Category Archives: 1 Corinthians

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Love Is…

Read I Corinthians 13

“The greatest of these is love.”
(I Corinthians 13:13)

Food For Thought… Love is… Love is the beginning, the end, and everything in between. Love is the motive, the fuel and the goal of life. Love is the thing, and there is really nothing else.

God is love. Love is the highest law of his universe. It is the most powerful force in existence. Love is what God intended human beings to know and give. Since God is love, God intended that his highest creation, man, should be love too. That Divine intent was obviously and tragically broken at the fall of man, but in the restoration of his eternal plan, now expressed through the church, God’s love once again is to reign supreme. The church, made up of believers like you and me who have been the unlikely and undeserving recipients of God’s redemptive love, is to embody and express love as God designed it before a watching world.

Love is… Love is a verb much more than it is a noun. Love is a choice. Love is not a poem, it is a principle. Love is a universal law, much like the law of gravity, or the law of sunrise and sunset. Love is an action that originates with God and flows from the redeemed life. Like water naturally flows from a spring, so love should naturally flow out of the life of a Christian unconditionally. Love is, not because of what is done for it, but because of Who is love’s true wellspring.

Your assignment as a Christian, above all, is to love. In all that you do—in thinking and interacting, in acting and reacting, in serving, sharing, and singing, even in expressing the gifts of the Holy Spirit as Paul has been talking about in the two chapters that sandwich this “love chapter,” love is to motivate you, love is to guide you, love is to be the outcome.

Everything else in life comes in a distant second to your willingness to be the conduit of God’s love for you flowing through you today. Nothing else is as important.

Love is… And if you will permit it, love will change your world today!

Prayer… Lord, above all else, will you remind me today that I am the living proof of your amazing love. Make me ever mindful of allowing your love to flow through me in every situation I encounter. Use me to change my world through the power of your love.

One More Thing… “Open your hearts to the love God instills… God loves you tenderly. What He gives you is not to be kept under lock and key but to be shared.” —Mother Teresa

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Metrics For Manifestations

Read I Corinthians 12

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for the common good.”
(I Corinthians 12:7)

Food For Thought… Attitudes toward the manifestation of spiritual gifts vary from congregation to congregation. Some churches believe that the gifts of the Spirit ceased at the end of the New Testament era. Other churches would fall more into the category of the Corinthian church—anything goes as it relates to the operation of the gifts. In those churches, there are manifestations of spiritual gifts early and often, more akin to a free for all than a finely orchestrated Spirit-event.

The churches with which I am most familiar tend to embrace the gifts, at least in theory, but their use in church gatherings seems to suffer from a kind of benign neglect. This neglect primarily arises from what I would call the “cringe factor.” Let me explain:

The “cringe factor” occurs typically when one of the more mysterious and sensational gifts is expressed in a church service, like a message in tongues or a word of knowledge or a prophecy. When one of those occurs, a significant portion of the crowd “cringes” because they are not sure that the timing of that manifestion was appropriate, or if its content was substantive, or if the style and delivery of the message was authentic and relevant (it is amazing how God tends to use King James English when speaking through one of these dear folk), or if the one expressing the gift has much spiritual credibility. Frankly, because of these factors, it is easier not to have any expressions or manifestations of the Spirit at all.

Paul would advise differently. He would warn us not to forbid the expression of the gifts, and in fact, would encourage us to eagerly desire them (I Corinthians 14:39). However, Paul has laid down some pretty clear metrics for the authentic manifestation of the Spirit in I Corinthians 12,13 (the love chapter was written not for marriage ceremonies, but for moderating the gifts of the Spirit), and 14.

In a nutshell, both the motives and metrics for the manifestation of the Spirit is found in our verse for the day, I Corinthians 12:7. Three important governing rules are revealed:

First, every Christian has been given spiritual gifts. As you read the rest of the chapter, one gift is not better than the other. They are all needed. They are the internal organs that make the body of Christ work. We need the whole body and all the gifts to work in order for the church to be a healthy representation of Christ.

Second, the gifts are a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. We do not conjure up and wish into existence these gifts, nor are they given as rewards to the spiritually mature or talented. We need to remember that the gifts originate with the Holy Spirit; he gives them as he chooses. Therefore, we ought be very careful how we steward them.

Third, the gifts are given, and to be expressed, for the common good. If you wonder how to measure the effectiveness of both the gift and the one expressing it, this is the best metric I know. Is it building up the body of Christ, or is it, in reality, nothing more than a “self-authentication” of the one expressing it? Is the gift interrupting the service, or does it contribute to the flow of the Holy Spirit? Is it a fine stroke that disappears into the portrait, or does it distract from the Master’s masterpiece? Does it bless and build up, or does it bother and break the momentum of what God had in mind for his people at that particular moment.

If we could ever truly grasp this “for the common good” concept, I have a feeling there would be a lot less weirdness in our services, the cringe factor would all but disappear, and there would be a much needed resurgence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church today.

Prayer… Lord Jesus, you have declared us to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. Now fill your temple, I pray, and let your Spirit freely manifest his gifts again in our day.

One More Thing… “If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, most of what the church is doing would go right on, and nobody would know the difference.” —A.W. Tozer

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A Performance Or A Remembrance?

Read I Corinthians 11

“Do this to remember me.”
(I Corinthians 11:24)

Food For Thought… A few years ago a highly acclaimed movie called “Saving Private Ryan” hit the theaters. I will never forget that heart-wrenching opening scene as the Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, sacrificing their lives by the thousands for the cause of freedom.

The story centered around an army officer, Captain John Miller, and a small unit of men assigned to search the interior of France to find one soldier and bring him out. This was a search and rescue mission. This soldier, Private James Ryan, had three brothers who had been killed in three different battles in this war. The military brass decided it just wouldn’t be right if he, the fourth brother, lost his life as well.

So this search and rescue party was dispatched, and ultimately, Private Ryan was found, and saved. In the process, several men gave their lives to save this one man, including the heroic Captain Miller. The captain was mortally wounded in the final battle to get Private Ryan into allied territory, and with his final breath, he pulled Private Ryan close and whispered, “Now, go and earn this!”

What Captain Miller was really saying was, “Remember this…don’t ever forget what others have done for you…your life has taken on higher value because of their sacrifice…so remember this moment and these men by making the rest of your life count.”

As the movie ended, it fast-forwarded to the present, with Ryan, now an aging man, visiting a military cemetery and kneeling before the marker of Captain Miller. Moved to tears, he remembered the sacrifice of Miller that had saved him. With a deeply emotional, trembling voice, the now elderly Ryan whispers to the grave of Captain Miller, “Everyday I’ve thought about what you said…I hope, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what you’ve done for me.”

These scenes from Saving Private Ryan remind me of another search and rescue mission. About 1900 years before Private Ryan was saved, there was another warrior who was sent out. Instead of the many sent to rescue the one, this was the story of one sent to save the many.

This warrior gave his life to deliver the many out of the enemy’s territory safely into his Father’s kingdom. And as he was about to go into his final battle, knowing that his would be sacrificed, he uttered these moving words we reread each time we come to the Lord’s Table:

“This is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (I Corinthians 11:23-24)

What was Jesus saying? He was pulling us close and whispering in our ears, “Remember what I am about to do. Never forget it! You’re life will never be the same because of this. What I am about to do for you shows that your life has infinite value in my Father’s eyes. So don’t live a day without thinking about what I’ve done. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When you receive communion in your fellowship, is the Lord’s Table truly a time for remembering what Jesus has done for you, or do you simply perform your way through it?

I read of a youth pastor who led his youth group in a re-enactment of the crucifixion. He played the role of Christ, the students the jeering mob who shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Then they dragged him into the yard of the church and hung him up on a cross.

As this “Christ” hung there, the kids grew quiet, and he said, “Even though you are doing this to me, I still love you.” The pastor of the church had been watching, and he noticed one of the younger girls in the front of the group, transfixed by the scene. He looked at her and saw real tears streaming down her face. The pastor, moved by her love, said, “I was envious of her. For the rest of us, this was a ‘performance.’ For her, it was the real thing. She was there, she was remembering.”

Next time you come to the Lord’s Table, don’t let it be a performance. Make it a remembrance.

Prayer… Lord Jesus, I will never forget!

One More Thing… “If we show the Lord’s death at Communion, we must show the Lord’s life in the world. If it is a Eucharist on Sunday, it must prove on Monday that it was also a Sacrament.” — Maltbie Babcock

 

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Spiritual Rubbernecking

Read I Corinthians 10

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond
what you can bear. But when you are tempted,
he will also provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it.”
(I Corinthians 10:13)

Food For Thought… One of those “ways out” from temptation that Paul talks about is for us to take a good, long look at the plethora of Old Testament saints who crashed and burned at some point in their spiritual journey. In the previous verses, Paul writes,

“These things happened to [these Old Testament saints] as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (I Corinthians 10:11-12)

In other words, all you have to do is slow down and do a little Old Testament “rubbernecking” and it will make you think twice about making their mistakes. You know what “rubbernecking” is? It’s when you slow your car down and gawk at an accident along the side of the road. And if you have children in the car, you warn them: “Kids, that’s what happens when you don’t pay attention when you are driving!” My dad did that to me on occasion, and I’ve repeated the tradition with my children.

One of the greatest defenses against temptation of any kind if to slow way down, take a good, long look, and make the connection between what they did and what you’re about to do. That little cost-benefit analysis will likely lead you to say, “whoa, I don’t want what happened to David to happen to me.”

Take a leisurely afternoon drive through Old Testament country and look at the wrecks along the path of some of our faith-heroes. Take one look at what happened to Abraham in Genesis 16. Abraham got ahead of God’s timing with having a son, and Ishmael was the result. If you are wondering why that should be a warning sign, I’ve got three words for you: Arab-Israeli Conflict.” That’s what happens when you don’t trust God.

Take one look at Moses in Numbers 20:1-13. Moses decided to go a little beyond what God had commanded, and he struck the rock twice when God had told him only to command water to come forth from it. Because Moses tried to help God out, his disobedience caused him to forfeit entrance into the land of promise. Let that be a lesson to you: Even small sins can have huge consequences.

Take one look at David in I Samuel 11. A midlife crisis in a season of boredom along with an unwieldy use of power led to an adulterous affair. The affair led to a cover up which led to conspiracy which led to the deaths of some innocent people which led to a family in deep and abiding turmoil for years to come. That’s what happens when you choose a few minutes of fleshly pleasure over self-control.

Take one look at these good people who made bad decisions, and consider the outcome of their actions. Take one look and then hear Paul’s words loud and clear: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (I Corinthians 10:12)

What temptations are you facing? Just remember, others stronger and closer to God than you faced those same temptations. They ignored the warning signs and they failed. And if they could, they would shout, “Don’t you do it! Just look what happened to me!”

In truth, they are shouting to you. Their examples are written down in God’s Word for your benefit. So take a good, long look. Do a little rubbernecking.

That is your way out!

Prayer… Father, when I am tempted to sin, bring the faces of Abraham, Moses, David and other Bible saints clearly into my mind and remind me from their examples of what happens when we choose not to follow you.

One More Thing… “Temptation usually comes in through a door that has deliberately been left open.” —Arnold Glasow

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Entering Their World

Read I Corinthians 9

“I have become all things to all men so that by
all possible means I might save some.”
(I Corinthians 9:22)

Food For Thought… This verse has been used by Christians to justify all sorts of questionable behavior. Some have resorted to drinking and frequenting bars in order to be a “witness” there. Others have taken up the dance club life in order to bring a Gospel presence in those places. In yet a more trendy example, churches have gone ultra casual in their worship experience—pastors wearing shorts instead of suits, ushers in Hawaiian shirts, singers in flip flops—in order to be more relevant to the culture they are trying to reach. They have “become all things to all people that they might save some.”

Technically, there is nothing wrong with that—so long as the motive is pure. However, I have a feeling in some cases, perhaps most cases, the motive has not been to proclaim the Gospel but rather to indulge in those behaviors for purely selfish reasons. The reasons are very spiritual sounding, but in reality, that person simply wanted to drink alcohol, or find a potential romantic interest, or wear ripped out jeans in church because they thought it was cool.

If we are going to use that verse to explain our approach to faith—that we have become all things to all people—then it had better be for the purpose of entering the world of the lost with the strategic and expected outcome of pulling them out of that world and into the new and different world of the Kingdom of God. That is incarnational evangelism. That is exactly what Jesus did when he came to earth, born as a baby in a stinky stable in Bethlehem. He entered our world to pull us out of it and into God’s world.

If that is truly our mission, then our behavior will be fundamentally modified as we enter the world of the spiritual seeker. A Christian woman will not become a barfly. A believing man will not go trolling for babes in a nightclub. A preacher will dress modestly and respectfully.

The translation given to this verse in the Message version of the Bible helps to shed light on what Paul was saying:

“Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” (I Corinthians 9:19-23)

That is a pretty powerful motive for winning the lost—and a sure-fire way to become more effective in your witness for Christ. Follow those guidelines, and you will always be contemporary without compromise.

Give that some thought!

Prayer… Lord, show me how to be current without compromise in my witness to a lost world of your saving grace.

One More Thing… “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign in sabotage.” —C.S. Lewis

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Stumblingblock or Buildingblock

Read I Corinthians 8

“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does
not become a stumbling block to the weak.”
(I Corinthians 8:9)

Food For Thought… Since I am saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works, I am free from the demands of the law. There is no longer a long list of do’s and don’t’s that I must observe in order to be right with God. I am right with God because I stand before him robed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So, to paraphrase St. Augustine, I can just love God, and do what I want.

Except….

Except that I no longer live for myself. I am living for God, I am living with my brothers and sisters in the family of God, and I am living as a kingdom agent in an unsaved world. So what I do has consequences. My behavior affects God’s reputation on Planet Earth. My behavior, in some cases, may offend a weaker brother or sister, or perhaps even lead them into sin. My behavior may cause an unbeliever to conclude that there is no difference between a Christian and himself.

I may have divine permission under grace to do certain things, but those things may not be beneficial to me. Paul says it this way a couple of chapters later:

“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” (I Corinthians 10:23-24)

The highest use of my spiritual freedom and the best use of God’s grace is to do things that build up my fellows believers in God’s family and attract the lost to Jesus Christ. That is what most glorifies God. That is when grace is most attractive. That is where spiritual freedom is most powerful.

That is why, even though I don’t have to, I may refrain from taking in certain chemicals into my body, or partaking in certain forms of entertainment, or dressing in certain ways, or using certain kinds of colorful language. I can do those things if I choose, but they may very well become a stumbling block to someone else’s path to God..

And I don’t want to be a stumbling block. I want to be a building block.

Prayer… Lord, help me to ruthlessly govern my freedom so that it can be leveraged for your highest glory.

One More Thing… “The law works fear and wrath; grace works hope and mercy.” —Martin Luther

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Marriage’s Highest Priority

Read I Corinthians 7

“Don’t you wives realize that your husbands might be saved
because of you? And don’t you husbands know that
your wives might be saved because of you?”
(I Corinthians 7:16)

Food For Thought… What would happen in our marriage relationships—in all of our relationships, for that matter—if the primary motive was to introduce our significant other to Christ?

I am not talking about badgering a spouse into the kingdom through a non-stop, hard sell verbal witness. I’ve known spouses who have done that—and it rarely leads their mate to Jesus! It often leads them to bitterness and greater resistance to the Good News.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “It is right…that we should be much concerned about the salvation of those we love. But we must be careful not to…demand that their salvation should conform to some ready-made pattern of our own.”

What I am talking about is offering your loved one the real Jesus. I’m talking about showing them what authentic salvation is all about. I’m talking about living every dimension of your life in such a way that Jesus shines through. That’s really what Christians are meant to do, after all. We are to make the Savior attractive (Titus 2:10) to those who are far from him by the way we live—how we respond, how we serve, how we give, how we navigate disappointment, how we suffer, how we freely forgive, how we love proactively and how we extend grace unconditionally.

Who wouldn’t be attracted to Christ when we are living that kind of winsome witness.

And even if our loved one already knows the Savior, our assignment is no less. We are to be Jesus to a believing spouse as well. Our living witness to a loving Savior should be the very thing that makes our loved ones want to go deeper in their own relationship with the Lord.

That’s our job—to be Jesus to the people we love. We may be the only Savior they’ll ever see!

Prayer… Dear God, my prayer this morning is simple: Help me to so live that my spouse sees you when she sees me. When I speak, in my body language, in my actions, in my attitude, help me to be the Gospel in the real world of my everyday relationships.

One More Thing… “When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now…. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.” —C.S. Lewis