian church. In the first few chapters, Paul makes an appeal for unity among the members of this church, but we also know that throughout the book, Paul demonstrates that division is also to occur from time to time. The question that then follows is, where does that line between division and unity lie?

The church at Corinth was a mess. There were many issues that it faced that Paul decided to confront through written letter. But what were those issues? What was the underlying cause that allowed those issues to propagate within the church? To discover this we need to examine the culture and context of the city of Corinth. Only then can we begin to understand the daunting task of discipling this church.

As the book of Joshua closes, Joshua gathers the leaders of the people of Israel to Shechem for the last time before his death. While there, Joshua closes the book in the same way that it opened. He encourages Israel to remain true to God and to keep His ways. It is in these last two chapters and the way that Joshua presents his appeal to Israel, that we find what set Joshua apart from the rest of his kinsmen.

As the war for Canaan draws to a close, the two and a half tribes that had chosen to settle beyond the Jordan River are released from their vow and are sent home. And all is at peace in the land. But on the way home these tribes decide to create a thing meant to bring continued peace and camaraderie with their brothers in the land, but this token of brotherhood is misunderstood and nearly leads to civil war.