Tag 1 Corinthians

Mountain Bullies

Todd R 1 Comment

It’s universal to human experience that big and strong people bully smaller and weaker people.  Those with position, influence and power use what they have to take advantage of those who don’t have what they have.  Centuries ago, David imagined in Psalm 68:15-16 that even the mountains do the same:

“O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
            O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
            at the mount that God desired for his abode,
            yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?” – Psalm 68:15-16

The mountains of Bashan, of which Mount Hermon is the tallest, are northeast of Israel and are much taller than Mount Zion, where God had chosen to be most fully present with His people.  In David’s picture, size is what matters: the bigger mountains hate the smaller mountains, even knowing that God is there.  The big bully the small, and perhaps they do so because they know God is there.

Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash

Likewise, people who are well-off in this world often look down on Christians, God’s chosen people.  It is rare for the rich, famous, or powerful to publicly testify about Christ, and so we often get excited when athletes, celebrities, or politicians make their faith public.  We say to each other, “did you hear so-and-so is a Christian?”  It can make us feel like it’s more reasonable and accepted to follow Christ when this happens.  It feels good to identify with the rich and powerful.

But what if this rarity of seeing faith in the rich and powerful is intentional on God’s part?

Throughout Scripture God doesn’t identify with the rich and powerful; He identifies with the widow and orphan, with the lonely and outcast.  He favors the weak and the exploited.

In 1 Corinthians 1:26, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.”  The first century isn’t much different than to today: the “wise”, powerful and noble rarely testified about Christ.  Next Paul wrote: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are…”

Why?  “…so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

Back to Psalm 68, where we found the mountains of Bashan ridiculing God’s mountain of Zion, David ends with these verses:

“Ascribe power to God,
            whose majesty is over Israel,
            and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
            the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!”

I’ll rejoice over a public Christian testimony wherever it comes from, but I remember that God doesn’t need the help of the movers and shakers of this world.  His power is “in the skies” – way above the mountains that bully His Mount Zion.  He is glorified more when His power enables the weak to love Him and love their neighbor.

We might sometimes feel alone and ignored, like we’re not part of the “in crowd” or successful, but that might mean we’re God’s type of person!  No celebrity endorsement required.

“Ascribe power to God”

The Commission to Disciple

Todd R 2 Comments

Many of you are familiar with the Great Commission, given to followers of Jesus at the end of the gospel of Matthew.  Its place at the end of the book suggests this Commission represents Jesus’ final instructions to His followers:

“Go therefore and share the gospel with all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

However, that’s not the Great Commission.  I changed some words.  “Share the gospel with” isn’t in the ESV translation of this verse.  Matthew 28:19 actually says:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

This illustrates a common idea that the Great Commission is mostly, or even all, about evangelism (sharing the good news of Jesus with people, in order to convert them to Christianity).  The verse appears so often in the context of evangelism that, even though it says “make disciples,” it is often thought of the first way I wrote it.

Making disciples is a much bigger subject than evangelism and takes place in a much broader context, suggested by adding verse 20 to the quote:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Photo by Florian Weichert on Unsplash

Yes, evangelism is crucially important in the mission of the church (you can’t disciple if you don’t have Christians to disciple), but the Commission covers so much more that the church needs to do.  It’s not just about accumulating converts, but about making disciples who follow Jesus.  It covers anything involved with “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” and God equips each member of His church to contribute.  As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7:

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

And in verses 8-10 he lists some of the gifts:

“For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”

These gifts are for “the common good”, and Paul says in chapters 13 and 14 that these gifts are useless unless used in love to build up the church, to make it (both as a total body, and as individual members) more like Christ.  In other words, to disciple all nations since the church includes people from everywhere!

“So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.” – 1 Corinthians 14:12

Paul also makes a point to warn about emphasizing or exalting some gifts above others:

“The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable”[1]

Limiting the Great Commission to evangelistic efforts also risks raising evangelists above those with other gifts.  Maybe the teachers, helpers, and others will feel like the foot, which in Paul’s illustration, said:

“Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body”[2]

Every time Paul wrote about the spiritual gifts, in 1 Corinthians 12-14, in Romans 12, and in Ephesians 4, he stresses the unity of the church, founded on love among its members.  All gifts are part of the Great Commission when we know we are not making converts but making disciples.  Every Christian has a part to play, specific to their own gifts, passions, and opportunities, and no Christian should feel like a second-class citizen of the church.  Paul’s teaching on gifts is an encouragement to embrace diversity in the church – of gifts, of ministries, and of personalities – but not diversity of motive.  The only good motive is self-sacrificial agape love, and each gift is only effective to the degree that the one using it uses it in service to the growth of the church.

Perhaps the Great Commission should be renamed as the Commission to Disciple? What a difference a couple of words make.

[1] 1 Corinthians 12:21-22
[2] From 1 Corinthians 12:15

Zap! The Best Action Figures for Christmas

Todd R 2 Comments

Dear fellow travelers,

A hot Christmas gift when I was a kid were G.I. Joe toys.  These “Real American Heroes” were a line of action figures, vehicles and other accessories that fought against the evil Cobra organization which was trying to take over the world (of course).  In 1982, they were even hotter, after Hasbro added “Swivel Arm Battle Grip” to the design to differentiate G.I. Joe from the also-popular Star Wars figures.

Zap looks much better in action than in the box.

The swivel in the middle of the figure’s bicep allowed 360-degree rotation.  The swivel isn’t a shoulder, elbow, or hand, but without it, bazooka soldier (Code Name: Zap) can’t pose as modeled on the package pictured here.  I had “Zap” and tried it for myself.  It took some experimentation, but eventually the way the shoulder, swivel, and elbow were made worked together and Zap looked like Zap should look.

Why so much detail about action figures in a Christian blog?  Because the Christian church is described in the Bible as the body of Christ, and in 1 Corinthians 12:14-16, the apostle Paul assures us that, without every single member of the church participating, the body of Christ is incomplete:

“For the body does not consist of one member but of many.  If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body.”

Like Zap without “Swivel Arm Battle Grip,” the church will not perform as God intended unless all parts of the body participate, but sometimes it’s not clear to each of us what part of the body of Christ we are.  To some of us, others may clearly look like a shoulder, elbow, or hand, but we don’t know our part.  To some of us, others may look like the “hands and feet of Jesus” (to use a common phrase), but people don’t say the same about us.  Remember that Paul says “that would not make it any less a part of the body.”

Today, let’s return to one of this blog’s key verses, Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”  When we don’t clearly know the specifics of our part, maybe we are the “Swivel Arm Battle Grip” – the innovative, new part with a weird name that helps the other parts fit together and work as God intended.  But also, when we do know our part, is the objective any different?

Allow Me to Demonstrate

Todd R 3 Comments

Life as a Christian in the 1st century must have been extraordinarily difficult.  Like Jesus these early disciples faced resistance both from religious leaders as well as the Roman government. Most of these early Christians had not met Jesus personally and also did not have the Bible we have today.  What did they base their faith on?  Largely on the witness of others and on the teachings and examples of the apostles. Paul, who brought many to Christ and founded many churches during his missionary journeys, knew that all of his actions would be scrutinized as to whether they reflected what he was teaching.

Paul told new Christians to keep a close watch on his life, because if Christ had not made a difference in Paul’s life, why should others believe it would make a difference in theirs?  If Paul didn’t personally have love, joy and peace[1] in his life, why should those hearing him preach expect Christ to provide them with love, joy and peace.  He knew actions speak louder than words.

To the church in Corinth Paul wrote: “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men butin the power of God.”[2]  Paul saw his life as a “demonstration” of God’s power and knew that this demonstration would be more powerful than the competence of his “speech” and the complexity of his “message.”  It’s as if Paul had given a presentation describing God and His power, and then told his audience, “Allow me to demonstrate…”. Paul often gave thanks that the churches he wrote to were living examples of Christian faith lived out.

So, the question comes to us: what do our lives demonstrate?  Do we show love to others?  Do we have joy in all circumstances? Are we at peace with God and can we offer peace to others?  What do people notice about us?  The fruit of the Spirit, or the patterns of this world?

Pray for all of God’s people, including you and I, that we would walk with Christ, abiding in Him, so that we may bear the fruit of love, joy and peace that the world will notice.  When we proclaim Christ, with Paul we should be able to say “allow me to demonstrate…”

“People may not agree with our theology but they shouldn’t be able to argue with our lives.” – John McGowan

“Out of a hundred people, one will read the Bible, and the other ninety-nine will read the Christian.” – Dwight L. Moody

[1] Galatians 5:22
[2] 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

Jesus is Patient and Kind Even When I am Not

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Jesus is patient and kind; Jesus does not envy or boast; Jesus is not arrogant or rude. Jesus does not insist on His own way; He is not irritable or resentful; He does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Jesus bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Knowing the love Jesus has for us is an encouraging thought. This paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 was suggested in a devotional I read in 2021 [1] for John 13:34 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”  James Boice said that we are not to “love” in any way we see fit, but as Jesus loved, which the above describes.

Based on John 13:34, Boice says we should also be able to substitute “I” in place of “Jesus” in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and see what He commands us to be.  When I re-read the first paragraph with myself in mind, I see how much I fall short, but His love for me remains an encouragement.  He will be patient and kind with me.

Pray that we may get ever closer to living the love of Jesus.

[1] From “August 30.” James Montgomery Boice and Marion Clark. Come to the Waters: Daily Bible Devotions for Spiritual Refreshment.  (2017).