THE WORLD IN THE CHURCH
1 Corinthians 1
“To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
We often gloss over these introductory greetings in Paul’s letters but they do set the context of the letter. Paul writes as one called by God to be a servant of Jesus, and he writes to “the church of God” that is sanctified and called to be holy in Jesus. They acknowledge Jesus as Lord, just as Paul does.
Very clearly Jesus defines the church and is Lord over it. God assumes ownership.
However, the reality on the ground did not match this lofty description. The congregation were divided by rivalries over their “heroes”: Paul, Apollos, Peter and even Jesus.
At the same time, the church was enamoured of “spiritual gifts”, mostly the ability to speak in tongues as we discover in the later chapters. These gifts were seen as proof of the Gospel, as Paul acknowledges, “confirming our testimony about Christ among you” and, very likely, proof of the spirituality of the community.
Where did such ideas come from? Clearly, from the “world” that had shaped their mind before they were Christians.
What was lacking was, firstly, the Lordship of Christ that should help them see that Paul, Apollos and Peter were merely Christ’s servants and unite them as people who revere the same Lord, Jesus. Secondly there was a lack of focus on sanctification and holiness which needed sacrifice and perseverance, and a preference for the instant spirituality of spiritual gifts.
When we sit back and think of the modern church we can see how underneath our “spiritual” ambitions of an unhealthy preoccupation with numbers, power, personalities and entertainment disguised as worship is worldly thinking and worldly values that we continue to affirm and nurture. The nature of Jesus and his concerns and his ways are vastly different from that of the world but we rarely see churches that reflect Jesus these days: poor and humble but loved by those whose life they have touched.
“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
Thank you for this insightful meditation.
Indeed, much of my struggle has to do with
the untransformed mind, the mind that has been formed and continues to conform to worldliness.
Still a lot of work to do 😔
Thanks for sharing, Lai Lian. We are all struggling, I’m sure, but knowing that itself is the most important aspect on our part I think, because then we will turn to God and can help us. Otherwise we won’t even be turning to God or trying to walk in his ways.