It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? 3 For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,[a][b] so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 5:1-8 English Standard Version
The Fellowship of Light in Bodily Language
Paul draws yet another example of the body’s immaturity in the Spirit; instead of letting the light of love cast out all darkness, as we hear from John. They hid the light and made space for darkness within their hearts and within their fellowship. A member of the body, very likely one of these influential people calling people exclusively after themselves took his father’s wife (likely one of many) for himself. An act so dishonourable, and divisive that, Paul says, it can only have come from malice towards his father and the wickedness of his own unchanged heart. Paul doesn’t spell it out as black and white as John does later on in the century, but rather gets right down to handing down judgement on this man. Ultimately, Paul says that the ‘old leaven,’ their old gentile lives, are what is causing all of this immaturity and sin to enter the body and cause such division and defilement of the body. The natural state of the body is to reject diseased tissue not to accept it or to attack healthy tissue.
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless[b] guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17 That is why I sent[c] you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,[d] as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
1 Corinthians 4:14-21 English Standard Version
Many Guides but One Father
As their primary steward in the mysteries of God and their father in the gospel, Paul felt responsible for the present state of the people of God in Corinth. He bent over backwards while presenting the simple gospel around him to put out the fires of division in Corinth being caused by a few arrogant individuals who thought themselves to be something special, forgetting that they had been given all that they had by Paul and by God. Paul asserts his fatherly authority over the Corinthian believers as the one who presented the simple gospel to them and sent their older brother Timothy with a letter from their mutual father to display Paul to them in person and in word through His letter. Paul urges the believers to imitate him as he imitates Christ–this is not to the exclusion of the other apostles, but in tandem with them as they imitate Christ as well. Those who were drawing people away to their exclusive tribes were claiming that Paul had abandoned them. They spoke down about him saying that the other apostles were real apostles having walked with Jesus, and that they should not fear this lesser apostle who obviously didn’t have all of the answers or wisdom that the likes of the letters from Peter showed. Paul refutes this notion later but for now says that He is making his way to them quickly and will see if there is any substance to the faith of these detractors and dividers of the people of God. Finally, he admonishes them that he would much rather come to them in a spirit of gentleness than with a rod of discipline from God.
6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,[a] that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
1 Corinthians 4:6-13 English Standard Version
And Would That You Did Reign
The Corinthian believers have everything that Paul and the rest of the Apostles pushing the borders of Christ’s influence on the earth could use. Besides for the wisdom of Christ, they have full access to the whole body of Christ, they are wealthy, they are well liked and they reportedly, ‘live like kings’. Paul’s situation is entirely different, and because of this he says that he wishes that the Corinthian believers were actually ruling–that they were full of the Spirit and using their influence for Christ and for obedience and unity’s sake because then the apostles would be ruling vicariously through them and with them and Paul would be comforted in his infliction knowing that his children were living lives of obedience to the Spirit and to Christ. But, he says, ‘you have everything you ever wanted’. They used the name of Christ to boost their own names, their own wealth and their own reputations. They aligned themselves with the apostle or teacher who seemed like the wisest according to the ways of the world and co-opted the gospel of Christ to suit their own means. They claimed that the table and house was theirs and so were found to be unfaithful Stewards. Paul will now address them as his children in the next section pleading for their repentance and return to the simple gospel they received from their spiritual father.
So you’ve accepted Christ as your personal saviour, congratulations! You are now a member of the body of Christ; restored in relationship to God and to the people of God who have also received that mercy. You may have been told that the next steps for you are to join a fellowship, pray and read your Bible. But, there’s a good chance that you’re now reading this article because you’re not exactly sure what you’re supposed to do next. You’ve heard the gospel, that Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead on the third day according to the scriptures and responded by calling out to Jesus to save you, and now it seems like there’s a whole world of Christianity in front of you. You might be 12, 24, 36 or 48 and this whole thing seems like a bit much. You’ve joined a local body, spoken to the air a bit and tried reading the Bible, but you’ve never even heard of half of the words being thrown about and are eager to get started doing…well, whatever it is that you’re supposed to be doing. This might seem rather patronizing, but you’re a new baby in Christ. However, you’re not alone, you have the Holy Spirit of God inside you, and brother’s and sisters around you to edify, equip, encourage and raise you up to full reproducing maturity in Jesus. And it doesn’t take nearly as long as growing up physically to grow up in Christ–not if you’re serious about growing. So here are 5 pieces of advice you should consider when getting your feet wet in Christianity.
No. 1: Not Just the Feet
The first step after salvation is to be baptized; hopefully this is a step that was done for you as it’s actually an act of obedience for the one who led you to Christ. Because of this it’s not necessary for you to completely understand the significance of baptism at this time. It will be an act of obedience for you later when God calls you to be the final one who shares Christ in someone’s life to bring them to the point you are today. For now, it’s enough to know that baptism is submersion in and out of water as a symbol of dying with Christ to our life lived for ourselves, being buried and being raised to this new life in Jesus. If you have yet to do this, approach the one who led you to Christ and they should know what to do.
No. 2: Beyond the Body
There is nothing about your old life that we can use to put a pin in the new life you now have in Jesus. You have been born completely anew. Whatever gender, color, nationality, neuro-status, or any factor you can imagine that has defined you in the past is now dead to you and to the people of God who have received mercy. The Bible tells us that we are to treat one another as spiritual beings; to look beyond our physical differences and to discern the Spirit of God that is in each one of us and binds us together as a family. I wish I could tell you that everyone who claims Christ is going to treat you the same as everyone else, but many did not receive the simple gospel and instruction that you are now receiving. They will need to be handled with gentleness as they will have been robbed of this reality in Christ and will have been treated according to their old lives in the flesh. Be the first to see beyond their body and welcome them into the community you now enjoy with God.
No. 3: You’re Not Crazy
Having just been born, your connection with the Spirit of God is super sensitive, you may often hear His voice and wonder if you’ve gone crazy, but don’t worry–this is how it should be. Listen to that voice in community with others who regularly hear the voice of God and obey Him. They will know when it is God and when it is just your own intruding thoughts. There is a skill to seeking the wisdom of God and it comes with practice. The general rule of thumb is that if what is in your head is telling me to do or say things that would imply that Jesus is not God or anything like that then it’s not the Holy Spirit, it’s your old flesh speaking from beyond the grave. Those who are mature in Christ will help you discern the voice of God in your life by sharing examples of when He has spoken to them and how they obeyed. Paul–one of the men God used to write the Bible–says that these are, ‘assignments,’ from God. It is a sure sign of immaturity when we have stopped receiving assignments from God, but don’t worry, if you stop hearing His voice all of the time. There may just be some housekeeping to do in your heart.
No 4: Work it Out
One of the most important things to understand about your new life in Jesus is that while others may have been where you are now and can walk and guide you through many things, it is your responsibility to learn and grow in Christ. This means, as the Bible puts it, that you must, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” It is for God’s will and good pleasure that we work on our Christian life. Sometimes it can seem like we are copy and pasting some old dead guy’s salvation onto our own and while God did work in many of them, it’s important to remember that the value of their obedience to the Spirit is entirely down to the Spirit of God and not to them. Use them and your living examples as guides but not as the Holy Spirit.
No 5: There’s a Book
Finally, the most valuable resource you have to help you in your journey is in the testimony about God from the Bible. The Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible through many people in the past is now living inside you and the other people of God and will regularly bring to mind the things that Jesus has spoken as well as other aspects of the Word of God. You need a sensitive connection to the Spirit of God to discern what it says; it’s not that it’s hidden–every word is right in front of us in all its glory, but there will be times when the Bible comes to life and you hear a harmony of God’s voice through it applying themes in the passage to your own life. Familiarize yourself with the Bible and read it in community with other believers. The rule of thumb is that to know what the Bible says, we have to know what the whole Bible says.
So there you have it! 5 pieces of advice from your older brother in Christ. You may have noticed that all five of these pieces of advice include involving someone else with you along your journey. This is not by mistake. Just as God used someone to lead you to Jesus, He will now use others to raise you up to full reproducing maturity in Christ and to help along the way, this is most generally done in some kind of gathering. But that’s for another time.
Writer and Editor of Ammi Ruhama Community Christian Union. Also published on Baseline Christianity.
Daniel L. Bacon
Commentary on Paul’s Letters to the Corinthian Church
ARC Guide Level 1 Ideal for those getting acquainted with our thought process at Ammi Ruhama Community.
1 Corinthians 3:10-17
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled[b] master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you[c] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 3:10-17 English Standard Version
Wicker Dwellings and Roman Villas
Paul builds out the construction metaphor and says that if another builder comes on site, assumingly Peter or Apollos or any other mature believer, that they must build on top of the foundation that is Christ and will be either rewarded or suffer great loss based on the work they have done when it is tested by fire (likely persecution). He says that the proverbial work being done is the building of the temple of God which is done to specification (by the Spirit) and that anyone who thinks they can build using the materials they are used to building with like wood, hay and stubble; the usual iron age building materials for a double walled, wicker dwelling stuffed with straw for insulation and topped with a stubble roof, will find that these are unfit materials for the house of God and will burn up in the day of testing. These materials are used symbolically for the wisdom of the world, while the adornments of gold, silver and precious stones are symbolic of the wisdom from the Spirit. One type of dwelling comes from a deep, generational custom, especially among the farming community of building the same dwelling, the same way every ten to fifteen years and moving with the land when it goes fallow. The builder of the wicker dwelling builds only for themselves for the next 10-15 years. The builder of a Roman Villa, by contrast, does so not only for their own sake but for the sake of generations who would come after them. In this way, Paul sees his work and the work of Peter, Apollos and the other mature believers as progressive to the point of testing. If what is built on top of the foundation is made of wood hay and stubble, it will need to be rebuilt every ten to fifteen years and moved to where the soil seems more fertile as the common human wisdom says. However, if what is built is made with permanent things and adorned with gold, silver and precious stones like the temple of Solomon then the world will come to us to marvel at the beauty of the temple which we have built to God. The twist is that we collectively; the whole people of God who have received mercy are the temple of God built either with wood hay and stubble or adorned with silver, gold, and precious stones and headed for the day of testing. Will we burn up and move to more fertile ground to build another straw hut, or will we build the house of God on the foundation that is Christ and adorn it with silver, gold and precious stones?
Plural Not Singular
This is not a new passage to most of us. We have heard this passage preached again and again and again as a personal call to holiness, but it is in fact a continuation of Paul’s analogy of the one who plants and the one who waters, only this analogy focuses on the one who lays the foundation and the one who builds on it. It is Paul’s version of, “a house divided against itself cannot stand”. When Paul says, “do you (plural) not know that you (plural) are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells within you (plural),” this is another corralling statement by Paul to say that the Spirit of God is in all of us that we have all been given a portion of the Spirit of God and so when we dwell in unity we adorn ourselves as the temple of God with silver and gold and precious stones, and that the world sees us and marvels at the beauty of the temple and proclaims that Jesus was sent from the Father. However, when we live in our little enclaves we build ugly little huts of human wisdom for ourselves until the next wave of popular Christianity moves through and the fallow land around us causes us to burn our old models and move on to the next big thing; a slightly bigger wicker hut.
But I, brothers,[a] could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 English Standard Version
The Through Thread
Paul asserts, if there was any question about where the Corinthians were on the spectrum of being naturally or spiritually minded, that they are in fact quite naturally minded; unobservant of spiritual things and, as a result, full of jealousy and strife, pitting Peter, Apollos and Paul against one another by claiming to hold exclusively to any one of their teachings as being distinct from another. Today we might say that they believed that they had distinct truth claims on the gospel of Christ. Paul’s point here is that they only saw their respective words, analogies and arguments for the gospel and not the through-thread of the Spirit of God which joins them all together. He uses the example of being a labourer in God’s field or a builder of God’s building.
From Simple Seeds and Stones
Paul relates his work in the gospel to sowing seeds or laying a foundation. Seeds were sown by broadcasting them which is literally walking for absolute miles back and forth casting the same seeds over a large area. Foundations were laid by digging a hole and dropping massive stones into the hole and surrounding them with smaller stones to fall between them to give a solid base to build on later. Both of these are rather boring, laborious jobs that rely on seeing the bigger picture to see the significance of what would otherwise seem to be busy work. Paul says that while putting seeds or stones in the ground might seem like simple work, it is this work that allows for others to come along and add water that activates the seed when the sun hits the soil around it allowing it to become a more complex fruit bearing plant. In the same way putting stones in the ground prepares the way for the more complicated work of building the walls, hanging doors or setting a roof on top. They are all the same work, for the same person and so are all connected. The point is that from the simple seed of the gospel comes the fruit of the life of one controlled by the Spirit, and from the foundation that is Christ comes a building made of precious stones–both themes Paul will return to later in the letter.
Fulfilling the Assignment
Paul’s use of, ‘assignment,’ is not as permanent as it might sound. In the same way that his later use of, ‘gift,’ of the Spirit is not a once for all time gifting but rather a living manifestation of the Spirit of God. In the same way, our, ‘assignments,’ (some call them vocations) from God are less like homework or employment and more like listening to and obeying the voice of His Spirit. Too often we think of a “call into ministry,” as being a lifelong commitment to one job within the body in the same way that we think that, having once manifested the gift of administration, the Spirit won’t manifest Himself in us in other capacity and that, that’s our life’s purpose. What happens is that God uses us in some way, either to speak or to teach or to call people to Himself and it feels so good to be used by Spirit of God in any capacity that we attempt to reproduce the environment in which it happened. I felt this same pull after inviting a homeless man into my garden to live for a week. We walked very closely together for that week as we discussed spiritual things and worked on procuring more stable living conditions for him. I felt afterwards that God must want me to start a homeless ministry, but when I prayed and searched the scriptures for confirmation God asked me to let my experience of being used by the Spirit be what it was and to let it go and to continue to listen to His voice instead. He told me that if I went forward with starting a homeless ministry that it would be a hinderance to other’s responsibility to invite the homeless into their homes and feed them their food and walk with them for the week that He calls them to do that. My assignment had been completed; I listened and obeyed and was shown the state of the body of Christ as a result.
Paul had been assigned to sow seeds in Corinth. He did a bit of watering and harvesting while he was there as well as he attests, but his main assignment was to plant the pure seed of the gospel in their hearts and then leave it to the work of another whose assignment had been to water the seeds of the gospel. Paul generally allowed others to water and harvest, he took special interest in a few who he personally raised to full reproducing maturity in Christ but allowed the rest of the body to raise one another up to full reproducing maturity. He did not allow himself to be side tracked with the task of being the one to whom everyone outsourced their assignments–and neither should we. We all have our own listening and obeying to be getting on with, and only the Spirit knows our next respective assignments.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
The Natural and Spiritual Mind
Paul makes two statements about the naturally minded person in these two verses. First he says that they do not accept the things of the Spirit because they think they are inapplicable, childish and pure foolishness. Secondly he says that they do not understand them due to their spiritual source. The teachings of Jesus that come to mind are when he told a crowd full of people that if they didn’t eat his body and drink his blood they would not enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ intentional guising of his teachings in parables to baffle those who thought that they could discern what he meant by human reasoning also comes to mind. Notice that Paul doesn’t say that the natural minded person doesn’t hear or see spiritual things, plenty of people heard and saw Jesus teach and perform daily miracles–it is that they don’t accept them as viable. They are on a completely different wavelength from the thoughts and intents of the Spirit. The natural minded person seeks only to be unambiguously certain in their factual accuracy; to be right. They equate being right with being righteous; to be able to answer any question with their own heuristic of human wisdom be it rationalism or empiricism or whatever they believe.
Paul then says something very interesting. He says that as a result of the natural and spiritual mind divide in the body of Christ, the spiritual person; the person channelling the Holy Spirit of God on a daily basis for their words and their actions like Jesus did, judges all things. They see all things as they should be and the things that are not, they speak the words of God to correct. However, the natural minded ones should not be judge them, because they don’t understand their judgements. Paul is about to define the natural mind even further in chapter 3, but at the end of this thought, he says that the natural minded believer who isn’t channelling the Holy Spirit has no reference for the things of God and therefore cannot judge those who do.
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.[d]
1 Corinthians 2:6-13 English Standard Version
The Spiritual Mind
In answer to the unwritten question of, “why didn’t you teach us the things that Peter and Apollos are teaching?” Paul says, “actually, I did–I shared a few interpretations from the Spirit to those of you who were mature enough to hear them.” In saying this, Paul is crystal clear that the wisdom he shared was not his own but wisdom from the Spirit of God who interprets spiritual truths like the whole of the Word of God to those who are spiritual.
Nerahism
We believe that all truth is revealed truth. That we have the whole of the truth in front of us, but that in order to see it, the truth must be revealed to us by the Spirit of God. We have all had the experience of having read a passage our whole lives thinking that we know the meaning only to read it in the Spirit of God and for it to take on a next level, life changing meaning. Paul later calls this, “knowing as we ought to know,” we call it, Nerahism (pronounced: Nearism). The Hebrew nir ‘ ah means, “he let himself be seen; showed himself”. It is the basis for this epistemological belief. Nirahists believe that we are always on the receiving end of truth and wisdom and never the origin and thus never the authority. We can mature in that wisdom as we listen and act on it, but it always the wisdom from the Spirit and so is freely available to all believers.
And I, when I came to you, brothers,[a] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony[b] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[c] but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Paul asserts that when he came to Corinth to proclaim the testimony (some manuscripts say, ‘mystery,’) of God, he allowed it to be a mystery and didn’t really express it in the format of a traditional oration; a well prepared and even better delivered speech. What he proclaimed was the fact that the Christ had come and was crucified. Keep in mind that it was always Paul’s habit to come into the synagogues first and so this message would not have reached the gentile believers until afterwards. We already know from 1:14-17 that Paul did not make it his mission to make many converts and baptise them as he did not consider it his mandate from the spirit; only to communicate the simple message that the Christ had come and was crucified. Paul also says that he made no effort to put on a show of physical prowess as he was sick and weak at the time when he came to them as well as trembling and afraid. His work was done rather out of his weakness in the demonstration of the Spirit (read: Paul’s manifestation of the Spirit through the fruit of the Spirit in his life) and of power, presumably the power of the gospel as previously stated in chapter one but also likely in miracles.
Further Thoughts
We don’t really know what to do with the fact that Paul did not present a succinct five point gospel message with an alter call and a baptismal pool ready to hand. We know his reasoning; that the people of Corinth would not put their faith in his wisdom but in the power of God to save; that is, in Christ. Paul’s frustration is that when the Corinthian believer’s encountered the wisdom of Peter and Apollos, meant for the spiritual digestion of more mature believers, they went ahead and placed their faith in human wisdom anyway. If we take anything from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians perhaps it should be that all truth is revealed truth that takes a certain tolerance to adjust to. If and when we are exposed to a concentration of truth that is higher than our tolerance we tend to think that it originated with the author or speaker and attribute to them the things of God and so slide into the slippery slope of leader worship which Paul was warning against.
The message of the gospel is special revelation from God to everyone who receives it. There are some who say that if special revelation is not saying anything new then we don’t need to hear it. That it would be like a special report flashing across a news screen about old news everyone already knows. But if we applied the principle of “If it’s not new we don’t need it,” to the Bible then we could cut out the majority of the Bible as most of it is God repeating Himself ad nauseum to generation after generation after generation of people who are the recipients of special revelation from God even though he told someone else that one time–in fact, we could cut out most of the New Testament as He isn’t saying anything new there that isn’t deeply rooted in the Old Testament! The mystery of the Gospel is that God reveals Himself afresh to each one who receives it so that we do not place our faith in a leader’s wisdom or a culture’s wisdom or an ethnic wisdom that would exclude anyone who proclaims Christ and Him Crucified.
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,[c] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 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; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being[d] might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him[e] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 English Standard Version
The Nature of Shame
Paul writes to the Corinthians an aspect of God that is rather uncomfortable for the sitting people of God who have received mercy, and that is that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Or, as Paul writes, “God uses the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are”.
Those who have been called by God unto salvation and to the repair of the interface have to be an unassuming people by necessity. This is largely because the assuming people will have already been well entrenched in their symbiotic organisations and be too comfortable to make any substantial repairs to the interface which, frankly, works just fine for them; and why fix what’s not broken?
But God uses the people that are not strong by the world’s measure to bring to nothing the people who are:
The unrighteous to shame the righteous,
The sexually divergent to shame the chaste,
The Gentiles to shame the Jews,
The women to shame the men,
The slaves to shame the free.
What is shame then, but the offering of grace and mercy by God to those we thought were not deserving? I will take it a step further in light of adversarial unity. What is shame but when God blesses those who curse us when we won’t? What is shame but when God loves our neighbours when we won’t? What is shame but when a church opens across the road who are reaching people with the Gospel who vote differently than we do? What is shame but when a child sees what it took an adult a lifetime and a doctorate to see; and who speaks the truth without reticence or thought of payment?
We pay lip service to the levelling nature of the cross, but the result of God’s grace to us is that all hierarchies of distinction in the body are done away with until we are all one in the mind of Christ Whatever gradations of so-called righteousness that remain as a result of our organisation and structure; those things we pride ourselves in will be our shame and our humbling before God.
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