1 Corinthians 4

Paul has been on the same train of thought for a few chapters, and here in chapter 4, he’s wrapping up those thoughts before shifting to the really fun and exciting topic, sex. But we aren’t there yet. That’s tomorrow. So bear with me today and we’ll get there…

He tells the Corinthians he doesn’t want them to imagine him as something he is not. He isn’t a master of Christ, or flawless, or a gatekeeper, or anything of the sort. He is a servant, a guide, and nothing more. Basically don’t put him or his fellow laborers on a pedestal. Put Christ on a pedestal.

As he continues, I just love a couple of his one liners and thoughts. He’s talking about how God will bring everything — inner motives, purposes, prayers — all out into the open. He’s talking about all the comparing and competing going on. He’s talking about how everything is a gift from God, so don’t get all haughty. And then he says this: why all the bickering…

You already have more access to God than you can handle.

WHOA!

And then, a little later, this…

God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.

Yeah buddy!

Let those two things marinate for a bit: God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life. You already have more access to God than you can handle.

You already have more access to God than you can handle…

1 Corinthians 3

I’m excited for this chapter because I love the analogies and illustrations Paul uses. He’s so good at this; I want to be like him when I grow up. But if I said that to him, he’d get a little huffy with me like he got huffy with the Corinthians. Because it isn’t following a man or woman that makes you a better person; it’s following God that makes you a better person.

Three analogies in this chapter:

  1. an infant nursing at the breast
  2. a plant growing
  3. a house / building / temple

I’ll keep my comments brief, because as always, I really want you to go back and read this chapter for yourself. That said, the first analogy…

How many people today would be classified as spiritual infants by Paul? Would he classify the entire American church as spiritual infants, or an entire movement like evangelicals, or an entire denomination like Southern Baptists? Of course not the Baptists! And definitely not the Presbyterians! But maybe the Penecostals? Or the Methodists? Or the Nazarenes? Or the Church of Christ or Church of God denominations? I say all of this tongue in cheek. It’s not a denomination or clique that matters, as Paul so appropriately explains in this chapter…and in many other letters. The point is that God knows the hearts, the maturity level, and the quality of each believer’s life. He knows if you’re a grown up or an infant in your relationship with him.

Which leads me to the plant growing… I would get so fired up a few years back when everyone talked about “being fed.” I just want to go somewhere where I’m going to be fed. I just need fed more. Blah, blah, blah. And I think this is true through the ages, but so many people look to the pastor or leader for the food. They think that person is the one who is the source of their nourishment. Wrong! The source of nourishment, or the source of the growth, as Paul says here, is God. It’s not the messenger. The messenger plants seeds; the good ones might even provide some living water via the Holy Spirit. But at the end of the day, your growth, your development, your maturity comes from what Christ does in you and what He does through His Word as those teachers share it. They’re just vessels. God is the source.

Which leads me to the home / building / temple… I wouldn’t consider these three separate analogies at this juncture, though I think Paul fleshes out each one more in separate letters or chapters; but here, I think he’s saying the same thing for all three of them. Be careful what materials you use to build. It’s like the classic story of the Three Little Pigs. If you use straw or even sticks & wood, your house will be blown down. It will be blown down when trials and wolves come. It will be blown down in the end at judgment day. You’ll survive, as Paul says, as long as your foundation was Christ. Because Christ is the solid rock on which we stand and build. But let me tell you, after living out west, the winds can come on a regular basis. And those winds can blow structures down. Better make sure you build with bricks.

You are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God. You and I both. Let’s build something great!

1 Corinthians 2

Back in chapter 1, Paul was talking about how God’s “foolishness” confounds human “wisdom.”

He also talked about how not many of us were “the brightest and the best” when God called us. Paul is actually saying it to the Corinthians obviously, but if we apply the Scriptures to our lives, there’s a good possibility that we’re in that lump as well, which always used to offend me. I would think, “No, that couldn’t be about me. I was one of the brightest and the best. I graduated in the top 5 of my class. I was an academic & all-state football player. I played college football. Surely, I was one of the brightest and the best.”

But then, I grew up a little bit, and I read this passage a few years later. Then, I read it a few years later. Then, I read it just yesterday. And I realized, “He’s right! I’m not one the brightest and best.”

Here’s what I mean by that: When I was shining in high school, it was in a town of 15,000 people in the middle of rural midwest America. When I was shining in college, it was at a small NAIA school. When I was shining in Bible college, it was at the smallest campus in the country. When I got out of those bubbles, I realized I was not the big influential person I thought I was. I didn’t have money and fame. I didn’t rub shoulders with heads of state or the ultra-wealthy billionaires or anybody of that caliber.

I was a no-name guy, from a no-name town, working for a small company. Sure, the company I’m in now is wildly successful. But we’re wildly successful in one small niche. We’re on the Inc.5000 list for fastest growing companies, and I’m a huge contributor to the organizations success, but… I’m not the face of the company. I’m not the sole reason for its success. And even if I was either of those things, I still wouldn’t be a big shot. The greater public, the masses, have never heard of me or our company. So no, I’m not one of “the brightest and best,” I’m not one of the influential, I’m not from a high-society family. And that makes it quite clear that any influence I have comes totally from Christ and what He has done in me.

As Paul continues these thoughts in chapter 2, I realize, as believers, we are all simply responding to God’s power and wisdom.

God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes.

God knows what He is doing. I just trust Him.

And I think that’s what Paul is going for in these first couple chapters of Corinthians. A little slice of humble pie.

1 Corinthians 1

Per usual, Paul starts his letters off with a bang. He addresses everyone in Corinth with a beautiful phrase — to those of you cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life. How would your self-perception, your self-worth, and your value change if you viewed yourself that way every single day? Cleaned up by Jesus. Living a God-filled life.

He goes on to talk about how we have lives of free and open access to God. At that time and even today, it’s beyond speech, beyond knowledge. A human with direct access to the Creator, God. Again, what if we viewed ourselves as having that access? Even better, what if we utilized it?

  • Feeling stressed — use your open access to God.
  • Feeling frustrated — use your open access to God.
  • Struggling to process what’s just happened — use your open access to God.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a token Paul letter if it also didn’t have some mention of the cross and what Christ did in dying and raising. So, Paul goes into an entire section on the irony of the cross. It confounds human wisdom. It’s an enigma in so many ways.

One of the basest, most destructive forms of punishment…

One of the worst ways to devalue and dehumanize someone…

One of the most abusive, painful, and shameful execution methods…

God uses that, and flips it right on its head, to bring the greatest human accomplishment in the world. The Jews wanted miraculous signs and the Greeks wanted philosophical wisdom, and through Jesus’ death on the cross, God ironically gave them both what they wanted. But even more, through that death and the subsequent resurrection, he washes away our sins for good. Wild!

I think that’s enough to stew on for a day. Tomorrow, we’ll dive more into this irony of the cross (on a personal level) and continue into chapter 2.

Romans (Summary)

Two sentences on Romans 16 as a chapter, then I want to focus on the book of Romans as a whole.

Chapter 16 shows us that Paul was never a lone ranger in the work he did; he always had a team, a support system, behind every ministry endeavor, behind every trip, behind every church plant, behind every letter he wrote. We’d be wise to do the same.

As for the whole book of Romans, much like I said at the beginning of these entries, there’s a reason it’s been a central book for the entire New Testament. There’s a reason it’s been a church favorite for centuries. There’s a reason pastors have taken years, sometimes even decades to try to preach & teach through this book. There’s a reason people end up writing commentaries on the book that are bigger than the entire Bible itself. What’s the reason?

Because people are wordy! 😉

That, and…

It’s so rich. It’s so deep. It’s so intellectually stimulating and heart engaging at the same time. It’s full of beautiful explanations and sound logical arguments. It’s also full of heart-felt praise, raw emotions, and glimpses of God’s masterful plans. It’s a beautiful piece of work, and people love to experience beauty.

I did my best to keep each entry brief, and I feel like I was able to do that. But don’t let my brevity trick you into thinking there’s not much to say about this letter / book.

To read Romans, to grasp it, to comprehend it in its full depth, could take a lifetime. But I hope you’ll at least join me in appreciating a small morsel of each chapter, as you go back and read these previous 16 entries. May you glean something from it. May it deepen your hunger for knowing God. Not knowing about God. But knowing God.

And may these words of Paul to the Romans encourage your heart as much as, nay, even more than, they’ve encouraged mine.

Romans (entry 16)

As Paul winds down the letter to the Romans, in the last two chapters 15 & 16, you begin to see his heart for the people on a deeper level. The teaching in the early chapters is so solid, so robust, so thorough, that you may think Paul is just a massive brain, a man of the mind, a man with tremendous intellectual insight. But as you read chapter 15, you realize he’s just as solid on the emotional front as he is on the intellectual front.

He talks about the importance of the “strong and able in the faith” being willing to step in and help the weaker ones. He talks about singing and rejoicing together. He talks about being satisfied with who they are and what they are doing, like a proud father. He talks about bringing an offering to the poor in Jerusalem and Judea before heading out for Rome. He talks about how long he’s wanted to go to Rome to help those believers and how he even has plans for Spain.

It’s not about him; it’s about the Message. And he reiterates that again and again.

But one of my favorite lines in chapter 15, and the line I’ll leave you with today, is this exhortation / encouragement / almost benediction:

Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!

Romans (entry 15)

I find it interesting that Paul goes through such great lengths to explain the Gospel and all that it entails, then as he’s wrapping things up, he starts to address matters of food and holidays. When I was younger, I thought it was a bit odd. Didn’t understand it. Felt like a waste of time and ink.

But as I’ve gotten older I totally see why he included it. People, especially Christians (aka people who are supposed to be following Jesus), get fired up about some of the most ridiculous things. Things, like holidays and food.

Some people love Christmas and think we have to keep Christ in Christmas, Jesus is the reason for the season, etc. Others refuse to celebrate Christmas because it doesn’t match up historically or because they think it’s too commercialized or they think we should celebrate Hanukkah instead. Some people hate Halloween and think it’s the devil’s holiday. Others get a ton of joy out of celebrating it and can do so with a clear conscience. And don’t even get me started on all the debates around Easter / Resurrection Sunday / whatever you decide to call it.

But it’s not just holidays, right? It’s food too. Some people eat any and all food with a clear conscience. Some are vegetarian, some are pescatarian, some are vegan, some are kosher only.

Paul sees all of this and says, “Each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.”

He also says God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, put it together, and completes it with joy. Our task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Basically, if the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.

Pretty simple, right? So I’ll eat kosher; you eat however you’d like. I’ll acknowledge a couple days I think are important; you acknowledge the ones you think are important, or treat them all as the same. I can respect that. We’re good. You good?