This is the second lesson in a series on 1 Corinthians. Please read
all about it in the Introduction. I’ve broken the post into 5 sections with
journal prompts at the end of each part. These would be great daily stopping
points. I’ve also linked the Scripture references to biblegateway.com; click
the blue font references. I’d love to hear what you’re learning!
Week 2:
Divisions Galore (1 Corinthians 1:10-2:16)
I’ve been a pastor’s wife
for almost 20 years. In Big Church I always sit at the front, except for one
big exception. Business meetings. After sitting through some fairly interesting
business meetings I like to be able to see what’s happening. I now sit kinda
back and side-ish. I remember watching warily from the side-back once as my
nervous husband was presenting a first look at a building renovation. As he
warmed up to the subject he got to a part that he knew would be popular, the
design for a newly enlarged women’s restroom. With much gusto he proclaimed the
arrival of the “LARGER ladies restroom” {emphasis
totally his}. He didn’t realize his mistake until nervous laughter began to
trickle through the room. As he tried to correct himself that the bathroom
would be larger not the ladies, the laughter turned into guffaws. It actually
released some of the tension because everyone there knew that church business
meetings can get ugly and fast.
In Ephesus, Paul is hearing
reports of some ugly business meetings back in Corinth.
He is about to get all up in
our mess.
This week we will look at
one of the major problems facing the Corinthian church (which just happens to be familiar to us)….and see God’s strange
remedy.
The Problem
So, what’s the problem? Why
are these sweet folks we read about in Acts 18 having such a hard time getting
along? They are God’s people and had a great start. What’s up with the
fighting? In verse 10 we see that they are divided. In verse 11 they are quarrelling. Division in verse 10 means “to split, tear, a schism, division in mind,
sentiment, and so into factions.” (Zodhiates,
959).” What had been created whole and
beautiful has become torn and fractured. As was the pattern of their culture
they have split into different groups based on loyalty to their leaders along
imagined party lines. They aren’t having problems with false teaching or heresy
so much, they are playing preacher favorites. In verses 12-13 we read that some
follow Paul, some follow Apollos (a young
persuasive believer), some follow Cephas (our Peter), and some just stick their noses right up in the air
and claim to follow Christ. Now it isn’t a bad thing to claim we follow Christ.
In fact in the next few chapters that is EXACTLY what we will be taught to do.
In this instance the Christ Camp is likely over-spiritualizing and seeking to
stay above it all while in reality maintaining the brokenness in their body.
Ouch.
Read verse 10 again. “I appeal to you, BROTHERS.” My footnote
says, “or brothers and sisters. The
plural Greek word adelphoi translated “brothers” refers to siblings in a
family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer to
men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s
family, the church.” (ESV Study Bible, 2192).
I learned that “29% of the uses of adelphoi (brothers and
sisters) in the Pauline corpus occur in 1 Corinthians…39 times.” (Garland, 41).
If ever a group of believers needed this reminder it was the Corinthians. If
ever a group of believers needed this reminder it is us. We are family. It’s
not ok to tear each other up.
This just struck a nerve
because so many believers are content to be critical and grudge-holders at
church while fighting hard to hold their flesh and blood families together at
home. We are going to learn some great balancers in 1 Corinthians, but we have
to do everything we can to make peace at church, in church, with other
believers. Jesus lovers aren’t content to settle for broken spiritual families.
Journal
Prompt: Write the
definitions for division and adelphoi in your own words. Ask God where you need
to be a better spiritual sibling and write it out. Read Romans 12:17-19. How
does this passage speak to what God has shown you today?
The Fix
Once we were on a road trip
when my two oldest were little littles. They were fussing and fighting and
being a pain. After many patient instructions for them to stop and straighten
up, my husband had enough. Finally he said, “OK! Who wants a spanking!?!?” It
got very quiet and then our daughter pipes up sweetly and says, “Zachary does!”
Of course we started laughing (except not
Zachary) and they both were saved from a spanking by her hilarity. In real
life church it’s not so funny though. We point fingers and let grudges grow and
cast blame and build alliances and hurt one another.
Back to 1:10, we are told
not to be broken up by divisions, but to be united in mind (ability to think) and judgment (discernment, active will). I typically
just think of unity as a lack of tension and fighting. It is so much more than
that. One commentator described it as being “refurbished”
(Garland, 43). To be united means “fit,
complete. The fundamental meaning is to put a thing in its appropriate
position, to establish, set up, equip, arrange…to reunite in mind and
sentiment, to reconcile, as opposed to having schisms, ruptures…rejoin a
disjointed limb.” (Zodhiates, 926).
Considering the original
meanings of division and unity convinces us that we can’t be restored into the
proper position of unity if we are self-seeking, self-serving, and self-led.
Young sisters, listen and
learn this now. Church can be so disappointing, I know. You’re growing into
your very own beautiful transforming faith and cannot seem to reconcile it with
the problems you see in church. But in the great vision of your lifetime and
God’s heart and affection you must love church. Choose to submit to godly yet
imperfect human authority, to serve with great humility where you are, to see
even those individuals who bring you the most disillusionment as siblings, to
always be about healing and reconciliation and rejoining brokenness. You WILL
get to see heavenly glimpses of God’s great attachment to the Church.
Here’s an example of how we
serve and love at church even while being called to different areas of service
(oh how much we will learn about this in the future weeks in 1 Corinthians). When
I first moved to the church where I currently serve I got busy in women’s
ministry. My very best most encouraging friend who had helped me settle into a
new town, church, and home came on board with me. I assumed we would both love women’s
ministry. She really tried, for my sake. Finally in tears she came to me and
affirmed that I was exactly where I needed to be serving, but that she wasn’t.
Her gifts and calling were to serve the children in our church, not the women.
Trying for my sake was wearing her out and taking her away from the places
where she needed to be. Her uncritical and encouraging attitude built the
church even though she was stepping away from a position.
Journal
Prompt: How does the
definition for unity surprise you? How does unity connect to (how is it the
solution to) the definition for division? How does the story I told about my
friend illustrate the unity Paul describes in 1:10?
Upside-Down Calling
Now we are going to
transition into some verses about wisdom and foolishness. They don’t seem to
fit with the “We are family, so everyone
get along” theme that we’ve been seeing. God’s answer is different than we
might expect. It’s not a To-Do List for conflict resolution. He tells us to consider
our calling and to recognize the difference in the world’s
wisdom and God’s wisdom. We have been instructed to
be united and whole in our church family. For us the question is How?
When you’ve been hurt or misunderstood or passed over, or marginalized in your
church family, how do you contribute to healing? For God the question is not How, but Who?
Who will we follow through the struggle?
The concept of calling can
be confusing. I get questions about this all the time. In verse 26 Paul says to
consider your calling. It just does not make sense. Back up a bit and read 1 Corinthians
1:17-18 to see that the foundation of our calling is to the cross. The cross
was shameful and backward. Read 1 Corinthians 1:22-23.
“Paul did not sweep the crucifixion under the carpet
as an unfortunate episode remedied by the glories of the resurrection.”
(Garland, 61)
In modern Christianity we
have romanticized the cross, making it a comforting line in hymns and a charm
we wear around our necks or use to decorate our homes. To a first century Corinthian
a cross hanging on our living room wall might’ve been as appropriate as a crime
scene photograph would be to us. When I try to make a modern connection all I
can think of is abduction, rape, human trafficking, the things that we consider
our worst nightmares. That was crucifixion in the first century. The fear
would’ve kept mothers of rebellious sons awake at night.
Shocking? Yes. Upside Down?
Absolutely. The cross was a stumbling block to both Jews and Greeks (22). “…a crucified Messiah was offensive to an
unbelieving Jew and nonsensical to an unbelieving Greek.” ESV Study Bible,
2193). “A well-known graffito in Rome
depicts a worshipper standing before a crucified figure with the body of a man
and the head of an ass and the inscription ‘Alexamenos worships his god’. That
was the way the world-wise regarded the message of the cross.” (Morris, 43)
It was humiliating and
completely backward for anyone to believe that good, or especially salvation
could come from such a painful, torturous, humiliating experience. Upside Down.
And yet.
The cross is the foundation
of our calling. Stay hopeful, it is no more the END of our experience than it
was the end of Jesus’, but it is the start. These verses come from other parts
of Paul’s teaching about suffering like Jesus; Philippians 3:10, Romans 6:3-5,
2 Corinthians 1:5.
 |
| This picture was taken on my phone in February when we were in Jerusalem. This is one of the tiles from the floor where Jesus was likely beaten and tried before He was led away to the cross. |
Could it be that we never
find our true calling or the power to forgive and be restoration in our church
body because we aren’t willing to take the first step into an Upside Down
Calling? We aren’t willing to share in Jesus’ suffering and swallow some pride,
serve with humility and sometimes humiliation, accept some pain as useful? Could
it be we need to just get over ourselves at church? Could it be we can’t reach
to grasp Jesus’ hand in the midst of such struggles even though He is there and
He is walking with us in such foolishness to finally and fervently find God’s
Wisdom?
Journal
Prompt: What does it mean to
you to be called to the cross? How does this connect to the contrast in wisdom
taught in these verses?
Upside Down Wisdom
Before we move on I’d like
to take a quick journey to visit someone who perfectly illustrates Upside Down
Wisdom. On Wednesday mornings my Bible Study ladies are doing Priscilla
Shirer’s Gideon Study {it’s
amazing, do it}. Gideon’s life shows us the why behind God’s Wisdom. Read Judges 7:1-7. God calls an unlikely man to lead a very unlikely group of
men to defeat a very strong army. They start with 32,000 against 135,000. They
are already underdogs (world’s wisdom).
In Judges 7:2 God says, “the people with you
are too many” and reduces the amount of Israel’s army to 10,000 (God’s wisdom). Then in verse 4 God
says, “the people are still too many”
and reduces the army again to 300 (God’s
wisdom). None of this makes a lick of sense. Who on earth would agree that
300 soldiers are better than 32,000, especially when you are fighting against
135,000? Upside down. God’s wisdom. Why such foolishness? Read Judges 7:2, “lest Israel boast over me, saying ‘My own
hand has saved me.’” Now, back to 1 Corinthians, read 1:29 and 31. See it?
Independence. Boasting. Foolish.
Priscilla Shirer says, “He doesn’t call us to do the hard stuff –
He calls us to do the impossible.” He chooses this so that there is not
even one single shred of self-boasting in our miraculous lives.
Journal
Prompt: Review Gideon’s
story carefully. Why do you think that God reduced the numbers in Israel’s
army. Read Judges 7:7 and write out God’s promise. How does this apply to your
life today?
Mind of Christ
Read 1 Corinthians 2
Paul’s spends the first five
verses describing his version of the upside down life. And then describes the
only way we can do the Impossible Foolish that becomes the Beautiful Accomplished
in God’s Upside Down version of wisdom.
Through His Spirit
(10)
These verses in chapter 2
are treasures. Please go back and see them, read them over and over in
different translations, meditate and let them soak in. Give the Holy Spirit the
attention He deserves.
In verse 11 when Paul says, “who knows a person’s thoughts except that
person?” and then “No one comprehends
the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God,” he is giving us a hidden
treasure. Have you ever been in a “fake
it ‘til you make it” situation and were just so very thankful that no one
could see the crazy going on in your head? On the other hand have you ever
tried to communicate with someone you care about and wished they could just see
the compassionate intention that was in your mind and heart? Both happen to me.
The point is, only I know what I’m really thinking. My mind gets it; my mouth
just can’t translate sometimes! {By the
way, this is how I feel about every single word I write!}. You want to know
what God is thinking? It’s possible. Every single second you spend listening to
and obeying His Words and leaning under the Holy Spirit are helping you know
what God’s thinking. We have the Mind of Christ.
I love how this commentary
says it, “Many believers were insecure
without the physical presence of Jesus among them; they need assurance that the
Holy Spirit would be their helper. He was the key to unlocking God’s wisdom. Only God can know and reveal God. The Holy
Spirit knows the wisdom of God because He is God.” (Patterson, Kelley, 420)
Remember the calling that we
studied in 1:26? The call is “the divine
invitation to participate in the blessing of redemption. It can be a vocation
or a destination.” (Zodhiates, 925). How do we escape division and appeal
to unity? How do we live by God’s wisdom instead of our own? Follow our
calling. And our calling is to live out redemption; which is slavery,
brokenness, uselessness, vanity…all restored. The cost was the cross and so we
always start there where God convinces the slaves, the broken, the useless, and
the vain that there is more to real life but it means becoming a fool in the
eyes of others who don’t understand Him. When those others look at our upside
down lives some see foolishness, but some see a curious opening where the
Spirit can move in with transforming persuasion that turns their lives Upside
Down. Until then our lifestyle and choices make zero sense, so why get
defensive when we are misunderstood? We can walk and live all around them with
kindness and Spirit–led wholeness.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are
perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians
1:18
“It’s a poor thing to come to him as a last resort,
to offer up our own when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud, he
would hardly have us on such terms. But he is not proud. He stoops to conquer. He
would have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to him,
and come to him because there is nothing better now to be had.” – CS Lewis
(Prior, 44)
Perhaps our life’s ambition
should be to illustrate that God stoops to conquer. He is the treasure; may
it be seen in our love for the church, our attachment to the cross, and our
whole abandonment to God’s wisdom above all others’.
Journal
Prompt: What does it mean to
you personally when you read “we have the mind of Christ?” -1 Corinthians 2:16
Where are some places where you’ve relied on human wisdom instead God’s wisdom?
Week 2 Things We Can Learn:
- We must learn to love and bring healing to church; we are family. (1:10)
- Our calling to redemption makes zero sense to others, so why get defensive when we are misunderstood? (1:18)
- We can walk with great confidence into the impossible as we follow the Holy Spirit’s foolish wisdom. (2:16)
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