Year 2, Day 90: 2 Corinthians 7

The Need For Grief

2 Corinthians 7 is largely a turning point in Paul’s letter.  He begins to talk about the value of comfort and the need for grief.  I’m going to start with the need for grief.

I have to admit that I know how Paul feels when he writes verses 8-9.  It is difficult to give hard advice.  It is difficult standing up for the ways of the Lord.  It is difficult taking someone who is doing something wrong and patiently speaking to them words that get them to question their actions.  It is hard speaking words that might end up in getting rejected – or worse, terminating the relationship!  All of those things are difficult and scary.  But often those things are precisely what need to be done.

We all know that humanity is sinful.  We even know and confess that we ourselves are sinful.  We know that we have all fallen short of the glory of God.  But, there is a difference between knowing that I am sinful in nature and someone coming and telling me about a particular sin of mine.  It is difficult to have someone look at me and say, “I see sin there.”  Sometimes I reject those words of conviction out of personal embarrassment because my sin was exposed.  Sometimes I reject the words out of stubbornness because I enjoy the sin too much and am unwilling to think about letting it go.  Either way, it is difficult to stand in the path of conviction.

Now think about the shoe being on the other foot.  It is equally as difficult to be the person who puts forth the conviction.  There is risk of losing everything.  There is the risk that people will simply turn their backs and quit listening.  It’s difficult for a completely separate reason, but it is still difficult nonetheless.

But when it leads to repentance and a restoration of relationships, it is worth it. Grief that leads to another person becoming stronger in the Lord is very much acceptable.  The neat thing is that with every small step of grief that leads to repentance it makes the next time of grief easier to accept and bear.  When we have allowed God to use us to convict people around us and they respond, it makes it easier in the future.  It also makes it easier to receive conviction from them as well.  Relationships are built, and these relationships are not the shallow please-one-another kind of relationships.  These relationships are the genuine they-care-about-me type of relationships.  These are the relationships that outlast time and distance.

This chapter is largely Paul’s attempt to explain this dynamic to the Corinthians. Paul is saying that it is not good to want to grieve one another, but it is even less good to let a Christian brother or sister dwell in their sin.  We should want to deepen the relationship through shared joy as well as shared times of conviction and repentance.

The Need for Comfort

This leads us to the idea of comfort.  There is comfort in true spiritual relationships.  There is comfort when we know that someone is genuinely looking out for us.  There is comfort when we know that we can speak words of truth and the other person will hear us.  There is comfort in knowing we can trust one another to listen to God and do His will.  There is comfort knowing that regardless of what happens, we are spiritually connected to one another and loyal to one another.

Paul talks about another kind of comfort.  Paul speaks about the revelation of God.  This is the greatest kind of comfort.  When we learn to trust Him and we see Him working through difficult times to bring about repentance, we are comforted to know that God is genuinely in control.  We are comforted when we genuinely allow ourselves to be revealed as being in the presence of God.

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Year 2, Day 89: 2 Corinthians 6

No Better Day than Today

2 Corinthians 6:3 is going to be my favorite verse for today: “Now is the favorable time.  Now is the day of salvation.”  It’s like the Christian version of Carpe Diem (Seize the Day).

I understand that with Christianity comes the whole “humble thyself before God” obstacle.  Yes, that does prevent a good number of people from taking God seriously.  Many people don’t genuinely want to live life according to someone else’s rules. Anyone who has ever been a teenager can attest to that, right?

But aside from this whole “humble thyself to God” thing, this is the day to be in faith!  God has done all the work.  He created the world.  He paid the price for salvation. He sends His Spirit to live with us.  It’s not going to ever get to be a more favorable time to be with God this side of the resurrection into eternal life!  So long as one can agree that human beings don’t have the ability to save themselves, why not believe in God and why not do it right here and right now?  So long as we can agree that humanity and society do not have the ability to proclaim absolute truth, why not take God up on His offer right now?

Now is the favorable time.

Embracing Godliness

Then Paul moves along to talk about the tools of the favorable time.  What does it really mean to embrace salvation?  What does it really mean to embrace God’s ways?

• Great endurance,
• Afflictions,
• Hardships,
• Calamities,
• Beatings,
• Imprisonments,
• Riots,
• Labors,
• Sleepless nights,
• Hunger
• Purity,
• Knowledge,
• Patience,
• Kindness,
• the Holy Spirit,
• Genuine love,
• Truthful speech,
• Power of God;
• Weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left
• Honor,
• Dishonor,
• Slander,
• Praise,
• Treated as impostors, and yet are true,
• Treated as unknown, and yet well known,
• Treated as dying, yet living still.
• Treated as punished, and yet not killed,
• Treated as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,
• Treated as poor, yet making many rich,
• Treated as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

This is an incredible list.  But notice that not everything on the list is positive.  Notice that not everything on the list is good.  Notice that a bunch of things on the list is hard to accomplish and hard to bear.  To be a Christian means to know God and know God values and honors your walk with Him.  To be a Christian also means to know that the world in general does not know God.  To be a Christian means to seek the pleasure and approval of God and to put up with the rest of the world’s reaction.  To be a Christian means to toil hard for something we cannot always see.

Last night I got the privilege of listening to Pam Tebow (Tim Tebow’s mom) speak locally.  In fact, I was given the high honor of praying for her, her ministry, and the gathered audience when she was done speaking.  She came to support the local Pregnancy Care Center, but what I was really impressed with was that she talked all about God – far much more than she talked about supporting the center.  She reminded all of us of the value of storing up our treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy.  She reminded us about the value of living our life so that other people will be encouraged to be in a relationship with God.  I find her to have much in common with Paul’s words here.  There are many hardships to be endured in life, but every single one will be worth it when we stand before God and know that His effort through us was not in vain.

Believers and Unbelievers

The last section that Paul teaches in this chapter needs to be spoken of very plainly.  Paul speaks of “not being yoked with unbelievers.”  Now, many people read that text and they immediately think of it as marriage advice.  It is great marriage advice.  But Paul isn’t talking about marriage here.  If Paul were talking about marriage, he would say marriage.  Paul was a great speaker and he was a master over words.  Trust me, he knew the word for marriage and this is not the word that he is using here.

Actually, what Paul is saying here is a business term.  He is literally saying, “Do not become matched associates with non-believers.”  One might say that Paul is discouraging us from being business partners with non-believers.

That is really harsh advice to hear.  How many people in America can honestly say that they work for a true disciple of Jesus Christ?  How many of us can say that they are in a job that advocates Christian thinking? If we take it out of the realm of work and put it even into the realm of our hobbies – how many of us participate in hobbies with people that are not truly disciples of Jesus Christ?  Let’s even think about our churches.  How many of us worship with people who by all outward appearances may not be true disciples of Jesus Christ?  {Not that any of us can truly judge the heart of another person, of course.}  If we take Paul’s advice here seriously, many of us are going to have to do some hard thinking.

At the same time, though, let’s consider what life is like under our current situation.  How many of us have to bury our faith at the job site?  How many of us have to compromise our genuine Christian ethic because the business world demands us to be cutthroat and self-centered?  How many of us have to be so overly competitive at work that we cannot genuinely display the fruit of the Holy Spirit (which can be found in Galatians 5:22).  As we go about our hobbies, how many of us have to be careful about what we say – from a religious perspective – to other people lest others look at us like we are freaks?  Even at church, how many of us cannot say what needs to be said because true belief in Christ is “too hard” for some people to accept and they might end up leaving? 

Now we hear why Paul gives us this advice.  He isn’t saying that it is sinful to be “yoked to non-believers.”  Neither is he saying we shouldn’t be friends with them in an attempt to win them into the faith.  What he is saying is that if we put ourselves in a position where our life (or a portion therein) is controlled by a non-believer, then our faith and our ability to talk about our faith will be compromised.  It is a simple reality.  It is an unfortunate reality.  If we enter into that reality, we experience conflict among the “masters that we serve.”

If we work with non-believers, there will be tension within us between how we wish we could act and how we are forced to act at work.  If we associate with non-believers in our hobbies and our free-time pursuits, there will be tension within us.  If we go to a church where the true declaration of faith has to be compromised, there will be tension within us.  It isn’t sinful to be among non-believers – that’s what evangelism is all about!  But it will bring about tension.  It will bring about tension because the right reason to hang around non-believers is to evangelize them and bring Christ into their life.  When we hang around non-believers and cannot do that, our Christian nature – the very Holy Spirit within us – is suppressed by default.

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Year 2, Day 88: 2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5 is a very difficult passage for me to write about.  The reason is because I can easily become overly passionate about the theology to which Paul speaks.  I can become so passionate about it that it is easy for me to alienate those who do not share the same opinion that I have.  So as I speak about this chapter, if you find yourself disagreeing feel free to speak up.  Know that if I speak poignantly it is not out of anger or disapproval.  It is out of a genuine desire to realize true Christian thought.

Perspective

The opening 10 verses in this chapter deal with Paul’s perspective on life.  Let’s be absolutely upfront about what Paul says:

• Paul can’t wait until his death comes about and he can be with God.
• Paul doesn’t feel the need to bring about that moment by his own action.
• Paul’s desire to be with the Lord causes him to be willing to walk unabashedly through this life without fearing death or having to defend himself.

From Paul’s perspective, I genuinely think that he believes his life is not worth going over the top to save.  I don’t think Paul would do anything to willingly cause someone to kill him, but neither is he going to go to drastic measures to save his life, either.  Paul wants to be with the Lord.  Until that happens he is going to do the work of the Lord.  But he really longs to go and be with the Lord.

I think this is a really radical perspective. 

• Would Paul believe in self-defense?  Physically, I don’t believe so.  After all, look at his life.  In how many towns was he dragged before people, threatened, imprisoned, stoned, beaten, etc?  Many – almost too many too count.  How many times did he lift a finger to defend himself?  None.  We aren’t told that Paul ever physically tried to stop those who came against him. 
• How many times did he work towards his escape without the assistance of God?  None.  Paul was focused on doing the work of the Lord more than saving his own neck.  If God wanted to save him, that was God’s business.  But whether free or in prison, Paul used his circumstances to do the work of the Lord.

He knew that the work of the Lord meant persecution.  He knew it meant rejection.  He knew people would want him dead for it.  If he wasn’t willing to die for it, then isn’t he really putting his own life ahead of God?  Again, that is a really radical perspective.

His willingness to die is what gave him the courage to do what he needed to do.  His willingness to die allowed him to make the tough choices and minister in the hard circumstances.  He wasn’t about to compromise the proclamation of the Gospel by always asking himself whether what he was doing was smart or safe.  He was going to do the work of God.  If that lead to persecution or death, he was going to go to the Lord.  There was no downside for Paul.

Christ Died for Us, After All…

2 Corinthians 5:15 is a very powerful summary of this concept, and it goes right along with what he wrote in Galatians 2:20.  The one who died, He died for all so that those who live might not live for themselves but for the one who died and was raised.  If Christ gave His life so that we may live eternally, then we should live not as we want to live but as Christ lived. 

And how did Christ live? 

Christ lived following God’s will, sacrificing for others, and even dying for the sake of others.  We should do the same.  It should be an honor to die for the sake of someone else – especially someone who doesn’t deserve it!  After all, it is the example of our Lord who died for the sake of a whole bunch of people who didn’t deserve it.

Reconciliation

Then we come to Paul’s paragraph on the ministry of reconciliation.  Let’s make sure we understand the depth of what Paul is saying here, though.  Paul is not saying that the ministry of reconciliation is simply telling people about God.  No, there is a reason that Paul set up these verses with the verses that came before them.  Paul is saying that the ministry of reconciliation is sacrificially giving of ourselves for the benefit of others – especially those who do not deserve it.  If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense considering that Paul is writing to one of his most troubled churches.

Think of it another way.  If I go through my life worried about saving my own skin, what kind of ministry of reconciliation can I honestly have?  The message I send to the world is “I’ll do this as long as I can be safe.  But in the end, my life is more important than telling someone else about God.”  That’s not right, and it certainly isn’t how Jesus lived!

If we want to be genuine ministers of reconciliation we must be willing to give everything.  If we genuinely believe that being reconciled to God and being with God is the best thing that could ever happen to us then we need to live that out.  Either following God is the most important thing to us or it is not.  If we would rather save our own skin than give someone else the opportunity to find repentance for their sins, then we have set up our priorities and declared them loudly to the world and to God. 

We know how Christ lived.  We know how His disciples lived.  We know how Paul lived.  I think the proper prioritization for the Christian life is clear.

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Year 2, Day 87: 2 Corinthians 4

Do Not Lose Heart

I find Paul’s opening words in this verse absolutely challenging. Here is a man who had enemies in every city that he went.  Here is a man who had churches that he had established absolutely fail and reject him.  Here is a man who was imprisoned multiple times, shipwrecked several times, stoned, beaten, and driven out of towns. 

Yet, he kept fighting.  He says a really hard set of words.  “We do not lose heart.”  Another way of translating it would be “We do not get discouraged.”  I find it really impressive to think that Paul didn’t get ultimately discouraged with all of the stuff that happened to him.  I know I would get discouraged had I walked in his shoes.  In fact, we actually know that he did get discouraged.  .  Acts 18:6 tells us quite clearly of an incident where he get frustrated with God’s calling.  Paul was ministering in Corinth and he was attacked so much by the Jews of Corinth that he shook out his robes and declared that he was done with the Jews and he was only going to the Gentiles from there on out.  Yeah, Paul got frustrated and lost heart from time to time.

Yet, I don’t think that Paul is lying when he writes back to the Corinthians.  Surely they above all people would know Paul’s frustration that he experienced in their city.  Certainly if Paul was lying they would know it.  The reason that I don’t think Paul is lying in this passage is because of the way that he phrases the expression.  His verb is not 1st person singular, it is 1st person plural.

Had Paul said, “I do not lose heart,” then I think we could all call him on his lie.  But collectively, Paul and his associates do not lose heart.  When one falls and stumbles another is there to pick him up.  When one gets discouraged another is there to talk it out and refocus the discouraged member.  And above all else, there is always Jesus Christ who bears light into the darkness.  In fact, if we can return to the example in Acts 18, it is Christ who comes to Paul and says “Shape up.”  Okay, that’s a bit of a paraphrase from what Jesus really says to him in Acts 18:9-10.  The point is, Paul can say “we do not get discouraged” because he means it.  He has a support group around him to help keep everyone on track and focused.

Jars of Clay

Paul gives us a great analogy in the next section.  Paul talks about being a jar made of clay.  He talks about all the trials, tribulations, and persecutions.  He even talks about feeling as though he is perpetually in danger of being handed over to death.  Here we genuinely get a sense of the fragility of Paul even though he just confessed to the strength of the collective. 

I think that is so very important for the Christian to understand.  Individually we are all weak.  We are all so very fragile.  We are treasures to God, but we are very breakable.  We have the treasure of God within us, but we are still so fragile.  But we can go forth in action because we know that even should we break, God can and will raise us.  If God can defeat death and raise Christ, God can do the same for us.  We may be fragile, but we need not be timid.

Light Momentary Affliction

This brings us to the end, where Paul returns to another amazing set of words.  He calls his life a “light momentary affliction.”  I find that absolutely amazing.  Here is Paul calling everything that has happened to him a light momentary affliction.  Then he goes on to talk about how the light momentary affliction is preparing them for the future weight of glory.  That is perspective that only comes from God.

Actually, that is perspective that refuses to do anything but to see the things that are unseen.  It totally makes sense.  As Paul says, the things that are seen are transient and temporal whereas the things that are unseen are eternal and divine.  But that doesn’t mean that it is easy.  It is difficult to maintain that kind of perspective.  But I give credit to Paul.  Even in the midst of a difficult letter of rebuke Paul finds time to focus more on the unseen God than on the temporal problems of this age.

Listening to the Wrong God

Before I end, I need to go back and pick up a loose end.  I need to return to the opening section and talk a little about Paul’s declaration about why some people do not come to Christ and commit to Him.  I left this part out earlier because I wanted the flow of the rest of the verses to come together.  But it does need to be discussed.

Paul is clear that there are people in this world who would rather listen to the “god of this age” (Satan) instead of the one true God.  There are people who think only with a temporal perspective.  These are people who cannot see the glory of God or Jesus Christ.  I am saddened by this reality.  I am saddened by the reality that there are people who are that short-sighted out there.  But it is a reality.  There are people out in the world who will choose not to see the glory of God and respond to it.  We may not like it, but we must acknowledge it.  Paul knows it is true; so do we.

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Year 2, Day 86: 2 Corinthians 2 & 3

Correction

In 2 Corinthians 2 we get a deeper sense of the cause of pain for Paul.  Paul had already made a painful visit to Corinth and he was determined to not do another one.  This points to a huge struggle for spiritual people – especially for the spiritual leaders.  How does one balance genuine correction with not wanting to hurt another person?

As I was reading a few commentaries on this chapter, I came across Warren Wiersbe’s words for the opening four verses of 2 Corinthians 2.  Wiersbe reminds us of the difference between hurting someone and harming them.  When one hurts another human being, it causes pain.  When one harms another person, it causes damage – sometimes irreparable damage.

Wiersbe then went on to say that occasionally a person must hurt another to keep them from harming themselves.  The parent who grounds their adolescent child or slaps the hand of an infant reaching for something dangerous is a great example.  This parent causes hurt, but the hurt is intended to keep someone from harm.  The school teacher who assigns an appropriate amount of homework is another example of this.  The teacher causes some pain in that the student cannot go home and spend the entire rest of the day as they please, but the teacher does it to promote genuine learning.

Spiritually speaking, this concept is also true.  Sometimes the spiritual mentor or a pastor must cause some hurt in order to promote growth or to alleviate harm.  Sometimes the spiritual leader must ask difficult questions in order to convict and invoke growth towards God.  That does not mean that it is easy, but sometimes it is necessary.  As with the parent, the teacher, or any other authority figure the intent of the correction should not be to harm.  Pain is one thing; damage is entirely another thing.

Forgiveness

Paul then continues this thought in the following section about love.  Paul affirms that love does occasionally discipline and that discipline does bring about pain from time to time.  However, the goal of the discipline is not to cause pain but to elicit growth.  This is why forgiveness is important.  Once discipline has been measured out and received, forgiveness can be extended. The lesson is genuinely learned and there is no longer any reason to hold a grudge.  We forgive for the sake of the offender so that they might not be overburdened with sorrow.  But we also forgive for the sake of Christ who extends God’s forgiveness to the truly repentant.

God’s in Control

Paul then moves us from forgiveness to understanding that the Lord is the one in charge.  When Paul goes to Troas and doesn’t find Titus there, he knows that something has happened in Corinth.  Yet Paul can continue on with his journey because ultimately it is God who is in charge.  God is the one who receives glory.  We do not work to our own credit, but rather we work to the credit and glory of God.  We correct to give God the glory.  We forgive to give God the glory.  God is in charge, God gets the glory.

Striving for the Glory of God

This leads us into 2 Corinthians 3.  Paul does a masterful job in this chapter talking about the work of the Christian as we strive to give God the glory.  Notice that Paul makes three comparisons:

• Paul compares the value of a written letter of recommendation to that of an actual changed life.
• Paul compares the glory of the ministry of death (the giving of the Law) to the glory that comes from the ministry of life (the giving of the Holy Spirit).
• Paul compares the need to hide the glory of the Lord with the veil (Moses) to the ability to let the glory of the Lord shine (Christ).

Paul is saying that the genuine Christian does not need a letter of recommendation from other people.  If God has worked through a person to change the life of another individual, what other reference do you need?  Is it better to have a letter talking about how great a person is or is it better to actually see with your own eyes how God is working through a person?  The point isn’t for other people to see how great I am, the point is for me to make myself available to God so that other people may be changed.

The same thing can be said with the glory of the Lord.  Should we be hiding the glory of the Lord because some people might not be able to stand in its presence?  Should we be dampening the glory of the Lord because it might ask too much change from us?  Or should we be revealing the glory of the Lord in everything we do and inviting people in to experience the glory of the Lord with us?  Is it not best to experience the glory of the Lord for yourself and feel the presence of God in your midst?

The test of ministry is whether or not there are changed lives.  I know I am doing the work of the Lord if I can see people in my midst whose lives are changing.  You know that you are doing the work of the Lord if you can see people in your midst whose lives are changing.  We don’t need recommendation letters, we need changed lives.  We don’t need to cover up the glory of the Lord, we need to reveal it to the world!

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Year 2, Day 85: 2 Corinthians 1

Recapping 1 Corinthians

Today we get to start with the second of Paul’s letters to Corinth.  If we remember from the last letter, Paul was concerned with the amount of quarrelling happening in the church – and especially in the case of the Corinthians, among the matriarchs.  Paul was also concerned that they weren’t worshipping with the right perspective.  And perhaps most significantly, there was a bunch of sexual immorality being allowed to happen unchecked among the members of the Corinthians church.  Remember this list as we dive into 2 Corinthians.  It’ll help us understand whether the Corinthians listened to Paul’s advice as their spiritual leader or not.

No Thanksgiving

As we begin this letter, note that there is no section of “Thanksgiving” after he introduces himself.  In almost all of Paul’s other letters he has some section – in some cases, a long section! – talking about how much he is thankful for the church to which he is writing.  The absence of such a section at the beginning of this letter should tell us something about Paul’s frame of mind as he is writing this letter to the Corinthian church.

Dealing with Hardship

Paul’s opening section begins with God – as we should expect – and then it moves quickly into the topic of comfort and dealing with suffering.  Clearly Paul is writing this letter from a point in his life where he is experiencing some hardship.  We know that he tells the Corinthians here that he and his associates have had a rough go of it in Asia Minor.  There can be little doubt that he is also struggling with the fact that the Corinthian church hasn’t sorted out their problems and he needs to write them another letter.  This sets up an interesting conversation about the connection between God, suffering, disappointment, and comfort.

If you had to guess, what kind of person is always the least disappointed in life?  Why, the answer is simple.  The person who sets no expectations is always the least disappointed.  If you have no expectations, you cannot be disappointed!

However, when one gets a taste of God and God’s calling, one cannot help but set up high expectations.  When we see the glory of God and His ability to change lives, we want that for all people.  We want all people to sense the glory of God and to taste His richness of character.  I don’t know about you, but I consider wanting “all” people to taste God’s richness in mercy and love as a pretty high expectation.

You might think that this leads me to assert that those who are strong in the Lord and passionate about the Lord’s ways are also setting themselves up for being some of the most disappointed people in the church.  You would be absolutely correct.  Most spiritual leaders I have ever met do struggle with depression.  Personally, I think Paul is struggling with depression as he writes this letter.  Think about his life as we read in Acts last year.  How many times was this man yelled at, told he was wrong, arrested, thrown out of town, or beaten?  How many times did people who were supposed to be spiritual show their propensity to live according to the world?  Yeah, I think Paul has a good reason to feel some depression, some strife, and some discouragement.

This is why we hear so much about comfort as this letter opens.  There is only one cure for depression and disappointment: turning to God and trusting in Him and His promise for eternal life.  All earthly pleasure fades.  All earthly joy will be strong for a while but it will only last until the next earthly disappointment comes along.  But putting our trust in God, putting our faith in His plan, and placing our eyes on the prize of eternal life can bring us hope and comfort that cannot ever be taken away.  As Paul writes to the Corinthians, he wants them to focus on the comfort that comes from God.  Dealing with the struggles and pain in life is tough; but with God’s help we can persevere.

Changing Paul’s Plans

I’m nearly out of space, but I do want to talk a bit about the rest of 2 Corinthians 1.  Paul talks about having to change his plans.  Originally – at the end of 1 Corinthians – Paul tells them that he hopes to winter in Corinth and spend some time there.  Here in this letter we find out that not only did he have to scrap that plan but he also had to scrap plan B – which was to spend time in Corinth while going to Macedonia and then while returning from Macedonia.  Paul is explaining his actions.

But the interesting thing is why Paul has to explain his actions.  As we read Paul’s words, we understand that there was an undercurrent in Corinth of people beginning to doubt Paul’s motives.  They think that he is acting only out of the flesh.  Perhaps they accuse him of just visiting the churches that he likes or that are easy.  Whatever the reason, they are accusing Paul of breaking his word and not living a spiritual life of truth and honesty.

On one level, the Corinthians do have a point.  Paul has had to change his plans.  But on another level, sometimes plans have to change.  None of us can predict the future.  None of us can make definite plans that are unbreakable.  We can plan and do our absolute best to keep the plans.  But none of us can actually guarantee anything about the future.  We must be understanding and forgiving should a person come with a genuinely repentant heart and a reasonable explanation of why things didn’t happen as planned.  Apparently the Corinthians were not forgiving of Paul while accusing him of being deceitful and dishonest and following an easy path.

It is hard to watch Christians fight and struggle.  It is hard to watch people who should be a people of peace tear into one another.  It burdens me, and it probably burdens you, too.  But it is a reality, and part of reading through the letters to the Corinthians is an attempt to understand this struggle and how to endure it – if not manage it and resolve it!

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Year 2, Day 84: 1 Corinthians 16

Saving Money

In this last chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul advises the Corinthians about “the collection” and about his travel plans.  Paul is collecting money to help bring relief to the widows and orphans in Jerusalem while he is out planting churches.

Now, Paul gives us some pretty good advice in this section.  “On the first day of the week, put aside some money so that there does not need to be a collection when I come.”

Now there is some really good advice.  Has any parent out there ever tried to teach your child to save money for something they have to buy?  This is a great verse to bring up and explain to your child.  If the Corinthians really want to care about the orphans and widows, then they need to demonstrate it weekly in small chunks so the sacrifice is small and manageable.  Then when Paul comes, they will be able to show their love for the orphans without causing much internal stress.  However, if the Corinthians don’t save up bit by bit, then when the time comes for Paul to collect the money, either the Corinthians will be shamed because they were lazy or they will have to give a large amount all at once.  Saving money is hard, but saving money is far easier a few dollars each week than one large chunk of money when it is needed.

Travel

In the next section, Paul talks a little bit about his travel plans.  In this section, he talks about a door having been opened for him in Ephesus.  This is pretty neat, because it shows us that Paul is interested in sharing what God is doing in his life.  Paul wants to include the Corinthians into the ministry that God is accomplishing through Paul.  We should desire to include the Christians in our midst in the work that God is doing through us.

Words of Advice

Then Paul gives some final instructions: be watchful, stand firm, act like men, be strong, act in love.

• Be watchful – this should remind us of the warning that Jesus gives as His ministry comes to an end.  Keep alert!  Pay attention!  Don’t slack off!  Don’t let your guard be down!
• Stand firm – this is not a call to stubbornly stand in your beliefs.  After all, how many people did Jesus meet who refused to listen to him because they were stubborn?  Rather, this is a call to grow into deep spiritual maturity.  How many times in this letter has Paul accused the Corinthians of having an immature faith?  These words tell the Corinthians to stop being immature and adopt a mature faith.
• Act like men – The translation “act like men” is literally correct, but the expression is just as figurative as we use it today.  We don’t mean for everyone to act as if they are male, we mean it to say “be courageous” or “have the guts to make the hard choices.”  This is what Paul means here as well.  It is difficult to live as God wants us to live.
• Be strong – This is a call to mental fortitude.  The spiritually strong person has what it takes to accomplish spiritual discipline.  Paul is admonishing them to be spiritually disciplined.
• Do everything in love – Love must balance our actions and our choices, especially if we are in a situation of constant turmoil as the Corinthian church was in.  When we have people in our midst who do anything and everything to create conflict, we must be attentive to acting in love.

Then Paul encourages submission.  Paul encourages the Corinthians to submit to the authority of the house of Stephanas and people like them.  Who are the people in your life who are genuinely submitting to God?  Be like them.  Follow them.  Become like Christ through their example in your life.

Hope and Grace

Paul ends this first letter to the Corinthians with a word of hope and grace.  Paul’s perspective here is that the church has a lot of work to do, but it can turn the ship around and get back on course!  No situation is ever too bleak so long as people are alive and capable of repentance.  The question is – are people willing to repent? 

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Year 2, Day 83: 1 Corinthians 15

One Thing Remains

Yay!  I get to open this blog with an absolutely blunt point.  {I love being blunt when it is appropriate.}  1 Corinthians 15 begins with Paul reminding the Corinthian people about the foundation of their salvation.  Let’s be clear about this point.  We are saved because Christ died on the cross for our sins.  Period.  We are saved because Christ died on the cross for our sins.  There is no other appropriate answer or explanation.

Nothing else matters.  It doesn’t matter when I was baptized.  {It actually doesn’t matter that I was baptized.  I should be baptized in accordance with Christ’s command, but if for some reason I die before I can be baptized it isn’t like that is going to negate my salvation!}  It also doesn’t matter what denomination I belong to.  Whether I am Lutheran or Baptist – or some amalgamation of the two! – is irrelevant so long as I put my faith in the fact that I am saved because Christ died on the cross for my sins.  It doesn’t matter which Lord’s Prayer I say – or even if I choose not to say it!  Whether I believe communion to be just a symbol or to be the real presence of Christ or even to actually change into body and blood doesn’t add or subtract to my salvation.  I am saved because Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins.  Period.

Gospel

Now, let’s talk about this Gospel.  First, notice that Paul talks about the news in terms of the Corinthians having received the Gospel.  Nobody ever initiates salvation.  I am not saved because on such-and-such a day I accepted Christ into my heart.  I am saved because approximately 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ died for me.  I can say that on such-and-such a day Christ’s death took on a new importance to me, but that day is not the day upon which I was saved!  That is the day that I received my salvation because God initiated my salvation a few millennia ago.  The point of this is to always acknowledge that I am saved because God comes to me and God draws me to Him. 

I do not ever initiate with God.  I always respond to God’s initial action.  I receive salvation.  I receive the Gospel.  You receive salvation.  You receive the Gospel. None of us initiate.

Without Result

After talking about receiving salvation in verse 1, Paul talks about the Corinthians’ standing in the faith, holding fast, and not believing in vain.  Let’s talk about that sequence a little.  The Greek word for “hold fast” is katexo (κατέχω) and it literally means “to continue in belief, with an added implication of acting in accordance to that belief.”  Let’s combine this with the fact that at the end of the expression Paul adds “unless you believed in vain.”  The Greek word that is often translated as “in vain” is actually eike (εἰκῇ) and it means “pertaining to being without result.”  So quite literally, here is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:2. “… and by which you are being saved if you continue to believe and practice in accordance to your beliefs – except unless you all believed without result.”

Stop for a moment and let that sink in.  Paul seems to be indicating that results are a natural part of the process.  We are not saved because of the results, of course.  As I said above, we are saved because Christ died for our sins on the cross.  But because we are saved, we believe.  And because we believe, we produce results from our belief.  For those of you who love the book of James, you should be very pleased with that last sentence!  I’m not saying that a person without works is not saved – that is for God to judge.  But I am saying that producing results is a natural part of the Holy Spirit bringing us to the Father through the Son.

Gah!  I’ve spent so much time on so few verses.  My space is almost gone and I haven’t moved past the first section.  Oh well, this is why I love Paul.  He is so precise that there is so much jam-packed into every verse.

Raised From the Dead

Much of the rest of this chapter is spent on Christ being evidence of being raised from the dead.  From the Greek construction of the verb in verse 4 – that it is in the perfect tense, passive voice – we are led to assume that the work of Christ’s resurrection is the work of the Father.  Christ was raised by the Father as an ultimate sign of His power over death.  The really cool part is that if God can raise Christ, then we can trust His promise!  God can make good on His Word.  God can raise us, too!  Christ is the first fruits, and as Paul says the rest of us shall be raised when Christ returns!

Then Paul gives us this beautiful means for understanding the resurrection.  None of us can possibly know what the incorruptible body of the life to come will look or feel like.  But we can have a hint.  Think of the seed.  When we put a seed in the ground, it sprouts roots and a stem.  It grows to become something that nobody could have guessed from the appearance of the seed.  But it was within the seed the whole time.  So too it will be with us.  None of us know what eternal life will look and feel like, but we can know it is within us.  That truth, humbleness, spirituality, and faith that is within us will grow and sprout into something amazing.  They will grow and sprout into something downright awesome.  I can’t wait to see what God has in store for all of us!

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ASIDE: 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 is a very confusing passage.  We wonder, “what does it mean to be baptized for the dead?”  I cannot explain this with absolute confidence.  But I can explain this deep enough to shed understanding.

It could be that Paul is attempting to denounce an ancient practice that gratefully never made it into mainstream Christianity.  The practice is called “vicarious baptism.”  There were (and always have been!) sects that believed that if a person believed but was not baptized that they couldn’t go to heaven.  Thus, people would be baptized “in their place and under their name.”  It sounds a bit strange, and in truth it actually is.  How another person assuming my name and being baptized for me would actually mean anything to God is beyond my comprehension.  But there were ancient sects that practiced this belief and it never was accepted fully.  The reason it is never fully accepted is because it would violate the whole “we are saved solely because of Jesus’ death on the cross” teaching.  After all, if the absence of my baptism could keep me from heaven, then Jesus’ death must not have been fully sufficient!  And that, my friends is anathema and flat-out wrong.  Christ’s death is all I need.  The doctrine of vicarious baptism is a teaching that needs to be refuted.

There is a second possibility about what Paul might mean.  Paul might mean that people who are baptized are taking the place of those who were a part of the church but are now dead.  In other words, suppose a new convert steps into the church and picks up their calling from Christ.  Usually, that calling is really just picking up the mantle that was laid down by someone who died.  Let me give an example.  Jesus died (and then ascended into heaven).  With His absence, the apostles had to step up and pick up where Jesus left off.  But they eventually died, so others had to step up.  This pattern continued to the point that all of us in God’s kingdom are just picking up the mantle from those who went before us.

I don’t have a great answer as to which of these is what Paul actually means – because both are factual understandings of history.  So I present them to you to decide what you think Paul is talking about.  My money is on the latter explanation, though.  It seems to make a fair amount of sense to me.

Year 2, Day 82: 1 Corinthians 14

What Does It Mean to Prophesy

As we turn to 1 Corinthians 14, we get to hear Paul shift the focus from love to prophesying.  So let me take a paragraph and explain prophesying for a second.  In modernity, the word “prophet” has come to mean “someone who can know the future and make successful predictions about it.”  This is not the definition that the ancient church would have heard when they used the word prophet.  Someone who could predict the future was a seer or a magician, not a prophet.  To a person in Paul’s day, a prophet is a person who speaks a meaningful word from God to their contemporaries.  In most cases, a pastor who preaches and disciples the people around them is a pretty good analogy to what a person in Paul’s day would call a prophet.

Pay attention to what Paul is saying in this passage, then.  What does Paul say?  He wishes many people in their midst would have the gift of prophecy.  Paul knows that part of having a strong spiritual church is creating a place where people can come together and speak the Word of God to one another.  When we speak the Word of God to one another, we speak words of correction and rebuke as well as support and growth.  The Christian community is vitally dependent upon the people of God being able to speak an appropriate Word of God to each other!

From this perspective, the obscure point in verse 8 becomes much more dramatic.  Paul is speaking about the idea that people know how to get ready for a battle based on the warning they hear from a trumpet.  In the same way, Christians get ready for the spiritual work ahead of them by listening to the prophecy {Word of God proclaimed} in their midst.  Christians get ready to follow God through what they hear from God speaking through the Christians around them.

This makes me think about what we actually hear when we go to church functions.  I know what everyone is thinking.  When we go to worship, we hear the Word of God proclaimed in our midst.  Lord willing, I hope that is true!  But that is what, one hour a week?  1 hour out of the 168 hours in a week?  For math geeks like me, that’s all of 0.595%.  Less than 1 percent of our time!  Let’s say you go to Sunday School, too.  So there’s another hour.  That’s 1.19% of our time!  Then we might think about committee meetings, or potluck dinners, or other programs we might be involved in.  But I have to ask.  The last time you went to a potluck dinner – how much talk about God did you do?  Sure, there is nothing wrong with talking about the weather or the latest sporting event.  But did the conversation ever get around to praising God and talking about what He is doing in your midst?  Or perhaps you talk about work.  There is nothing wrong with talking about problems at work.  But did the conversation ever get around to how to display your faith through those problems?

See what I mean?  When Christians gather, we need to focus on proclaiming the Word of God into the lives of the people around us.  There is nothing wrong with talking about life, but when Christians gather our conversations should revolve around God and His work in our life.

When we get together outside of Sunday worship and intentional Bible Studies, are we really talking about God’s Word actually playing out in our life – prophecy – or are we talking about the stuff we really want to talk about until someone comes along and forces God into the conversation?  If hearing God’s Word applied to our life is how we get prepared to do the work of God, when we look at our typical “religious functions” is there any wonder that American Christianity is filled with people who simply aren’t prepared to take God out into the world?  If the only person who brings the Word of God into your life is your pastor – and if you’re lucky, also your spouse – how can any of us think that our churches are doing a good job of preparing us to do the work of the Lord?  Even if the pastor is a phenomenal speaker – how much influence can one person have on a whole community?  No, the proclamation of God’s Word into the lives of the believers is a communal effort.

Orderly Worship

This conversation leads us into Paul’s section on orderly worship.  But remember, just because something is orderly doesn’t mean that it should be done without emotion or without enthusiasm.  Worship should always be done with enthusiasm because we are in the presence of a Holy God and we are called by God to support others and be supported by others in the faith.  That alone is cause for celebration in our worship.

Yet, we must remain orderly.  There needs to be some kind of structure.  We don’t need people talking over one another.  We don’t need multiple conversations going on at once.  What we need is a plan for worship and an understanding among the people as to how that plan is going to be implemented.

I like how this binds with the earlier section.  The goal of speaking God’s Word into the life of someone else is to build them up.  But in order for that message to be meaningfully delivered, the recipient needs to be prepared that it is coming so that they can receive it.  Have you ever tried to listen to the television (or the radio) while someone is speaking loudly on the telephone?  It’s hard to focus on either because of the noise from the other.  Both conversations are lost and neither is productive.  So if we genuinely want to speak God’s Word into the lives of other people, we need to come together and have some orderly focus.  Whether it is worship, Sunday School, or even pot-luck dinners, we need there to be a communal understanding of what the event is about and how the meaning of the event will be conveyed to the attendees.

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Year 2, Day 81: 1 Corinthians 13

When we get to 1 Corinthians 13 we hear one of the most abused wedding passages in the whole Bible.  But it is still a great chapter.  However, today I want to go a little deeper in our understanding of “Love.”

Love

Many have heard that there are 3 kinds of love to the Greek mindset.  There is “eros” (ἔρως) – an intoxicating love which causes a feeling of desiring another person or thing.  There is “philia” (φιλία) – a love that genuinely is directed to all because of the innate qualities that the person or object possesses.  Then there is “agape” (ἀγάπη) – a love that is passionate (but not like eros) and genuine towards others (but not like philia).

That definition of agape isn’t very helpful, so let me try and unpack it for a second.  The problem with agape love is that it has many ways of being employed.  One of the easiest uses to see are the times that it is used like Romans 1:7: “To the ones in Rome who are loved by God.”  This case shows us that agape love has an element of making distinctions.  After all, if there are some in Rome who are loved by God, then there must be some who are not loved by God.  {Two other examples of this are 1 Thessalonians 1:4 and Jude 1}  One of the reasons I like this definition is because it helps distinguish between agape from eros and philia.  Eros is a love that makes distinctions, but it is based upon an impulse or an instinctual kind of love.  Philia doesn’t make any distinctions; it is a genuine love for all things.  Agape is a love that makes distinctions but it makes those distinctions based logic, reasoning, experience, rationalisms, etc.

Another way of thinking about agape love is “that which is dear to us.”  This helps us refine the distinction nature of agape that we saw above.  When a person experiences eros, they simply want to possess it.  Think of eros as lust.  When I lust after something or someone, they are not dear to me.  Eros causes me to possess the thing or person out of an intoxicated desire to have it.  Philia – in a strange twist of fate – likewise isn’t a love that comes because something or someone is dear to us.  I might have genuine philia love to all Christians.  That doesn’t mean every Christian is dear to my heart, it means that I genuinely appreciate all people in Christ whether or not I know them.  As another example, I can say that I have philia towards all coneflowers.  That doesn’t mean that every coneflower plant in the world is dear to me, it means that I appreciate them as a group.  In contrast, agape love is a love born out of an innate quality of something being dear to our heart.  A child might love their “blankie.”  They might not want all blankets, they want their specific “blankie” that is dear to them.  God has agape love for His people because they are dear to Him.

This is a great time to talk about John 3:16.  It says, “For God so ‘agaped’ the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  At first this love sounds like philia, but it isn’t.  God loved the whole world, absolutely.  But the only people who benefit from this love are those who believe in Christ.  Those who believe in His Son – His Word made flesh among us – are the ones who are dear to Him and who genuinely receive salvation from sin and death. 

John 3:16 is not an expression of eros; God does not desire to possess us out of some intoxicating passion.  This is not an expression of philia; interestingly enough that would imply a universal salvation as it would imply God loving all people equally.  Sending Jesus to us is an expression of agape love – love directed to a specific category of people who are dear to Him because they love His Son.

The Root Must Be Love

I could go on, but I really should do some theology here about the chapter at hand.  In 1 Corinthians 13 we see that Paul says that if we have great charisma, wonderful charm, all the faith in the world, a compassionate spirit, or incredible wisdom and we don’t have agape – we are useless.  Let that sink in for a second.  If we possess some of the greatest Christian traits but don’t have agape – there is no point to it.  Paul isn’t saying that we aren’t saved; he’s saying that there is no point to anything we can do.

I’ve met many people in this world who have a profound understanding of Scripture but have no genuine desire to share it with other people.  I’ve met people who can dangle the hearts of their listeners over the pit of Hell and make them question their salvation.  I’ve met people in this world who seem to be looking for any excuse to be a martyr for all the wrong reasons.  I’ve even been all those people myself from time to time!  If I don’t genuinely have a dear love for people in my life and their salvation; nothing I do is worthwhile.

Agape is patient, kind, joyful, accepting of the burdens of others, believing, hopeful, and enduring.  It is free from envy, boasting, arrogance, rudeness, selfishness, irritability, and resentfulness.  Agape is not afraid of making distinctions based on that which should be near and dear to us – the salvation of others.  That is agape.  Christ on the cross – saving those who put their trust in Him – that is agape.

The Unusual Mix of Pain and and Hope

Paul then glimpses into the future.  This is a neat passage because it is in this passage that we can genuinely hear the hope and the pain mix in Paul’s heart.  Paul is pained – like all genuine disciples of Jesus Christ – in the way that we have so much difficulty expressing agape love in this world.  We don’t see each other fully now.  We fight, argue, and misinterpret things that are said.  But one day we will see each other fully because we will see each other through the eyes of Christ.  Here and now, our worldly nature makes us seem childlike, selfish, and immature more often than we would all care to admit.  But there will come a day when we will be able to make the right decisions because we will make them through the genuine presence of God. 

It does my heart good to see Paul struggling through his inability to be the person he knows God wants him to be.  I feel this not because I enjoy his pain but because in the verses that close out this chapter I can see a genuine camaraderie with Paul.  I can’t wait for the day when we can be face to face in the presence of God and express how great it is to no longer see faith as though looking into a dim mirror.

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Year 2, Day 80: 1 Corinthians 12

A Call to Unity

1 Corinthians 12 is one of my favorite chapters of the whole book.  We start with a call to unity.  Then we move into an understanding of how unity does not at all imply uniformity in a setting where people are spiritually mature.  All around, it is a great chapter for the maturing Christian to read.

I’m going to start with the first three verses.  Paul begins with a mention of idols.  I love this fact.  How many of us did not begin with idols?  How many of us cannot say that we have made an idol out of ourselves or out of something we own, possess, or wish we possessed?  We are a people that universally have idolatry near and dear to our heart.  So when Paul talks about the time when the Corinthians were led astray to mute idols, we can all understand a time in our life when that was true for us as well.

Then Paul moves on to a great point.  He gives us two quotes: “Jesus is accursed” and “Jesus is Lord.”  {I have to add here that the Greek word we translate as “accursed” is literally the word “anathema” in Greek.  I love it!}  Paul tells us that nobody who has the Holy Spirit within them can speak against Jesus.  For the record, I think this also extends to speaking about the work that Jesus is doing.  This verse should draw us back to the way Paul closed out 1 Corinthians 10.  Do all things for the glory of God.  If we are focused on doing things for God’s glory, then we will have the Spirit within us.  If the Spirit is within us, then we will never speak against Jesus and His work within His church.

Furthermore, Paul talks about those people who say, “Jesus is Lord.” There is so much more going on here that a simple confession that just about anybody seems to be able to pronounce.  We’re not talking about 3 words that are easily said.

In the Roman Empire, the title that was given to Caesar in the Greek language is “Kyrie” – which is a word that means “Lord.”  {Yes, this is where the word “kyrie” comes from.  In our worship, the Kyrie is the song in which we ask Jesus as Lord to have mercy upon us.}  It was common to confess allegiance to Caesar by saying, “Caesar is Lord.”  In fact, by the time Paul gets to writing the letter to the Corinthians there are places in the Roman Empire that are demanding Christians to say “Caesar is Lord” instead of “Jesus is Lord.”  Anyone who would say “Jesus is Lord” would be persecuted, arrested, or even killed.  After all, you can only have one Lord, right?  If a person declares lordship to someone besides Caesar, then Caesar is not Lord in their life.

Thus, Paul is not just giving us a confession.  He is giving us a battle cry!  Nobody can call Jesus the Lord of their life (and genuinely mean it) without the Holy Spirit.  Nobody can live as thought their highest allegiance is to God without the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Nobody can declare that they have no greater authority in their life above Jesus without also having the Holy Spirit within them.   In declaring Jesus as Lord a person is inherently declaring that nobody else or nothing else is Lord. 

For the Christians in the Roman Empire, making this profession could easily be a death sentence.  That’s why Paul tells us that you cannot say “Jesus is Lord” and mean it unless you have the Holy Spirit within you.  This is no simple confession.  It should be a declaration of war to anything else in our life that would desire to be Lord.

Unity, not Uniformity

Wow, I have spent a long time on those three verses.  But that is alright.  The rest of the chapter flows around a few simple ideas.  The first idea is that although we are united under Christ, we all have different roles to play in His church according to His calling for each of us.  Since we all have different callings, we have all been given a unique set of gifts to accomplish His calling.  Much like fingerprints, we are all unique to Christ and His church.

However, this does not mean that we cannot experience unity.  In fact, if it is Christ who equips us and calls us, then we should experience unity through that fact.  We are all under Christ; we should have unity among us!  Our differences imply that we may go about our faith from different perspectives, but we are united in that we are serving the same Christ.

There is a litmus test that the Christian should ask before questioning or attacking something in the church: “Is what I am about to attack/question serving Christ?”  If every Christian remembered to ask that question before speaking, we would have far fewer fights in the church!

Of course, that doesn’t imply that we cannot question some legitimate ministry or even a legitimate Christian.  When questions are asked out of the right motivation, questions are vital for growth!  Questions asked for the right motive help improve an activity.  Questions asked for the right motive might help some ministry better target the intended audience.  Questions asked of a true believer out of a healthy motive will inspire growth.  Constructive questions – questions that come from a position of understanding Christ within a valid ministry or person – are very beneficial indeed.  I’m not saying we should stop asking questions at all!  I am saying that we need to remind ourselves to we ask questions from the right frame of reference.  We should ask questions from a perspective of unity and understanding rather than doubt and opposition.

All Are Affected

Then Paul makes a very interesting statement: “If one suffers, all suffer together.  If one is honored, all rejoice together.”  I’m curious.  Take a second and ask yourself if this is true in your Christian community.  If one person in your community suffers, does the whole community suffer?  In order to have this be true do you not only have to have genuine unity but also a genuine connection to the other people in your community?  Or take the flipside argument.  If one person is honored in your community, does the whole community rejoice?  Or, more likely, do we experience jealousy and gossip as soon as someone is lifted up and honored?

In a genuine Christian community, I think that Paul’s words are spot-on correct.  If we are genuinely brothers and sisters in Christ we will know when our brothers and sisters suffer and we will suffer with them.  Thus, if there are those who don’t recognize that someone suffering or those who rejoice in another’s suffering or those who tear someone down as they are being genuinely honored, then it is evidence that we have work to do in the community towards true unity in Jesus.

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