Calvary Road Baptist Church

“CONCERN FOR OUR CONGREGATION”

First Corinthians 

The Lord Jesus Christ expressed concern for His Church. His concern is to be expected in light of the fact that He brought it into existence and promised to bless it, when He said to His disciples in Caesarea Philippi, 

“I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”[1] 

His concern for His Church is further attested by the fact that He prescribed appropriate means to deal with issues that would inevitably arise in His Church, meticulously outlined in Matthew 18.15-20, and granted to congregations authority they were delegated to wield to that end.

However, no one would argue that Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is the most beautiful declaration of the Savior’s concern for His Church. In the fifth chapter, he declared 

The great crime of Protestantism in our day, in my opinion, is the confusion brought upon God’s people by an irrational determination to deny the clear presentation of the Church in Scripture in our day as individual congregations. Ἐkklhsίa, usually translated church in the New Testament, refers to a visible gathering.

The result of that persistent error, of course, is the errant notion by well-intentioned Christians that Christ’s love for congregations is appropriately represented by an ethereal and fuzzy notion of love for all Christians (supposing us to be a universal, invisible body) while entertaining only mild and frequently halfhearted support and involvement for actual believers comprising actual congregations.

I do not find such a concept supported in God’s Word, especially in the New Testament, where we are told of Christ’s creation of and concern for the Church, numerous epistles in the New Testament addressed to Churches, other epistles with instructions detailing pastoral ministry to Churches, and seven letters in Revelation 2 and 3 dictated by the glorified Savior to the men called to lead seven congregations. The utter failure on the part of so many who profess to know, love, and serve the Savior who nevertheless take such a halfhearted and evasive approach to Churches never fails to astonish me.

As if I do not already feel the weight of so many pressing issues connected to the congregation's oversight, the Lord has laid on my heart a concern to address related to the Church congregation in Corinth. This will be an overview message analogous to a reconnaissance satellite taking pictures of the earth’s surface from a great distance in outer space. I will now mention only the broadest and most apparent details of Paul’s letter.

I intend to examine portions of First Corinthians more closely in future sermons. Today, however, before setting before you three points made by Paul, here is my very broad outline of the letter:

Being a letter, Paul opens First Corinthians as a letter, identifying himself as the author and naming his secretary, verse 1, addressing the letter primarily to the congregation in that city and secondarily to all believers, verse 2, and pronouncing the blessings of grace and peace, verse 3. He then mentions that on their behalf, he thanks God, in verse 4, for the grace in their lives that is presently available; in verse 5, for the grace in their lives that was available in the past; in verse 6, and the grace in their lives that will be available in their future (verses 7-8), as guaranteed by God’s faithfulness, verse 9.[2]

If grace was, is, and will be so available, how is it that so many professing Christians give little evidence of God’s grace in their lives? I suspect it is related to their repeated failure to use the means of grace available to each of us via Church attendance, prayer, Bible study, etc. Opportunity for grace that has been lost cannot be restored. Time given to appropriate grace that has been lost cannot be retrieved.

The main body of Paul’s Corinthian letter addresses three concerns about the congregation. The rest of chapter one through chapter four contains Paul’s handling of the matter of disunity in the body. I find it interesting that the Spirit of God led Paul to address the absence of unity in the Church before dealing with commonly reported sins and answering questions they had asked him. Does that suggest disunity is vastly more important than most Christians realize? Perhaps.

In chapters five and six Paul addressed serious sins that had come to his attention in Ephesus as commonly held public knowledge. Yet Ephesus is more than 430 miles as the crow flies from Corinth, quite a distance for the widespread awareness of the Corinthian congregation’s sins to travel in the first century.

What sins did Paul come to learn were being tolerated in that Christian congregation? Chapter five is flagrant immorality by one man in the Church, and the proud toleration of that sin by most of the rest of the Church members.

In chapter six, Paul addressed sin being handled improperly outside the Church, 6.1-8, and he dealt more generally with the issue of sin and the Christian in 6.9-20. It has always been fascinating to me the tendency of so many professing Christians to completely discount 6.9-11, describing patterns of behavior typical of those who are not truly born again contrasted with those who are new creatures in Christ: 

9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 

Most of the remaining letter to the Corinthians concern questions the Church members had asked the Apostle. Four chapters contain Paul’s responses to questions about Christian liberty. 

Chapter eleven deals with headship for men and women and the Divine order, 11.2-16, and the question of the Lord’s Supper and proper conduct during communion, 11.17-34. Chapters twelve through fourteen find spiritual gifts, the need for love, and matters related to worship using spiritual gifts. The question of the resurrection is addressed in great detail in chapter 15, and the collection of money for believers in Judea is the topic of 16.1-4. Paul’s closing comments are found in 16.5-24.

Let me now circle back and speak more specifically about the disunity Chloe’s household members reported to Paul. It was a problem of contentions and disagreements that had arisen. Paul declared the absolute requirement for unity in First Corinthians 1.10. Disunity is not an option in a Christian congregation in Paul’s words are understood. Yet they were not unified., as verses 11-12 show.

Why were the Corinthians not spiritually unified? Valid question. Paul addressed the issue directly by first telling the Corinthians what was not the cause of their disunity. It was not Paul’s message, 1.13-31. Paul’s ministry practice, purpose, and the people involved confirm that. Paul then moved on to consideration and review of his methods, 2.1-16. He explored the details of his methods, in 2.1-5, and the wisdom that informed his methods, in 2.6-16. A thorough analysis of his ministry methods was consistent with the conclusion that congregational disunity was despite Paul’s methods, not because of Paul’s methods.

In a reasonable and rational fashion, Paul turned from a negative consideration of what was not responsible for their lack of unity to a positive assertion of the causes. Chapter three is devoted to the reason for disunity being their spiritual carnality, 3.1-2, the results of the disunity arising from their carnality, 3.3-17, followed by the remedy for divisions arising from disunity within the Church, in the rest of chapters three and four.

What did Paul prescribe to solve the problem he diagnosed? There were three straightforward steps the congregation needed to take as individual members to restore the spiritual unity so crucial to every congregation. These steps are simple to understand but challenging to accomplish.

First, you need to abandon glorying, 3.18-23. Each member needed to stop thinking it was all about them. It is not about you. It is not about me. You do not know nearly as much as you think you do. You are not as clever as you imagine. And whatever is running through your thoughts is mostly vain, verse 20. A good reason for us all to knock off the nonsense of trumpeting ourselves, promoting ourselves, working to build our personal kingdoms, and needing recognition for what we ought to be doing without getting any “Atta boys.”

Next, you need to abandon judgementalism, 4.1-14. This is not an injunction against judging sinful behavior, which Paul actually commands in chapter 5, but a directive to judge matters according to Scriptural criteria, which no one can do who does not study God’s Word and learn stuff. Paul’s inspired reasons for abandoning judgmentalism? There are two. Reason #1 relates to accountability, 4.1-2. While human standards of measuring stewardship vary greatly, God is concerned only with our faithfulness to Him and His Word. Truly, His ways are not our ways.

Reason #2 for abandoning judgementalism relates to capability, 4.3-14. Paul admitted he was unqualified to judge, not only as a judge of his performance but others as well, verses 3-4. He then pointed out that only the Savior is qualified to judge anyone, verses 4-5, and that believers like you and I are unqualified to judge others. We have neither the humility nor the discernment required to judge others, verses 6-14.

Abandon glorying, #1, and abandon judgementalism, #2. The third step needed to restore spiritual unity in the congregation was for them to attend unto Paul, 4.15-21. He was their spiritual daddy, verse 15, so there ought to have been a spiritual tie to him that informed their willingness to follow his spiritual lead, verse 16: 

“Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.” 

Considered in one way, glorying is all about you getting credit. Judgementalism is all about you giving credit or withholding credit from others. Don’t do either of those things. Instead, embrace the humility that results in following the spiritual leadership God has placed in your life. If that sounds self-serving to you, consider studying the Bible and producing your own well-researched and crafted work showing what you think First Corinthians teaches.

With the high altitude overview completed, let me now lay the groundwork for the more detailed and closely examined messages related to disunity in the Corinthian congregation that, by God’s grace, I am planning to bring to you.

Three items to consider: 

First, THE CONCEPTS EMPLOYED BY PAUL 

When the Apostle Paul tackled the problem of disunity in the Corinthian congregation, he employed the fundamental principle for teaching the truth of adopting metaphors to show striking similarities between the Church of Jesus Christ and those somewhat analogous metaphors. Teaching us something about what we do not know by comparison with what we do know. Consider,

First, the family analogy is not applicable when relating to the Church. Granted, the family of God is a thing, a good thing. Everyone who knows Jesus as Savior is born into the family of God. But the family of God is not analogous to the Church congregation. Why not? Membership in the Church is not the result of the new birth, as is the case with the family of God. No unsaved people are children of God in the family of God. But some Church members are, on occasion, unconverted posers, as evidenced by the Savior providing the means for their removal via Church discipline, Matthew 18.15-20, and as evidenced by such notables as Judas Iscariot and Simon the sorcerer, Acts 8.9-24. The family of God is a beautiful metaphor for the spiritual relationship that begins with the miracle of the new birth. Still, it is inadequate and unsuitable as a metaphor for the Church relationship. Of course, the human family is comprised of mom, dad, and children. But such a family is also not analogous to the Church, because the relationships in a family are not related to the equality of standing that exists with members of a Church.

Second, the kingdom analogy is not applicable when relating to the Church. The kingdom sometimes said to be the Kingdom of God, sometimes said to be the Kingdom of Heaven, and referred to by theologians on occasion as the Theocratic Kingdom, is not a suitable analogy when referring to the Church. Why not? Because the kingdom existed before the Lord Jesus Christ instituted His Church and was not designed to reveal truth about the Church. Remember when He taught His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” in Matthew 6.10? The existence of the kingdom in heaven before the institution of the Church by the Savior shows the two are not the same entity, or similar types of entities, defeating the whole point of a metaphor using the one to be a likeness of the other.

Third, the analogy of the team is a somewhat applicable metaphor for the Church. The problem is that such things as teams were almost nonexistent when the New Testament was penned, with only the military concept of a team existing in the form of the Roman military in the Mediterranean region. The modern development of team sports is an uninspired analogy for the Church, with those who have played team sports growing up seeming to sometimes more easily grasp the Church membership relationships than those without such experiences. The big five team sports of football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and hockey, as well as western style military and law enforcement units, can reflect some aspects of Church life, such as discipline, training, coaching, accountability to other team members, sacrifice, and the need for delayed gratification to find success. However, each team (except for military and law enforcement units) survives only where leisure is possible because those sports were first played by athletes who had spare time. Professional success was made possible for those athletes by paying customers with leisure time and spare money to spend on entertainment. Churches, on the other hand, exist to glorify God even in environments absent leisure, absent extra finances to pay for entertainment, and without convenience. When leisure, finances, entertainment, and convenience are abundant, congregations frequently don’t seem to do so well. And eventually, members imagine that inconsistency and a lack of commitment and dedication is somehow acceptable.

Fourth, the metaphors of the body and the temple are best for the Church of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for body, sώma, is found more than 120 times in the Greek New Testament. Paul uses the term about three dozen times in First Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians as a wonderful metaphor for the Church congregation. This is especially seen in Colossians 1.18, where Paul uses apposition[3] to link the two in the phrase identifying the Savior as, 

“the head of the body, the church.” 

The body is the Church. The Church is the body. The other metaphor, carefully used by Paul to address the disunity in the Corinthian congregation, is the Church as “the temple of God.” As the body metaphor wonderfully communicates the interdependence of the Church members and the profound need for faithfulness, commitment, and unity, the functionality of the whole group greatly exceeds the abilities of the disconnected individuals. As I said, those who never served in the military or participated in team sports sometimes find the body concept challenging to understand and commit to.

On the other hand, the temple metaphor shows us the need for reverence and unity of purpose in connection with the Church, and the high and holy calling of our membership in an actual “temple of God.” If that does not communicate the need for devotion, purpose, commitment, and the anticipation of rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ, then I am at a loss of what will. It is this last metaphor, the notion of the Church as “the temple of God” that Paul will use to successfully resolve the Corinthians’ tendency to fuss with each other and neglect the humility that is foundational to unity. 

Next, THE CONCERN EXPRESSED BY PAUL 

Two aspects of Paul’s concern merit our attention:

Paul’s priority best understands Paul’s concern. For lack of time, allow me to relate Paul’s priority for himself, as he expressed it to the Philippians in Philippians 1.21: 

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

Then there is Philippians 3.14: 

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” 

I could cite more, but I will set one more verse before you, Philippians 4.4: 

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” 

Paul’s priority had not changed over his decades of ministry. His priority when writing to the Philippians was the same as when he wrote to the Corinthians. His priority was the Savior, not self. If it interfered with exalting the Savior, set it aside, something the Corinthians had failed to do. Perhaps they imagined they could reach their family members by focusing less on Christ and more on the family. Paul knew better and was moved by God to be an example for others to follow.

Paul’s concern is best understood by Paul’s principles. Paul formed his response to the crisis in the Corinthian congregation, their squabbling, their contentiousness, and their party spirit willingness to segregate within the congregation into this guy’s little group and that guy’s little group, against the backdrop of the congregation being “the temple of God.” Never mind that some congregations assembled in a field, while another Church gathers for worship in a barn. Ignore your five senses and the wrong conclusions you draw from what you see, hear, and smell. When your members gather for worship and service they are “the temple of God.” How do people conduct themselves when they are in a temple? How are you supposed to act when you are in a temple? Excuse me, but when we gather we are “the temple of God!” And our reverence, devotion, commitment, and concerns should reflect that reality, First Corinthians 3.16. “Don’t you know that,” Paul wrote? The Spirit of God dwells in your midst, Church! That makes you a temple! 

Finally, THE CORRECTIVE EXPRESSED BY PAUL 

With our overview of the problem the Corinthians were confronted to face, and Paul clearly discerning the situation accurately by the Spirit’s revelation to him, what overarching corrective does he employ? Let me express some of them, but not all.

First, “Who do you think you are?” That is the question Paul posed to the Corinthian Church members. They imagined they were the cat’s meow. They acted as though their significance outweighed their proper concern for Christ’s cause and their Church’s welfare. They considered the cause of Christ, and their congregation in particular, lucky to have them as members. But Paul reminds them, beginning in First Corinthians 1.26, 

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 

You think you are important? You think you are so smart? You think you are mighty? Let me remind you and me that we are nothing without Christ. Everything we are or ever hope to be is because God chose us. We have no reason to glory, except to glory in the Lord.

Then, “What do you think you ought to do?” Let me condense what Paul spent chapters developing for the Corinthians into a few words. Stop imagining you are a big deal. Enough with the pride that imagines you deserve credit for anything and that you have a right to evaluate the lives and ministries of other Christians. What we need to be is humble. What we need to do is serve God. That was Paul’s recipe, even describing himself as two different types of slave at once. One was as slave who worked in the field and received constant oversight in his labors. The other was a household slave capable of unsupervised reliability as he exercised personal responsibility. In a sense, Paul was both at the same time. That was the example he set for the Corinthians. That is the pattern he presents to you and me. We are always under the watchful gaze of our Master. Yet, in a sense, He entrusts us with the great privilege of serving Him in the Church, actually doing the King’s business in the temple of God! 

Is there anything about you I do not know about that would exempt you from the priorities and principles Paul presented to the Corinthian congregation to address their congregational unity issues? No? Me either.

It is not all about me.

It is not all about you.

Just as it was not all about them. The Corinthians were nothing much, save an outlier here and there. I am nothing much. And you are nothing much.

Our best use and best service and best quality of life this side of eternity as Christians comes from adopting the attitude of humility, serving faithfully in our Church, “the temple of God” we have joined and are a part of, and glorying not in ourselves but in the Lord.

That is worth chewing on and digesting. Amen? It is a privilege to serve God in “the temple of God.”

__________

[1] Matthew 16.18

[2] See also 1 Corinthians 10.13 and 2 Timothy 2.13 with regard to God’s faithfulness.

[3] Defn: “In grammar, the placing of a word or expression beside another so that the second explains and has the same grammatical construction as the first.” - Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 90.

 

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