Tag: I Corinthians
I Corinthians 1:18 Foolishness
There are school children who are about to enjoy a four day weekend, and many of them have no idea why. A student once asked me, “What does Easter celebrate? Bunnies?” There was no knowledge of this country’s Christian heritage or traditions. And if someone asks you a similar question, and you try to explain Easter to them, what do you expect them to think? Jesus, the Son of God, came to Earth, lived for 33 years, and then was crucified. But He rose again. Why? So that we could live forever and never die. Really? Do you believe in little green men too?
In I Corinthians 1:18, the Apostle Paul reassures us that we are not crazy. He tells us that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but is the power of God—life and hope—to those of us who believe and are being saved. In I Corinthians 1:19, Paul refers back to Isaiah 29:14, a passage that his wise listeners would be familiar with. Paul’s assertion that God’s wisdom went far beyond human wisdom and understanding was not new. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Paul referred to the scribes, the Jews who were experts in Mosaic law, and the debaters or philosophers, the Greeks who were—and still are—regarded for their wisdom. These were the people who were considered the wisest by human standards, but they did not understand the ways of God. The Jews expected their long-awaited Messiah to be strong and heroic, not a small-town carpenter who would be executed in one of the most horrific ways possible. They wanted a sign to prove that Christ was indeed the one they were expecting, and crucifixion just didn’t seem to meet their preconceptions. The Gentiles, the Greeks, couldn’t get their minds around a god who would interact with humans and then allow himself to be crucified. That wasn’t the kind of god they were used to. (I Corinthians 1:20-25)
God requires us to have some faith. (Hebrews 11:6) We will probably never completely understand God or His ways, but the more we search for truth, the more we seek to understand Him, the more He will reveal to us through His Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:12-13) Salvation—eternal life with God starting now—is not something that we can achieve through our own efforts. (Ephesians 2:9) Our wisdom, understanding and good works will all fall short, but the work of Christ—His sacrifice on the cross—is sufficient. It is a gift to us, and all we have to do is accept. God does not want any of us to perish. (John 3:16, II Peter 3:9, Matthew 18:14, John 10:28) Difficult to understand? In our own wisdom yes, but it is the perfect plan of God.
I Corinthians 9:24-27 The Olympic Race
Have you been watching the Olympic Games? I have. I am constantly impressed by the drive and determination of these athletes. Their ability to keep going against the odds--age, injury, weather and course conditions, broken equipment--that make most people think they don't have a hope, is inspiring.
Some examples:
Mark McMorris, a slopestyle snowboarder, competed with a broken rib. He won the first medal of the games for Canada.
Marie-Michèle Gagnon, a skier, also from Canada, dislocated her shoulder in the middle of a race. She popped it back in right there on the ski hill, made it to the bottom and was sent off in an ambulance for some medical attention. She tweeted later that night that she would be back for her next race.
Noriaki Kasai, a ski jumper from Japan, competing in his seventh Olympic Games, won his second silver medal twenty years after his first. He is 41 years old. Among his competition was an 18 year old rising star from Germany. In the finals' weather conditions, experience won out. Kasai is determined to return for the Games in Korea. He is still after that gold.
The Apostle Paul knew that his readers would understand the analogy of an Olympic race when he used it in his letter to the Corinthians. (I Corinthians 9:24-27) And even if we have never competed in a sport, watching these games gives us an opportunity to see the discipline it requires. Even if it is a sport that we do not enjoy or understand, we can see the dedication of the participants. It is that example that Paul wants us to follow; he wants us to exercise self-control, as though we were training for an Olympic event. I'm sure he would want us to not give in to our natural desires to be lazy or to eat food that doesn't contribute to making us stronger, but he is more concerned with the state of our spiritual health. He wants us to discipline our actions so that when we tell others about Jesus they will have no cause to criticize us. (Titus 2:7-8) He wants us to give everything that we have within us for the sake of God's kingdom, because he knows that this life is just temporary. We are not striving to be the best in order to win a piece of inscribed metal. We are fighting for people's eternal souls. (I Corinthians 9:25)
Spiritual discipline, also known as self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) is not entirely achievable in our own strength. It is a fruit of the Spirit. That means that in order to improve it, we have to have the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is not just a matter of following the rules or going through the motions of training. Bible reading and prayer are vital to gaining spiritual strength, but without the Holy Spirit we will not succeed. Thankfully God's Spirit is available to all who invite Him in. Don't hesitate to ask for His help in developing your self-control so that you may run the race to win a prize that will last through all eternity.
I Corinthians 3:6 In God’s Garden
My regular readers will know that I belong to a book club that I love. The ladies in that group have become some of my dearest friends. Our discussions may not always stay completely on the topic of the book, but that’s okay, because they are always relevant to the people who are doing the discussing. The other day, someone brought up the verse that says, approximately, ‘one plants, one waters, but God brings the harvest’. The point they were making was that we don’t always see the results of the things we do for God, but that doesn’t mean that they are not worth doing, nor that our efforts will not bear fruit some day in the future. This is true, and a great encouragement for those who try to be faithful in the role God has called them to, but who don’t always see the results.
Other verses in the Bible also use the agricultural metaphor of sowing and reaping. In John 4:37, Jesus says that, “One sows and another reaps,” indicating that there will be some who labour for the harvest who will not be the ones to reap the harvest. Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, somewhat paraphrased, to sow your seed in the morning, but keep on working, because you do not know what effort will eventually pay off. And Galatians 6:9 tells us to not grow weary in doing good, because in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. That verse comes right after the point was made that a person will reap what he sows. (Galatians 6:7-8) The over arching theme that I see in these verses is that we must continue to work for God’s glory, but we must be content to leave the results in His hands. We may not always see the harvest.
But let’s go back and look at the real context of that first verse I mentioned. (I Corinthians 3:6) Just before this verse, Paul tells the people of Corinth that they are focused on the wrong things. Rather than looking at humans and their attributes, they need to focus on God, if they want to get past the very basics of being spiritual people. (I Corinthians 3:1-4) Instead, the people were choosing their favourite leaders and turning them into celebrities.
There were a couple of problems with that. The first as I have already said is that they were giving the glory to people rather than to God. The second is that they were causing divisions in the church. What would that look like in the church today? Imagine the scenario if one pastor did things differently than another, and the congregation took sides. Imagine if each group decided that their way was right and the other way was wrong, or worse, that their pastor was right and the other pastor was wrong. I’ve seen churches split in situations like those. Paul’s point was that we should all work together for the same goal—to welcome lost souls into God’s kingdom. We can all play different roles; we don’t need to do the same things as everyone else. In fact, if we are trying to do things the same way as everyone else, it is likely that our focus is in the wrong place. Spend some time talking to God to ask Him for direction. Make sure that you also take the time to listen for the answer. If you ask Him to, God will make it clear to you what job He wants you to do in His garden.
I Corinthians 9:19-22 What are you saying?
“I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some.” When I was younger I had a great deal of difficulty understanding that statement. I grew up in a Christian family, and started going to church before I was born. I am thankful for that, but there are some challenges to it too. Because I went to the same church from as far back as I can remember until after I was married, most of my formative Biblical teaching came from that one place. So, when I read the above sentence in I Corinthians 9:22, I thought that can’t be the right thing to do. Certainly God doesn’t want us to compromise our standards, does He? After all, people have been martyred for sticking up for what they believe. What does Paul mean by becoming all things to all people? Is he being wishy-washy? Is he bowing to peer pressure?
As always, context is essential, and I believe that context comes into play in two ways when we seek to understand the passage of I Corinthians 9:19-22: Biblical context, and today’s context. To understand the Biblical context, we should start back at I Corinthians 8. Paul was talking to the Corinthians about not eating food sacrificed to idols. To Jesus, the most important thing is what is in your heart, not what you put in your stomach. (Mark 7:17-23, I Samuel 16:7) So what you eat is not an important issue, but if by eating it you cause someone else to be confused about what is right, or to be turned away from God, then what you eat certainly does matter. So Paul chose not to eat meat in order to avoid causing someone else to sin. The Biblical context continues in I Corinthians 9:1-18. Here Paul is declaring that as a minister of the gospel he does have the right to financial support from the Corinthians, so that he can focus his time and energy of sharing God’s word. But Paul gives up that right, not because he isn’t entitled to it, but so that he is under no obligation to anyone but Christ. For this reason he can bring the message to both Jews and Gentiles. He uses his own life experiences to make connections with both groups. He does not compromise the message of salvation, but he does put it in a context that can be understood by his audience.
That brings us to today’s context. If only we could learn from Paul. Very often, the people who go to church today are there because they’ve always gone to church. They focus on the programs, the type of music used in the service, and how to pay the bills. Meanwhile, outside of the church is a big wide world that doesn’t understand its purpose. They don’t see the point of going to church because they don’t know Jesus, and we as a church are not introducing them to Him, because we are too busy focusing on less significant details or on building bonds of friendship with those who already believe the same things we do. There is nothing wrong with building relationships inside the church, but if we do not associate with people who believe differently, how will we ever show them the truth of the gospel? Unfortunately, many of the people who do engage with others are passing judgement on them, telling them that they are wrong and we are right. The truth is that for many issues we cannot fully know what is right. We are all just flawed humans, and only God is God, and only He knows everything. We can, however, meet people in the context of their culture and share what is truly important: God’s love.
I Corinthians 15:3-6 Jesus’ Resurrection: Fact or Fiction?
Today's post was written by Rusty Wright.
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At Easter, some might wonder what all the fuss is about. Who cares? What difference does it make if Jesus rose from the dead?
It makes all the difference in the world. If Christ did not rise, then thousands of believers have died as martyrs for a hoax.
If he did rise, then he is still alive and can offer peace to troubled, hurting lives.
Countless scholars--among them the apostle Paul, Augustine, Sir Isaac Newton and C.S. Lewis--believed in the resurrection. We need not fear committing intellectual suicide by believing it also. Where do the facts lead?
Paul, a first-century skeptic-turned believer, wrote that "Christ died for our sins...he was buried...he was raised on the third day...he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve (Disciples). After that, he appeared to more than five hundred...at the same time, most of whom are still living." (I Corinthians 15:3-6) Consider four pieces of evidence:
1. The explosive growth of the Christian movement. Within a few weeks after Jesus was crucified, a movement arose which, by the later admission of its enemies, "upset the world." What happened to ignite this movement shortly after its leader had been executed?
2. The Disciples' changed lives. After Jesus' arrest and crucifixion, most of the Disciples fled in fear. Peter denied three times that he was a follower of Jesus. (The women were braver and stayed to the end.) Yet ten out of the eleven Disciples (Judas committed suicide) were martyred for their faith. According to traditions, Peter was crucified upside down; Thomas was skewered; John was boiled in oil but survived. What turned these cowards into heroes? Each believed he had seen Jesus alive again.
3. The empty tomb. Jesus' corpse was removed from the cross, wrapped like a mummy and placed in a solid-rock tomb. A one-and-a-half to two-ton stone was rolled into a slightly depressed groove to seal the tomb's entrance.
A "Green Beret"-like unit of Roman soldiers guarded the grave. Sunday morning, the stone was found rolled away, the body was gone but the graveclothes were still in place. What happened?
Did Christ's friends steal the body? Perhaps one of the women sweet-talked (karate-chopped?) the guards while the others moved the stone and tiptoed off with the body. Or maybe Peter (remember his bravery) or Thomas (Doubting Thomas) overpowered the guards, stole the body, then fabricated--and died for--a resurrection myth.
These theories hardly seem plausible. The guard was too powerful, the stone too heavy and the disciples too spineless to attempt such a feat.
Did Christ's enemies steal the body? If Romans or Jewish religious leaders had the body, surely they would have exposed it publicly and Christianity would have died out. They didn't, and it didn't.
The "Swoon Theory" supposes that Jesus didn't really die but was only unconscious. The expert Roman executioners merely thought he was dead. After a few days in the tomb without food or medicine, the cool air revived him.
He burst from the 100 pounds of graveclothes, rolled away the stone with his nail-pierced hands, scared the daylights out of the Roman soldiers, walked miles on wounded feet and convinced his Disciples he'd been raised from the dead. This one is harder to believe than the resurrection itself.
4. The appearances of the risen Christ. For 40 days after his death, many different people said they saw Jesus alive. Witnesses included a woman, a shrewd tax collector, several fishermen and over 500 people at once. These claims provide further eyewitness testimony for the resurrection.
As a skeptic, I realized that attempts to explain away the evidences run into a brick wall of facts that point to one conclusion: Christ is risen.
The above does not constitute an exhaustive proof, rather a reasoned examination of the evidence. Each interested person should evaluate the evidence and decide if it makes sense. Of course, the truth or falsity of the resurrection is a matter of historical fact and is not dependent on anyone's belief. If the facts support the claim, one can conclude that he arose. In any case, mere intellectual assent to the facts does little for one's life.
A major evidence comes experientially, in personally receiving Jesus' free gift of forgiveness. He said, "I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him (or her)." (Revelation 3:20)
Worth considering?
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Rusty Wright is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. He holds Bachelor of Science (psychology) and Master of Theology degrees from Duke and Oxford universities, respectively. www.RustyWright.com
I Corinthians 13:4-8 Valentine’s Day Brings Back That Lovin’ Feeling
Today's post was written by Rusty Wright.
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February is known for cold weather, presidents' birthdays and Cupid's delight. As Valentine's Day approaches, hearts flutter, lovers sigh and Charlie Brown hopes that little red-haired girl will like the card he's been gathering up the courage to give her.
Love, sex and amorous relationships have dominated the news over the past year. Not every culture is as comfortable as ours with public displays of affection. In one Malaysian state, laws ban total darkness in movie theaters "to prevent immoral acts like kissing, cuddling and other activities," as one official explained it. Public kissing there usually rates a $70 fine.
Smooch Cops
In Venezuela, extended public kissing and embracing can get you arrested. "If you kiss for more than five seconds, the police will grab you," complained one young woman whose friends were jailed. "It's ridiculous," groused a 24-year-old man. "Whoever invented this law must not have a girlfriend."
Defining immoral kisses can be difficult admitted one policeman, but "when you see it, you should know it." (Has he been reading U.S. Supreme Court decisions?)
Kids on Love, Dating and Marriage
Kids often have unique insights into adults' urge to merge. A friend passed along from the Internet children's answers to questions about love. What do people do on a date? Lynnette (age 8): "Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough."
Martin (age 10) sees the bottom line: "On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date."
When is it OK to kiss someone? Pam (7): "When they're rich!" Curt (7): "The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that." Howard (8): "The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them....It's the right thing to do.
How does one decide whom to marry? Allan (10): "You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dips coming." Allan may find it prudent to slightly revise that theory in a few years.
Do You Love Me?
This season pundits ponder, "What is genuine love?" Popular speaker Josh McDowell delineates three kinds of love that can inform kids' (and adults') attitudes: love if, love because of, and love period. Love if and because of are based on personality or performance: "I love you if you go out with me, if you have a good sense of humor, if you sleep with me. I love you because you're attractive, intelligent or athletic."
But the best kind of love says, "I love you period: even with your weaknesses, even if you change, even if someone better looking comes along. Even if you have zoo-breath in the morning. I want to give myself to you."
Real Love
Paul, an early Christian writer, eloquently described this unconditional love: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. ...Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever...." (I Corinthians 13:4-8a)
Committed unconditional love could probably heal many romantic rifts. Solid spiritual roots that help produce it can help undergird stable relationships. And the children have noticed that families and adult relationships can use some strengthening.
How can a stranger tell if two people are married? Derrick (8): By "whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids." And how would the world be different if people didn't get married? Kelvin (8): "There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?"
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Rusty Wright is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. He holds Bachelor of Science (psychology) and Master of Theology degrees from Duke and Oxford universities, respectively. www.RustyWright.com
I Corinthians 1:18-31 Believing Is Seeing
Years ago, my husband moved to a new town to start a new job. Because I was in the middle of a Master of Education program at home, I didn’t move with him. One or the other of us would travel back and forth to see each other on weekends, but his colleagues questioned whether I truly existed or not. They didn’t know me. They had never met me. Some people are in the same position with God. I often have people tell me that God doesn’t exist, that He is just a crutch for people that can’t deal with life on their own. I, however, know that He exists, because I know Him. I will never be able to convince someone who doesn’t know Him though; that is something that only the Holy Spirit can do.
The Apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 1:18-31, gives the Corinthian believers a similar message. The people of that time also thought that the idea of God, and especially of Christ, the Messiah, hanging on the cross, was foolishness. The Jews expected, and demanded, miraculous signs, demonstrations of great power from their awaited Messiah, but they still would not believe. (Luke 16:31, John 12:37) Where was the power in Jesus hanging on the cross? It didn’t make any sense to them. The Greeks, were, and still are, known for their great intelligence and wisdom, but their human wisdom was not enough to understand the value of Christ’s crucifixion.
Paul’s audience, the Corinthians, were not noble, powerful, or privileged, and yet they had become believers because they had accepted the call of God. They knew God, because they chose to believe in Him by faith. God calls all of us, but there is absolutely nothing we can do through our own power or wisdom to earn salvation. All we can do is accept His gift. We may not completely understand God’s ways of doing things, but that doesn’t mean that our ways are better or that we are smarter. We can’t even begin to fathom the wisdom of God because it is so far above our own. Christ’s willingness to sacrifice Himself in such a humiliating way, for us, is all that we should boast about.
I Corinthians 1:26-31 Qualified
The other day I was watching an episode of Full Circle that aired a few months ago. (The good thing about Full Circle is that you can watch full episodes on-line anytime.) The conversation was about trying to be a good enough mom. Now, not all of us are moms, but most of us are trying to be great at something, maybe several things. I would guess that most of us also feel like we aren’t measuring up. And, I would say that even those who appear to have it all together probably feel like they don’t most of the time.
We are continually being bombarded with images of people to measure up to. This goes beyond the advertisements of perfectly sized men and women wearing this year’s perfect fashions. The people who are celebrated in the news, on TV, and on the Internet are usually the ones who have accomplished something extraordinary. We celebrate the people who have accomplished great things, donated a lot of money (or even just earned/won/have a lot of money), committed heroic acts, or overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. I have nothing against acknowledging these people, but where does that leave the rest of us who are pretty much just average?
God has a plan and a purpose for us, (Jeremiah 29:11) and the good news is that we don’t have to be strong, rich, well-educated or spectacular in any way to fulfill that purpose. Peter and John were just ordinary men—no advanced degrees, no high position in society—but God was able to use them, (Acts 4:13-14) and He can use us too. I Corinthians 1:26-31 tells us that God uses ordinary people, the ones who have no advantages according to the world’s standards. He uses the foolish to shame the wise and the weak to shame the strong. (I Corinthians 1:27) Why does He choose to use the unqualified to do His work? So that we will know that all we have accomplished is through His power. So that we won’t have a reason to swell with pride. So that any boasting we do will be done in the Lord. So that all of the glory will go to God.
The Corinthians that Paul was writing to were pretty average people—not many were aristocrats, mighty warriors or brilliant scholars. (I Corinthians 1:26) We are pretty average too, but our God is not. If we are willing to answer His call, He can do incredible things through us.