In today’s reading, which is pretty strong and pointed from Paul, here is the verse that really jumped out at me:

10 “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ.  We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.”

When we peal back the onion on this verse a little, there is an idea that speaks to me.  When he says fools, “we are fools for Christ’s sake”, looking at various translations and the interlinear literal translation, I am left thinking what Paul is communicating is that the ‘we’, meaning ‘he and his teaching cohort’, live a life of “Yes God, now what would you have me do?” vs. the Corinthians to which he is speaking who live a life of “What do you want God, so I can consider it?”.  Paul is a fool for Christ in that he is fully bought it, he’s given Christ a blank check over his life, and he’ll follow where Christ leads, he’ll jump when He says jump.  When he says that these Corinthians are wise in Christ, I believe he is saying that they KNOW their stuff, they KNOW about the resurrection and about Jesus and about God, but they aren’t bought in...they haven’t given Christ their checkbook.  Or, we could use a car analogy - Paul is in the passenger seat of his own car with Christ in drive of his life...the Corinthians have Christ in the passagner seat.  Subtle difference in orientation, big difference in outcomes.  This is a GREAT idea to pray about, and a great idea to consider for ourselves...who is in front of the wheel in my life?  Is Christ in the driver’s seat in some areas, but not all?  Great, great thought!

And then Paul goes on to say that he is weak and they are strong, that he is disrespected and shamed and they are honored.  What is implied here is that Paul is saying that he is being disrespected and shamed by culture, and that these folks are held in high esteem by culture...not by God.   In other words, they are worried about what culture thinks about them, not what God thinks.  This is another fantastic idea to ponder...and we talked about this yesterday when we asked this question: “For whose benefit, to further whose mission, am I making this decision, God’s or my own?”.   Another way to ask this question would be, “Whose honor am I seeking...God’s or my own?”.  All great questions.  All challenging questions.

The Lord’s Prayer, which is something I have been working on recently with my daughter, actually has this idea built into it: “.Our Father in Heaven, let the glory be to you.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”, in other words, “God, you are God, I am not...you are in control, you made the world, and you deserve all of the glory...you have given me everything I have and you can take it away in a moment.  I know you have a plan for my life, and just pray that I would have wisdom to get a glimpse of it and the courage to come alongside of your mission and your vision while I am here on earth...I know that’s my best shot at real joy in life.”  That is the same as saying, “Jesus take the wheel”, or “Jesus, yes...now what would you have me do.”  Paul is giving us a great example of being an imitator of Christ, and asking that we follow him in that.

In the first couple of verses, there are some things apparently going on in the original Greek that unlock some depth and meaning here.  In the world of slavery, there were the slaves that did the lowest form of labor, which was essentially like grunt work.  Then there were slaves that were basically in more of a management role, overseeing the work and directing the work so as to make sure things went smoothly for the master.  In these lines, Paul is using that ‘master slave’ kind of word, to indicate to these readers that they were entrusted by God and empowered by God, but that they were also accountable to God at the same time.  And, at the same time, Paul is addressing a very common tendency that these readers and this culture had, to be overly concerned about their worldly appearance.  In another word, their ‘reputation’.  This is as true of us today as it was of them then, that we care far too much about that as a culture.  And lastly Paul tells the readers that He hasn’t spent any time considering himself, judging himself in that way, or caring about what the culture says of him.

For me, in reading this, the thing that I am going to think about throughout the day is this idea of reputation...of really letting go of what others think about me.  For me, this isn’t an area where I have a tremendous struggle, but I would be foolish to think that I am immune to the influence of others’ opinions.  I can learn from Paul here, and I can be inspired by his message to trust God for my identity, and to look at God to get my cues as to how I am doing.

Paul is a great example of someone living on-mission, and staying on-mission.  He calls us to the mat on this - to be stewards of the blessings and the message that we’ve been given.  It begs this question of us as we are making decisions in our daily lives, “For whose benefit, to further whose mission, am I making this decision, God’s or my own?”

Great reading this morning, and strong words from a great example to follow.

God is going to do what God is going to do, with or without you.  God will reward us for our participation in His vision for our future...some how, some way.  In the end, I think that’s really the gist of what I read this morning.  Paul wonders through a bit of a restatement of the topics from chapters 1 and 2 here in chapter 3, and I have read it 4-5 times and haven’t really come away with anything to which I feel all that compelled to dive into like I normally do.  These two truths are definitely embedded in this text though, and we see these same ideas scattered across scripture in various places and in various ways.

We don’t know what hangs in the balance when we take a step forward in our faith, when we take God up on His invitation for us to join Him in our journey.  That’s an amazing reality for us.

This morning, I am going to stop early and I am going to pray a little more, a little longer, and I am going to give God the extra time that I haven’t used in writing and journaling.  Perhaps that’s what He wanted from me today.  See you tomorrow.

This is a somewhat short chapter with 2 distinct themes.  The first theme belongs to the first 5 verses and it continues from the last chapter in addressing eloquence of speech, and how Paul felt very strongly that we should hold to the main ideas more often than not when preaching...the fact that Christ was crucified.   Now, I am not suggesting that this is the only topic that should be covered on Sundays and in small group teaching sessions...and I don’t think that’s Paul point either.  I think Paul is communicating that we need to fight to keep the main thing the main thing.  Last reading we talked about divisions in the church, and denominations, and those arise largely on the ares of discussion that AREN’T the main thing.  It isn’t he resurrection that divides the Baptists and the Presbyterians or even the Protestants, Catholics, and Assyrians...these differ in the small things.  But we’ve allowed the small things to define us.  I think that’s Paul’s point - we are missing the point.  On this, I think Paul has a great point.  As I said yesterday, I have yet to come across a non-Christian believer who has told me that the reason they are NOT a Christian is because they have thoroughly investigated the claims of the resurrection and has decided that they aren’t true.  It is always something else...and that is exactly what Paul was wanting the church to avoid.

And then he gets into the topic of the spirit, which spills into tomorrow’s reading as well...but this is a heavy topic.  I will let tomorrow’s potentially get into the more ‘thorny’ spiritual stuff, but today I want to point out a simple takeaway idea from what Paul is saying, something I have heard said many times during my reading and studying.  That is this: “If you’ll do as God says, you’ll see as God sees”.  It is a simple idea that I think kind of gets at some of what Paul is communicating here - that God has placed a spirit inside of us, His spirit, at the point that we accept Christ, and that spirit guides us in our lives from that point on.  We can be in-tune with it, or we can miss it, but it is there.  These folks, in Paul’s mind, received that spirit, but they haven’t leaned into it and led their lives in a manner that positioned them to be led by it.  That’s what Paul is getting at with them.  That’s what he is getting at with us.

So that’s the question for me to day.  Am I praying like this: “God, please give me your wisdom and show me what to do”, at which point I am subtly and subconsciously thinking “...so I can decide if that sounds good to me and then I will do it if it does”; or am I praying “God, yes, I will do your will...no what do are you calling me to do?”.  That second prayer is WAY more vulnerable and WAY more in-keeping with Paul’s view here that we are spiritual beings to be led by God.  And I will tell you, it is both freeing and scary to pray that second prayer.  Sometimes, I will just pray this, “God, I want to want what you want for me life...I really do...please help me to get there”.  That’s an honest prayer, way more honest than the first one...and it is me telling God that I am messed up and I know it.  But I have seen God answer that prayer in my life...He has shown up to help my heart to change.  That’s my prayer today!

Verse 18 is really interesting to me - Paul says that the Words of the cross are folly to those who are perishing, who are dying...and I think it is meaning those who are falling away from God and living in the world; destined for eternal death.  But these same words have power for those who have turned to God.  And, you know, that is so true in my experience.  When I opened my heart to God, I started to hear things communicated in His word, I started to be able to see things I didn’t see before.  When we turn to God, we are able to hear from Him for the first time.  This is a great little nugget of truth to get this section of reading going.

And the remainder of this chapter is brilliant...just brilliant.  Paul is arguing about how Jews want signs and Gentiles want wisdom and that these groups think these are the ‘proof’ they need to believe in God.  In reality, God has given both and both groups have obviously missed them.  And, further, God did something in the world that runs counter to their ideas, that runs counter to our worldly wisdom, that makes it so obvious that God is Who He says He is, that it can’t be missed.  I mean, wisdom says dead people stay dead.  If you want a sign, what more do you want than a man was obviously dead and then was seen walking around amongst friends, after proclaiming it would happen ahead of time.  What other signs to you want other than the hundreds of prophecies that were given in the Jewish Old Testament that were fulfilled in Jesus?  The Jews couldn’t accept this as their sign because, get this, their traditions say that dead people can’t rise from the grave.  And the world says Jesus can’t exist because dead people can’t rise from the grave...science has shown that to us.  But, if God created science, is He really going to be bound by it?  Wouldn’t it make sense that His proof would be something OUTSIDE of science rather than inside of the bounds of science?  What other sign would you want other than something so obviously ‘of God’ than that?

I think Paul is trying to shake these Christians awake and say, “Guys, this isn’t that complicated...Jesus was dead and now He isn’t, and we are therefore, as believers, charged to live the life He taught because He is obviously God.”  And, of course, he is communicating one other idea, “...and guys, this life that you are living ain’t it.”.

Such great stuff from Paul in this chapter.  Just so well written.

When you read this text, it is obvious that there are divisions popping up in the church, and that various leaders are being followed and it seems like they are almost being idolized.  We know the point isn’t that these leaders are set up on a pedestal, but that God would be honored and glorified and worshipped, so we know there is an imbalance.

Thinking about denominations - let’s first identify the positives.  Christians, and all people, like to belong to groups.  We like being a part of something bigger than ourselves.  We like connection to others.  We like when our beliefs are aligned.  And, we know that there are areas of our worship where we don’t have definitive answers as to ‘how’ to do things based on scripture alone.  A classic example is baptism.  If we just look at this one element of Christian religious practice, we can find a myriad of methods and practices that have been adopted by different groups.  And that’s just ONE element.  If you Google “Christian Denominations” and go to images, you will see some great charts and graphs that show how things have progressed over time.  And, the thing is, that looks (to me) kind of negative, because it looks like there is so much division.  But, in another sense, it means that wherever you land in your faith journey, and whatever I believe and however I want to practice my faith, there is likely to be a group that I can be a part of and feel that sense of unity.  Think of it this way...since it is March Madness season...people are fans of college basketball while holding to different ideas about how certain rules should be changed, whether college athletes should or shouldn’t get paid, and whether having various leagues and divisions are better than others...but we love college basketball, and those arguments we have about those nuances are because we want to make it better.  Perhaps denominational Christianity is somewhat akin to that.

Obviously though, there is a negative side to all of this as well.  I think the MOST negative result to all of that division is that it doesn’t look great to those outside the faith.  It looks like division.  It looks like chaos.  It definitely looks confusing...heck, it is confusing for most of us as well.  It doesn’t look ‘inviting’.  We may be able to agree to disagree and still love each other inside of the Christian community, but that doesn’t change the fact that those outside of the community just see division.

The biggest theme that I can spot that really flows through this entire section of this letter is that we aren’t to serve our religious practices, our traditions, and our bodies.  We are to live lives that direct our bodies to reflect our love for God and for those around us.  There were so many ‘hollow’ practicing Christians who would go through the motions and try to check the boxes and get God on their side rather than trying to orient their lives around living on mission for God.  And that hasn’t really changed today...in fact, I know I am guilty of that at various degrees and at various points in my life.  It is a natural thing to be be self-centered and self-serving and to try to do just enough to get God on our side but to do what we want to do, when we want to do it, and with whom we want to do it.  But Paul is really teaching us through this second half of Corinthians that life is about more than that...it is about actually transforming our minds to a life of service to God rather than service to self.  It isn’t easy, but it is the point that Paul is driving towards.

Throughout the rest of this letter, he shows us how our faith can be expressed through physical action as it relates to the foods we eat, to how we do ministry both avocationally and vocationally, how we can live ‘in’ the world but not ‘of’ the world, and how we can live out our faiths in our marital relationships as well. There is a ton of stuff in here that we can use and apply in our lives and we’ll really dig into this stuff when we go back through this more methodically.

The last thing I will say is that we see Paul mention this idea yet again of follow me and do what I do instead of watch me and do what I say.  I think this can be overlooked really easily, but it is so important.  We should live our lives in a way that invites people to follow us.  We should know that our lives are an example.  Our faith is caught more than taught...meaning, people are going to decide what they think about the Christian faith based on how we act.  Too many times people, me included, are Sunday Christians in that we tend to put on the Christian face for one day each week and then go about living our lives in a manner that doesn’t reflect our faith.  If our faith isn’t constantly challenging our lifestyle, we aren’t growing.  We should have a dull ache within us as we consider this thought, “If I REALLY believed what I say I believe, then I probably would do ____ or wouldn’t do ____”.  Our faith should be informing and shaping our lives continuously.  Paul is showing us various ways in which we can apply that idea throughout the rest of Corinthians with this morning’s reading.

Tomorrow, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and we’ll dig in deeper!

Here are some talking points and topics I pulled from the first 7 chapters of this read-through.

Paul really starts off taking a jab at the way church was being done, and it sounds a LOT like denomination type stuff that is a part of our church ethos even now.  He talks about how some followed one teacher and some another...you know, I really think this is something worth looking into and it may be that I spend some time on this.  Are denominations antithetical to the faith Jesus gave us?  Really interesting stuff.

Then he talked about living spiritually vs. living in the flesh and this is a study that could last a lifetime...or, that really SHOULD last a lifetime.  He then expands on that by discussing talking vs. doing, about being an example and living by leading vs. being a hypocrite.  Strong, strong stuff.

When we get to chapter 5 -  he says that he has already pronounced judgement on this group of believers, about an almost incestual relationship, and he shows us when and who we are to judge as a church.  This is a really important chapter for the church.

He talks about how all things are ‘lawful’, not all things are ‘helpful’.  And this goes straight to the heart of the book that I just read, “Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets”, but Andy Stanley.  Paul is teaching that we should, essentially, use wisdom and God’s will as our guide, not the legal and moral boundaries.  If we are talking about those boundaries, we are already in trouble and headed the wrong direction.

And I love that Paul goes on to teach that we are only to live the life God has given us...our own journey, our own life, our own unique calling.  I am not accountable for the life you life, nor am I judged in comparison to you, nor you me...we each have a unique calling.  And Paul doesn’t say this, but my life certainly has taught me that I may never know the impact that MY faith has on you, and yours on mine, but our faith is our story and our greatest contribution to this world.  When we follow God, we do the most impactful living possible.  That’s a great message.

Tomorrow we will pick up in chapter 8 for our read through of 1 Corinthians.

As we ease into this, it is important to remember that Paul was raised in a devout Jewish home, he was a Pharisee by training, and he was both Greek and a Roman citizen.  So, he was very well equipped to understand the culture of Rome and or Corinth.  In terms of 1 Corinthians, this letter was written about 18 years after Jesus’ resurrection and Acts 18 lays out some background on when Paul came to Corinth and Priscilla and Aquila.  It seems like this is the place where Paul’s ministry really pivoted from the Jews to the Gentiles there in Corinth.  There were thought to be around 100 people in this church there in Corinth.  Paul stayed in Corinth for about a year and a half and it was about 2 years later, after leaving Corinth, while Paul was in Ephesus, that this letter was actually written.

Corinth was one of the most important cities in the ancient world.  In 146 BC, the Romans decimated the city and it laid bare for about a hundred years until Julius Caesar issued a decree to rebuild it in about 46 BC.  Roman soldiers were given land there, Greeks flocked there to rebuild it, and immigrants from all over landed there because of its central location between major shipping lines and Rome in general, and Egypt and North Africa.   The population was about 100,000 people, 5 times bigger than Athens, and Corinth was about 100 years old when Paul showed up.

Interesting tidbit; when people wanted to sail around the peninsula just south of Corinth, The currents and the winds were so bad that what they would often do he’s come in and dark on the South side of Corinth, unload all of their cargo from the ship, have some of the crew carry or push the cargo across the 4 mile bridge that was the width of Corinth, and they would sell the ship around the peninsula empty to avoid shipwrecks, or at least to protect the cargo if there is one.  Sometimes they might even try to pull the boat itself across the land to avoid the journey around the Southern tip.  This was a busy place, metropolitan, a place where slaves could earn their freedom and become wealthy, a melting pot of cultures, and there was even an athletic event called the Isthmian Games.  These were like the Olympics, second only to the Olympics and popularity, and they took place right there in Corinth.  And Corinth didn’t have shelter for all the people who would flock to these - they would utilize tent makers.  That puts Paul and his hosts, Pricilla and Aquila, in the midst of all of that.  In fact, Paul apparently witnessed at least one of these games while he was there in Corinth, and it is thought that this influenced some of Paul’s writing; think about 1 Cor 9:24.  That sounds like it draws from that setting, athletic games, doesn’t it?

So, it is easy to see that Corinth really resembles America in a lot of ways.  And it places this letter, and the second, into a context that really applies to us.  I am looking forward to diving into this tomorrow!

To start off on the background of Corinthians - there is no good reason to think that Paul isn’t the author of these letters.  Originally we think there were 4, but we only have 2 of them.  Corinth was an economic hub of this time period, in the early to mid 50s AD.  It sat in the center of a major sea-bound thorough-fair, which made it a center of various cultures and peoples; it was very diverse.  Corinth was also a center of entertainment - at this time, one of the things that was popular was ticketed events to see orators who would teach, entertain, and philosophize.  When Paul got to Corinth, he befriended Priscilla and Aquila who were tentmakers by trade and who took Paul in as he launched his ministry.  Later Paul bumps into Apollo, who was a skilled Christian apologist as well, and finds out that Apollos had been in Corinth around the same time as Paul.  So, there was definitely some action in Corinth at this time in terms of the spreading of the Christian faith.

In terms of the purpose of this letter, Paul had planted a church there and he was writing to them.  By ‘church’, I am meaning that he has gone and taught and a group of believers had formed and started meeting regularly to discuss the teaching and to examine their lives against the faith they were professing.  It is probably much more like what we would call a small group or something like a kind of Sunday school than a ‘church’.  At any rate, it sounds like things weren’t going all that well and that Paul had received communication about this, and about confusion from a previous letter he had sent to them, and that prompted Paul to write to them again in a more thorough manner - in this letter, he was giving instruction on how to apply their faith and to live a God-centered life.  The church in Corinth was plagued with an arrogance and an underlying tone of abuse as it relates to that free will that is given to Christians by way of God’s Grace.  I use the word abuse because the people were essentially using the gift of Grace as an excuse to live the way they wanted rather than a motivation for living the way God would have them live.  In this way, and in so much of these letters to this church, I see parallels with how many of us treat God’s Grace.  That makes these letters very relatable and applicable to us.

The way the letter is set up, Paul leads us through this letter that is divided into 5 sections, addressing 5 themes - divisions, sex, food, the gathering, and the resurrection.  And with each one of them Paul does the same thing, describing an element of the Gospel and then leading us through how to apply that truth in our lives.

Tomorrow morning, I am going to continue working through background before doing the read-through of Corinthians, and I will work through a study on 1 Corinthians from Lakewood church that Joel Osteen’s brother, Paul Osteen, does...it looks really interesting and I stumbled upon it this morning when doing some research for this - should be interesting.  The link to that is in the show notes below if you are inclined to watch it.

https://youtu.be/iDzKPAofh8c