November 19, 2014
1 Corinthians 1-6
Today we switch from the letter Paul wrote to the church he had not yet visited, the Church in Rome, to a letter Paul wrote to a church he had planted! We can tell from his writing that he knew the church in Corinth very well, and that he had kept tabs on them. We can also see that the Church in Corinth is a church in turmoil.
That’s not to say, it wouldn’t have been an exciting eye-opening church to be a part of. The Corinthian Church was “enriched in Christ in all speech and knowledge,” (1:5) Paul says, and was “not lacking in any spiritual gift.” (1:7) I would compare a visit to this church to a particularly vibrant and demonstrative Pentecostal church. But their fire and enthusiasm is not their problem; division, sectarianism and pride are at the heart of their turmoil.
As you read chapters 1-6, listen for all the ways Paul calls them to unity and to keeping the main thing the main thing. If we “knew nothing...but Jesus Christ and him crucified,” (2:2), we’d all be on the same page. If we had “the mind of Christ” (2:16), we’d have oneness. If we understood that we Christians, together and as individuals, are temples of God’s Spirit (3:16; 6:19), we’d pull together.
But there is more amiss in Corinth than disunity; there is serious moral failing. Read chapter 5 and weep! Read chapter 6 and weep even more. When Christians use their saving relationship with Jesus as a license to sin, the Church stumbles. Remember, Paul says, that your “bodies are members of Christ” (6:15) and should not be united with another in sexual sin!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
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