This section is a little harder to read it is a referencing some events and issues that we can’t really know about, but have to just kind of discern.  But, it speaks of idolatry and sounds like it is addressing an issue whereby these Corinthian Christians were mixing some of the pagan worship practices with what Paul had taught them, and they were really starting to distort some of the message and the mission.  And we do this too, we twist things and we adapt our practices, but it is so important that we hold to the fundamental truths at the root of our faith.

And Paul speaks of temptation, and he rattles off another one of my favorite verses there in 10:13:  13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man (there isn’t anything that I am experiencing that isn’t common, that isn’t experienced my many others...that is comforting for me). God is faithful (isn’t He?  I mean, can I really think of a time when God hasn’t done exactly what He says He would do in scripture?  No...), and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (and He may allow the temptation to come upon me...but He is there, and He provides a way out, a way to endure...and He wants me to see it as a test, as a rep on the weight machine...He wants me to hang in there to the finish line, to win the race in yesterday’s analogy).  Really good stuff.  So strong and so encouraging.

And that’s my prayer this morning...that I would be pure in what I belief, in what I hold to in terms of my faith...to the gospel.  And I pray that I would be strong in the face of temptation, that I would see temptation as a test, and that in framing it that way I would be motivated to endure it and to overcome it.  Frankly, when I see temptation in that way, when I simply get my mind right about it, it loses so much of its power.  It is funny how that works.

This chapter is largely about Paul defending his work and the work of the other apostles, and it seems like he is defending their right to earn some money and make a living as evangelists.  This is an important topic, but for me, the part that really jumped out at me this morning is between v19 and the end of the chapter.

In verses 19-23, we see a great mantra, in a sense.  I am going to read it:

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Paul really likes these statements where he states his limits and his personal boundary...we have talked about 6:12. where he says, 12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything; and this is similar, where he says he is free, but that he has bound himself to servanthood.  That is awesome.  And that’s OUR calling...to bind ourselves, of our own free will and out of love of what’s been done for us, by Christ, at the cross, to serve others, to love others.  We are called to love others because of Christ’s love for us, and not because they do or don’t deserve it.  We are called to be in the world...to adapt to their needs, to meet them where they are...all said so well by Paul in this text.  In the world, not of the world - focused on expanding our influence for the sake of Christ...that is our calling in this world.

And then we get to some of the more famous verses, which I will also read:  24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.   Remember back in the introduction, part 2 of background, when we said that during this time there was an athletic event call the Isthmian Games?  These were like the Olympics, second only to the Olympics and popularity, and they took place right there in Corinth.    And we said that Corinth didn’t have shelter for all the people who would flock to see these, so they would utilize tent makers.  Well, Paul and his hosts, Pricilla and Aquila were, wait for it...tent makers, and they were right there in the midst of all of this action.  They positioned themselves in the middle of the action so they could gain influence.  This language we see here in these verses is Paul’s doing exactly what he is teaching...he was leveraging culture to make his case for Christ.

Am I leveraging my influence and my resources for Christ?  Am I following Paul in that way?  Great thoughts for today!

This is a great little section that addresses an issue that we germane to the church, is mostly foreign to us, but is universally applicable in our daily living.  Paul is addressing the church regarding the food they eat.  There were so many competing religious ideas of the day and there were crazy religious eating rules and even some pagan food rituals, and everyone was trying to figure out what they could and couldn’t eat as they were starting a life of following God.  Paul really cuts straight to the heart of the matter - food doesn’t make us clean, Jesus’ blood does.  Food doesn’t help us or hurt us in God’s eyes.  The caveat to that is this...we are called to bring others to Christ, to be a witness to others of Christ’s saving Grace.  To the extent that our food selection hinders that, we are to monitor our intake.  In all of Paul’s letters, we see this theme pop up often - that we are to consider the effect we have on others, and on our witness.  That is a powerful idea.

If the food we eat offends someone else’s religious beliefs, will that attract them to us?  No.  What about drinking alcohol?  What about drinking alcohol in front of an alcoholic?  It isn’t the thing, it is the impact of that thing that matters.   The elegance of this ideal is that is requires us to think of others, which means it requires ‘love’ from us.  Imagine that.  And, look at the verse in this chapter: “Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.”  Paul is telling us that we can’t lean on our knowledge of what is and isn’t allowed, we have to lean on the love we have for others, and what we know about what they need.  It goes back to his idea in 6:12, “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful.  “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.”

Is what I am doing, is how I am living inviting for the sake of God’s message about Jesus, or am I living in a way that distracts from that purpose?  Great, great question for today.

This section was a little confusing in how it was worded, and how it was answering a question or two that we aren’t privy to and can’t fully discern.   But, the big take away from this for me is just how well balanced Paul is on this topic of marriage.  Paul is clearly teaching how Jesus taught - that there aren’t really very many black and white ‘rules’, but there are boundaries to our lifestyle, and God is ultimately about our hearts, not our actions.  Paul isn’t saying marriage is good or bad, or that sexual relations (within marriage) are good or bad, but he is expressing that the benefits of not marrying are really that we are able to have a single-minded focus on God’s calling on our own life.  When we get married, we have a new responsibility - we have to keep our spouse’s ideas in mind in order to love him of her well, and that divides our focus.  None of that is hard to argue against.

We need to be thinking about our lives and our commitments that way in general - asking the question, “How does this contribute or take away from me focus on God?”.  That’s a great little question to pray through from time to time.

Great little passage today...come as you are is essentially the message.  And that’s a great son that I haven’t listened to in a while, by David Crowder.  We are all called to God at different points in our lives, in different states, and with different conditions, but God doesn’t care about that - He just calls us forward.  He calls us to put down what we are carrying.  He doesn’t ask us to change.  He doesn’t ask for circumcision, He doesn’t ask for a certain behavior, He doesn’t ask for us to reach a certain level of purity or care...just come.  Come taste the Grace, as Crowder says in his song.

Paul is is writing to address the misconceptions about circumcision and to clear the air for these Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians to be able to worship together.  He is writing to make sure people understand that God doesn’t call us to all be pastors either.  God just calls us.  And our calling is our own unique experience between us and God.

I am already enough, because it isn’t about me.  You are enough, because it isn’t about you either.  God has called us because HE is enough...He is enough to take us as we are, to use us as we are, and to grow us starting from right here, right now, into the person He wants us to be.  It is a beautiful idea to start the day with today!

The start of this chapter has an interesting comment from Paul, “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote...”; so we can see that Paul was actually writing in response to them.  And, we’ve already learned that this letter is actually likely to be the second letter that Paul wrote to them rather than the first (we just don’t have that first one)...so there was some on-going coaching going on here.  In antiquity, some people had a deep admiration for certain practices, often legalistic in nature, including celibacy, and authors seem to think that is the nature of the question. Paul makes every concession to their point of view. He agrees that celibacy is ‘good’, and he points to some of its advantages. But he regards marriage as ‘normal’, and though there are some advantages in celibacy, there is a greater completeness in marriage in Paul’s mind.  The other question that appears plausible to have been asked is about sexual relationships and whether a married man and woman are allowed to engaged in that manner...Paul obviously feels so.

And then the rest of this section really comes out of the one-ness, the wholeness, that a married husband and wife share together.  I don’t see this as much a teaching on the topic of divorce as I see this a teaching of the picture of marriage.  Look, we are sinners and divorce was destined to happen from the beginning, and I don’t by into the legalistic viewpoint that people are bound to stay together, or to never remarry, or to really much of any...Paul says it here, that we each have our own calling.  It think this is a picture of the implications of marriage, that a husband and wife have come together and that there is some extent to which that almost can’t come apart, or at least it isn’t meant to be that way.

For me, the question that comes to mind as I am reading this is this - “Am I really ‘all in’, meaning, have I really given myself completely to the needs and the desires and the visions that my wife has?”  If I am being honest, I can’t say ‘yes’ to that...I have work to do.  And, Paul is clearly getting at this idea that a husband and a wife have that as their commitments to each other - completeness, and selflessness.

Another morning of strong words from Paul...there is plenty to come in this application section of our reading of 1 Corinthians.

Flee...don’t mess with, don't play around the edges, don’t get close to the line...flee from sexual immorality.  We have talked about this many times in our morning readings, that some things are things that we can work on, that we can pray our way through, that we can exert will power over...and others are better suited to go into the category of ‘flee’.  Sexual immorality falls into the this flee category.

Another way to think about these kinds of issues is in terms of appetite.  Those thing for which we develop an appetite, for which we develop a craving or a yearning, and that tend to cause us to move away from others and into hiding; those are the same sins we should flee.

And notice another element that Paul introduces, that sexual immorality is a sin against our own body - and that however we want to understand what he is actually communicating, it is unique.

For me, it all goes back to this first verse of this reading, “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful.  “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. (ESV). Another translation says it this way, “I have the right to do anything,” you said - but not everything is beneficial.  “I have the right to do anything” - but I will not be mastered by anything.  (NIV)

However I look at this...I think an important question for consideration today is this - “What has mastered me, or what is in the process of mastering me, that I need to consider, that I need to address, and that I need to pray for either the courage to flee or the will power to manage?”  Another great takeaway for us from Paul today!

We are focusing only on a few verses this morning, because there is a very important idea being communicated.  The background on this situation is movie-worthy...there is a small group of Christians gathering together and meeting, and like all churches they have sin festering inside of the church.  I say ‘like all churches’ because all of our churches are full of people and people sin.  And what’s happening here is that there is a young guy who is sleeping with what seems to be his father’s wife, which is likely his step-mother or his father’s ex-wife (not his birth mother though).  And, again, sin is sin and we all commit sins, and all sins are bad...but the issue here is the optics.  Everyone can see this sin, everyone knows about it - heck, Paul even knows about it and Paul is miles away without Internet or Facebook to hear about it.  The problem is that this is the very thing that makes it difficult for Christians to be attractive and inviting to outsiders...outsiders look at what’s going on and what Christians proclaim to be all about and immediately see the hypocrisy.

Now, we all know that both Christians and non-Christians commit sins of all kinds, and we all know that Christians don’t claim to be sinless, but some sins (like this one) are an obstruction to the mission of the church, which is to bring people into the faith.  Further, different sins (while ALL offensive to God) require different remedies.

Paul is suggesting that the church send this guy out and let him do his thing, to love him from a distance instead of IN the group, so as to not hinder others from coming to Christ.  Paul ISN’T saying throw him out and forget him.  Paul isn’t saying that this guy is any less a person and any less deserving of forgiveness and grace...Paul is saying that UNTIL THIS GUY COMES BACK OF HIS OWN FREE WILL, we should let him walk in the direction that he is already heading.  That’s the judgement Paul has placed on him.  And here is where the church and Christians get into trouble...we tell the world that affairs are wrong, and people on the outside see us ‘judging them’ in that sense, and if we don’t do the same with our own folks INSIDE of the church, we will be nothing by hypocrites.  Again though, there is a difference between asking this guy not to come back to their gathering until he repents of his sin and shunning him, dropping him from your life, and withholding forgiveness.  And, we don’t know anything more than what’s in these couple of verses, but we have to assume this has been going on for a bit and that initial discussions about this, and attempts to stop this, have been unsuccessful.  So, we are down the road with this thing.

The point of today is that judgement INSIDE the church is important - we should have enough love for each other and enough mutual respect to hold each other accountable to the standards to which we are all committing.  It isn’t that we should hold each other perfectly accountable, it is that we should hold each other accountable to moving in a direction of growth.  And as soon as someone knowingly moves in the other direction, they should be approached, and it should be addressed...at least that is what Paul seems to think.