Tag: Corinthians

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Blinded by lies, not light.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Good news, God has a rescue plan for all. Bad news, Satan has a terrorist’s intent to thwart it. God has plans, Satan has lies. Satan doesn’t need a plan to damn humanity, just lies to keep us believing one of two things: we don’t need to be rescued or we can rescue ourselves!

The blinders that keep people from seeing this glorious light is simply self sufficiency; thinking there’s nothing wrong with me and I can create my own truth, my own destiny. These blinders are only effective because we crave this autonomy of choice to run our own life, host our own awards shows, and pursue anything and everything that our minds can imagine.

What’s wrong with that? Our dark hearts are bent and determined to choose only selfish, self-satisfying desires. And, very much like those who are blind, it leads away from God and towards evil and death. And in our “enlightened” state of darkness, we harm and destroy those around us eventually finding ourselves alone. Satan’s job is to steal, kill and destroy, but does so non-confrontationally through lies. We let Satan in by believing them and lock God out by our own choices. The message of Christ is truth. He is all good and has no lies, no tricks to con us. Christ is life itself. Believe Christ and live, or believe the lies and die.This is the hidden message.

Prayer

Dad,
I would not have found my own way. But you found me. You illuminated that foyer at Oak Knoll Lodge in Big Bear, California and showed me right from wrong, death and life. You offered me a deal that I could not pass up. And as that small space under a table lit up with truth I saw everything clearly for the first time. It was my time, my chance to choose and I will forever be grateful for that moment. Help me continue to live in that light, that truth and to continue to walk away from lies and darkness. Thank You!

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Liberty with consideration.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:23-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

People do not believe that Christianity is all about liberty, freedom. We’ve been pitched so many lies and have self-inflicted stereotypes that even believers in Jesus don’t know they been freed from one master to be bound to another.

According to several Biblical writers we are freed from sin because Christ paid our death sentence. Yet, even in freedom, there are restrictions and restraints! How so? Being free from sin means that we are not mastered by selfishness, greed, lust, lies and deception. But we are, however, mastered by love, forgiveness and consideration towards others. This is where culture has corrupted the word love. Love is a self sacrificing, deeply considerate of others word. It is not a pleasure only, neurochemically induced feeling.

Christian freedom is upward and outward focused. This whole idea of “self-love” is absurdly repugnant! We are God-loved. We can be loved by others. But as soon as we twist this word to be all about my, mine and I it is no longer love at all. Freedom is considerate love! It’s a supernatural check and balance of what I want. In Paul’s admonition here, it’s about eating meat previously sacrificed to idols – filthy by association of spiritual hocus-pocus mumbled over some chunk of meat that has been presented to fake-gods, statues and carved rocks. Fake gods are plentiful but completely useless. It’s like offering meat to a fictitious alien then selling the meat at a discount store – alien offered cheap meat!

Ah, but if someone has come to Jesus out of a cult, out of a false religion, out of aliens-r-us it would be quite offensive to wave idol-meat, or cult-alien-meat in front of them and serve it at a dinner gathering. It’s insensitive to their past experience and doesn’t allow them to grow to a place of maturity when that meat-offering may be less of a trigger in their past.

This is the hard part, the forgotten part about love and freedom – it’s NOT all about us! This is why restraint and self imposed boundaries are good for us, even in our freedoms. This helps us keep a check on our motives and our rights. We may be within our rights, but it may not be helpful and considerate to someone who’s struggling.

Prayer

Dad,
I have a feeling that we have got caught up in the wrong crowd when it comes to freedoms, rights and even love. These are specific ideals that Jesus laid down on our behalf and instructed us to do the same. This is where we have not led our culture in humility and truth. We’ve adopted similar thoughts and practices simply mimicking our natural bent of selfishness. Help us God to continue to see you and reflect you in all circumstances we find ourselves in.

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Freedom to serve.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭9:19-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul writes this phrase, “I am a free man.” It doesn’t seem like much to a western-world, U.S. Citizen, because we’ve been “free” for hundreds of years.

In Paul’s day, many people were not free. Slavery, servanthood, was common. He lists the the classes of people of his culture at that time, the Jews and the Greeks (gentiles). And, he writes about how one group had been raised on the Torah, the Laws of God, the other had no real moral or religious code. The gentiles were anyone not Jewish, so it was not exactly a racial issue.

Paul says some interesting things about these laws of God. He was raised and trained in strict Judaism. He held title and authority as a Pharisee. So he writes, “I am not subject to the law,” then later writes, “I obey the law of Christ.” We can’t fathom the massive shift in belief and behavior that this phrase means.

Most of us have only and always been free from the “Law of God,” meaning the 10 commandments and the five books that make up the Pentateuch. And yet, though we are free from that “master,” Paul wants us to understand that all humankind is under another master, another law – the lawlessness of sin.

So when Paul writes of being under Christ’s law he has transferred his servanthood, not just from the Old Testament Torah, but also his slavery from sin itself.

Lastly he adds another object lesson, or a picture to illustrate the true nature of being under the mastery of sin, he writes about the weak. “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” Paul list “those without strength.” Paul’s desire was to win over the Jews, which he did with limited results, the Gentiles, which Paul had huge success setting up dozens of churches in multiple Gentile cities. And he also reached the poor, the weak, the disenfranchised.

Paul found “common ground,” for him to present the gospel all may be free, from the Torah (Law), free from the chains of sin and become a servant, a bond slave to Jesus Christ and truly be free! Our biggest issue today is finding the common ground of those who are still in slavery to an ideology, a social virus, or cultural religion that masks the truth and gives aires of superiority. We cannot, we must not walk with hubris religiosity, political morality or calloused judgment to reach this generation. He have to walk in the humility of love and grace to do everything we can to save them!

Prayer

Dad,
I just love your whole plan on calling and transforming the Apostle Paul – great move! This guy ends up writing the majority of practics in our understanding of the New Covenant (Testament) and how it interweaves with the gospel. As a Gentile myself, I love the simplicity of obedience to the law of Christ – love others just like You loved me! May we find the common ground that Paul writes about in our current culture that lives in the most upside down thinking ever! And may we be exactly like the father who runs and welcomes prodigals coming home!!!

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Do you hunger for the supernatural, then snuggle up to the Holy Spirit.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭2:10-13‬ ‭NLT‬

This past Sunday I spoke on Jesus final words before leaving for heaven. But before he left, Luke tells us that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” It takes God to help us connect the dots. Paul explains it so well here to the churches in Corinth. Corinth was totally into all things mystical and fantastic.

The Spirit of God shows us the deep secrets of God himself. I believe those deep things are God’s plans and His ways. Paul even says we need “Spirit” words to explain spiritual truths. Jesus was the master of this concept. His words, illustrations and object lessons were simple yet profound. He was taking eternal ideas and making them reachable, accessible to those who had “ears to hear” what the Spirit was saying. He also spoke in parables that cloaked truth just enough to cause the listener to press in an be curious and inquisitive to learn.

Paul certainly was impressive explaining a lot of spiritual truths, especially when it came to wisdom of God and the workings of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote more about the function and ways of the Holy Spirit to Corinth than any other church. You don’t see him write about things of the Spirit nearly as much in Romans or Ephesians. Corinth must have had a curiosity about the workings or “deep” things of God and Paul was boldly explaining them. I think these “spiritual truths” and “deep secrets”

Paul words are difficult for us westerners to understand. Last Sunday I said, we are “mystically challenged.” Oh, we enjoy our sci-fi, fantasy entertainment in movies, books and podcasts. But to explain or experience the the reality and truth of God’s word we are uncomfortable around miracles and the supernatural. It is dangerous to dabble in the fantasy world of spells, wizards, or even the paranormal while denying the very real spiritual realms of God himself and the purpose of power behind it. Let’s do as Paul suggests and reign in our imaginations or “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Cor 10:5.

Do you want to explore the mystical, supernatural wonder of the spiritual world? Snuggle up to the Holy Spirit and let the Spirit of God lead you into all truth!

Prayer:

Dad,
Let our imaginations, our fascinations, our affections be set on you and only you. Help us not be carried away and tricked into seeking and believing the fantasy world of magic while disbelieving and even denying your deep secrets of plans and purposes of heaven. There is plenty of mystical wonder in the workings of your Holy Spirit. There is a very real power to experience and transform our lives and the world we live in. Let us press in to find the real and not be all enamored with the fake.

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Lessons in Individualism or community

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized! When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭11:17-20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul is really heated here, writing to the churches in Corinth. It’s so ironic that the most eloquently written summary of Communion and most often used in our services today was written in such brutal honesty.

Paul, delivering high truth with high love gets all over the church for being selfishly schismed! They came as individuals, ate and drank as individuals and thought nothing of it. This idea of unity has been the core of my heart and the exhortation towards the Church for as long as I can remember. Love FOR God is both vertical and horizontal. I’ve been saying it for years. Someone says they love God, the proof is how they love the least, the hardest, the most disenfranchised among them.

Paul’s exasperated joke falls on dense eyes and ears, “of course there has to be division…” how could anyone tell if there’s a clear leader if there weren’t wealth, gluttony and authoritative snobbery? Does God only bless the best?

Our sacrament to God should be a practice of sacrifice, service and unity. It should be clear that the rich are sharing, not in a communistic fashion, but in God-given generosity. It’s not to equalize wealth, it’s to love! And the strong and mature are serving.

I love the bluntness of the NLT, they were not interested in the “Lord’s” supper at all, to some it was just another party.

These abuses in the love feast ended up damaging communion so badly that it took on a far more formal, ecumenical style. It was later reduced and compacted into a far more ceremonial experience where communion had to be served to people rather than people serving one another. Chalk another great living object lesson lost to the church believing we should do it properly, the way it’s “always been done.”

PRAYER:

Dad,
Revisiting this always make me sad and mad at how we’ve taken a beautiful experience and expression of theology being lived out together in the church and reduced it to a checklist. I don’t mind the miniature symbolism as much as I mind the loss of community, service and intent to remind us of being a true body of believers. That we have to fight much harder to remove the individualism in communion or water baptism, for that matter, to get back to a shared community expression of our to you and each other. Help us O’ Lord!

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The audience of ONE

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you. Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us, even if you don’t understand us now. Then on the day when the Lord Jesus returns, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you.” 
2 Corinthians‬ ‭1:12-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​Not everything that is taught is caught, not all motives and understanding are known and received here in our bent and broken world. Have you ever seen light bend? It can and you’ve seen it often in a rainbow. Just like the perception that light is bending, so it is with our understanding of many things we experience while in this fractured world.

Paul makes a clear leadership truth that is hard to accept – not everyone gets you! There are critics, doubters and outright resisters towards your message, your ideas, and your way of thinking. In fact, you may only find the Pareto principle effect with those who “get” you – that’s only 20% on a good day. Paul makes a declaration that is hard for those who like to be liked and want to know that everyone’s on board with every idea that bubble-cloud’s out of our head.

His confidence and clear conscience is before God. Ah, the audience of ONE! Only one to make happy, to be true to, be absolutely 100% straight with – only God. What freedom from public critics and persecution when there is only one to please and one to receive your confidence from.

And, this “God-given” holiness and sincerity is not PRIDE-PUFFED, it’s in complete humility of receiving grace and not depending on our own wisdom. Then, Paul writes, then there will be a “pride-swap” or boasting when Jesus returns. Because it will be about our listening, our obedience and not our own leadership smarts.

A leadership tip I picked up in my forties, “NEVER believe your own press!” Paul told the churches in Rome and Corinth, “pride and knowledge PUFFS up…but love BUILDS up.”

PRAYER:

Dad,
No wonder discouragement runs so closely parallel with leadership! When my focus is not only pleasing people but relying on their feedback of performance, it is a spiraling trap. But when I focus on pleasing you and being responsible for obedience to your call I feel faith rise and encouragement. I so often feel buried by the complications of all the layers of leading. It’s not just the minutia, it’s the multitasked flow of demand of attention, deep thought and the appearance of quick decisions. None of that comes easy to me. I live with the critic in my head that says I’m really bad at multitasking and multiple demands at once! I needed Paul words today to remind me of the audience of one – you!

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Some are just PASSIONATE about special abilities!

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭14:10-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​The Apostle Paul gets down to some serious Spirit-business! Churches in Corinth, they’re a wild bunch. Smart, savvy, metropolitan, maybe even cool. They were probably wealthier than their sisters and brothers in the other cities. Corinth was a major seaport, and you know those sailors – just kidding. The city was a high concentration not just of proud Greeks, but people from all over the known world. They were there buying and selling goods.

The church there was also bustling. With a mix of backgrounds and former ways of life, people were a bit more celebrative, you know a “happy” group. Paul addressed so many abuses in their theology and behavior that he wrote three or four letters explaining, in detail, a lot of things of the Spirit. There were HIGHS, the love chapter and LOWS, the sexual permissiveness scoldings.

I love how Paul frames the “speaking in tongue’s” conversation – “since you are eager…” Paul uses a word, “zélótés” or zealous. However, the root of that word, “zeloo” is jealous, or “eager to possess.” This church was crazy passionate about spiritual gifts.

Fine, Paul says, let’s just keep this in perspective…use them to STRENGTHEN the whole church – cough, cough, not just yourself! I’m also interested because in the verses that follow Paul instructs them about two different kinds of people that are in the church gathering. Those who are believers, members of Jesus body, the gathering of saints. And… the unbeliever. For if you bless God (eulogeó) in the Spirit, how can the uninformed, the “idiṓtēs”– a person who conspicuously lacks education, status or understanding benefit and join in?

Paul is concerned both for the church folk AND the person who comes in off the street. He gives an illustration of preference in verse 19. In the (ekklésia) assembly, a congregation I would rather speak FIVE intelligent words or instructive words than 10,000 words in tongues. Does Paul believe in speaking in tongues? Absolutely, he does so often, he writes. However, when gathering have some order, have some understanding, READ THE ROOM Corinthians – it’s not just about ME or even US, it’s also about THEM.

Don’t ya just love that the body of Christ is so beautiful, so diverse in color and culture? Yet, we are family. We are “blood” because of Jesus. We may have “denominations” for practical reasons or even preferences, but we are ONE under the lordship of Jesus. Churches in Corinth and Rome may be different in expression, but they are the same in belief!

PRAYER:

​Dad,
I don’t like the fact that there are so many different “denominations,” but I get it. Folks have to be able to free to live and live in ways that make them feel more comfortable.

But still, we should be able to see that these different gatherings are based on preferences, not theology. I get diversity in unity because you made us so different from each other in personality.

But as family, we are the same. As family we are thrilled to gather TOGETHER and celebrate the variations of perspective and opinion. Help us Oh God be one even as you are one!

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Mavericks and spirit-eneurs for the gospel

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside. But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. His presence was a joy, but so was the news he brought of the encouragement he received from you. When he told us how much you long to see me, and how sorry you are for what happened, and how loyal you are to me, I was filled with joy!” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭7:5-7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Because these are letters to and from the Apostle Paul and the churches, in Corinth in this case, there is real and raw conversations that are captured. We call the different passages of the Bible, “books,” but most aren’t actual books as we know it. There are several different genres of the 66 collections of writings.

Much of the New Testament are letter form, like this one from Paul. It is believed that Corinthians had three or four such letters. 2 Corinthians may have been a composite of two of them, but the other was never found and thus did not make it into the Bible. It was also thought to be his last of his letters to them. Correspondence like this was common then and Paul was prolific in his letter writing abilities.

As you can see here with this small passage, Paul has become super transparent with his life in this letter. Using words, even here, like “conflict” or “fear,” as well as true joy. In chapters 6 & 11, Paul openly writes about all his conflicts, troubles and actually lists the number of times he was beaten, imprisoned even shipwrecked. Most normal people die in these circumstances, but Paul just kept on living and never stopped preaching, writing and living out the gospel all the way to his death in Rome, where he believed God wanted to give him audience with Caesar himself! Some think the book of Acts of the Apostles was Luke’s written account that Paul used to tell Caesar about Jesus Christ.

I often think about Paul doing what no one had done before, blazing an uncharted trail to bring the gospel to the gentiles. And when I see how God used him, I understand that any leader, every leader will face insurmountable barriers when cutting a path that no one sees or understands. Most of our modern leaders, especially in the church, are not leading out ahead, they’re just following the safer routes that have been cleared by mavericks and spirit-eneurs before them.

We need BOLD and humble leaders today. We need men and women of faith to take the gospel to the unknown as well as the “nones.” The church could not handle a lot of “Pauls” today, but we could sure use a few of them.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Thank you for leaders like Paul! Once a fierce enemy of the gospel, but then multiple times more “dangerous” after meeting you in person on the donkey ride to Damascus. We need more like him today. They are probably out there and I’m just not aware of it. Since leaving Royal Family KIDS, I’m back to more of a local focus of the church. Remember that one guy I met while flying somewhere, the guy I asked about our modern Apostles? That was so amazing. He acted like he knew of some and we had such an interesting conversation. That was such a divine appointment to get to listen to him! I just want to faithful to the task you called me to and remain open to your leading.