Some time back, I shared reflections on 1 Corinthians under the title “What is ailing the church of God?” Recently, I am brought to revisit this epistle, in particular the first four chapters, in the light of the growing burdens concerning developments of churchlife locally, and also in other parts of the world. At the outset, I affirm that I am no expert on issues of the church; but the burdens grow as I interact with those who are dear brethren in the Lord who also serve as leaders in their own church contexts and hear their sharing of their struggles, ‘disappointments’, and ‘pain’ in ministry in the church; this is compounded by observing stark moral failures among church leaders and leaders of christian organisations which not only stumble non-believers, but also cause sincere believers to wonder what is truly happening to the church and the people of God.
In pondering again on the first four chapters of 1 Coritnthians, I am struck by the clarity of the communications of Apostle Paul which are so very relevant to the outworking of churchlife and the emphasis which are so sorely needed in churches today.
The city of Corinth was very religious (there were some 28 temples) and also very sinful and wealthy (a cosmopolitan city of commerce); extremes of wealth and poverty lived side by side with many vices abounding. Perhaps there are similarities with many cities today.
1 Corinthians is the third piece of correspondence between Paul and the church; we will not dwell on the various letters and exchanges at this point, but we will focus on the issues brought out in this epistle that are particularly relevant to the church and its outworking. There seemed to be some tensions between the church in Corinth and Apostle Paul, and there is good evidence to suggest that it already existed by the time 1 Corinthians was written and sent. Apparently, the believers in Corinth disregarded certain instructions by Paul given earlier and some even questioned Paul’s authority as an Apostle.This explains the extremely rhetorical and combative nature of Paul’s reply and writing in this epistle, resulting at some point for the need to defend his apostleship.
One basic problem in the church of Corinth seems to be one of a false spirituality, in which the believers stand over against Paul as to what it means to be people of the Spirit. The believers’ view of spirituality was very individualistic, nonmaterialistic (the denial of the physical side of present existence; hence the denial of a future bodily resurrection – chapter 15 deals with this specifically), and enthusiastic, in which they had come to view the gift of tongues as evidence that they had already attained the spiritual life of the future. Because they spoke in tongues, they considered themselves already to have attained fullness of spirituality; they just needed to put off the physical body of death so that their spirituality could be complete. Such a view is termed triumphalism (implying that there was no place for the cross or weakness) – those who hold it see themselves already as the angels; hence some of them deny sexual relations within marriage, and even sexual distinctions in the present age (chapters 5 and 7).
This false spirituality denies the gospel with its focus on Christ crucified and on the Spirit as enabling one to live in the present simultaneously in weakness and power. The basic nature of the gospel with its message of Christ crucified is God’s way of bringing redemption to fallen humankind; to lose sight of the cross and Christ crucified meant that the gospel and its message was at stake – the heart of the gospel is being given up. It is true that when we become Christians, we already have much in Christ but it is also true that we have not yet arrived – there is the “not yet” that has to be factored in – we have not attained fullness of spirituality and there is still the need to deal with weakness, struggles and the process of transformation and sanctification. In today’s context, triumphalism is seen in the claim in some churches that sickness would always be healed, and that spiritual ‘victory’, ‘prosperity’ and ‘wealth’ are constant expectations for all who have faith.
Closely related to the false spirituality is their boasting in, and fascination with, wisdom (probably a carry-over from Greek philosophy and rhetoric). There was the internal strife and divisions with their various former ‘teachers’ as the point of reference – these divisions are a symptom of a much deeper problem. The long argument over wisdom, human and divine, (in 1:10-17, 18-2:16), makes it clear that the strife is being carried out in the name of wisdom itself. They were acting as if the gospel were meredy another expression of this wisdom, and they were evaluating Paul and his gospel from this human point of view. Their quarrels in the name of wisdom showed Paul that they had radically misunderstood the basic nature of the gospel with its message as well as the nature of the church and its leadership.
Paul pointed out to them that their own existence as Christianss especially in regard to their Christian beginnings, stands in total contradictions to their present “boasting” in men in the name of wisdom. The cross is not something to which one may add human wisdom and thereby make it superior; rather, the cross stands in absolute, uncompromising contradiction to human wisdom. In fact, the cross is folly to human wisdom, but it is God’s folly, folly that is at the same time His wisdom and power. Paul further pointed out that the preaching of the cross was God’s wisdom that brought about the believers’ right standing with God, their sanctification and their redemption (1:30). So Paul explains how what appears so foolish to merely human eyes is in fact God’s hidden wisdom (2:6-16).
The Corinthian believers considered themselves people of the Spirit, the source of their present “wisdom”. But Paul argued that what the Spirit really does is to reveal the message of Christ crucified as God’s true wisdom – notice the irony here. The Corinthians who pride themselves in their spirituality because of their experience of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are acting precisely like those who do not have the Spirit of God, both by their behaviour (their strifes and quarrels) and their failure to see that real wisdom lies in the message of the cross. Paul also took pains to share how he came to them in the preaching of the gospel – not in human wisdom but in dependence on God and the Spirit so that their faith may rest in the wisdom of God and not in his wisdom or rhetoric. Here we are reminded how we should approach the preaching and sharing of the gospel in today’s contexts – do we do it prayerfully, in dependence on God or on our methodology and communication skills, our apologetics and our persuasive abilities? Do we take care to share the whole gospel or do we ‘dilute’ the message and make it more ‘palatable’ in the quest to have more conversions and statlistics to display?
Paul then focuses on correcting their distorted views of church leaderships. Using the analogy of farming, Paul insists that their leaders are not lords to whom they may belong to, but they are merely servants of the farm, each with a differing task. Everything is God’s – the farm, the growth of the plants and those who maintain it (3:9). Paul then switches to the metaphor of the church as God’s building. In 3:10-15, the Apostle issues the strongest warning to those who are responsible for building the church.
Using the same metaphor, Paul reminds the believers that the foundation for the church is the message of Christ and Him crucified – there is no other foundation for the building. The ‘materials’ used to build upon this foundation must be compatible with the foundation. Hence in verse 10, he wrote, “But each one should build with care.” Using the temple of Solomon in 1-2 Chronicles as a comparison, the materials used should be enduring and not perishable – wood, hay, stubble or precious stones? Paul added that the test of fire would demonstrate which they were. HIs real concern is that those responsible for the continuing growth of the church build with the imperishable material of the gospel. To build with human wisdom is to build with wood, hay and stubble and when the day of test comes, it will not endure. although the workers themselves will be saved but only as firebrands plucked from the burning.
Those responsible for building the church must make sure the ‘stuff’ of the construction is compatible with its foundation.Build with the flulff of personality, charisma, entertainment, and the local church will be ill-prepared to stand any real test of its faith. But build with the kind of discipleship Paul argues for in 4:7-13, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Our Saviour suffered the ultimate indignity of a crucifixion. His apostle considered true discipleship as that which put him at the end of the triumphal procession of those who are destined to die in the arena (4:8-10). God’s wisdom is still and only to be found in the scandal of the cross, where God in mercy endured the humiliation of human hostility.
Today, we see churches built on the foundation with human popularity and personality in the persons of ‘pastors’ and preachers who draw the crowds with their rhetoric, humour and occasional reference to the Bible; we hear sermons preached on their favourite topics, without much reference to proper exegesis and interpretation (hermeneutics), with occasional bible verses thrown in to make them sound biblical; we come across those who can go on and on, straying away from the essence of the gospel, seeking to build their “own kingdoms” at the expense of wholesome truth and revelation from the Scripture. We ‘gasped’ at the outrageous claims they made to put themselves on the pedestal and subtly ‘steal’ the glory of God for themselves. These are the wood, hay and stubble today; O that we can see ‘precious material, gems and stones’ laid upon the only foundation of the church which would endure eternally!
In 4:16-17, Paul uses the imagery of the local church as the temple of God, the place of of God’s dwelling, as contrasted with the many pagan temples surrounding the church in Corinth. In those pagan temples, there is greed, sexual immorality, abuse of humans, corruption. In God’s temple, there must be the presence of the Holy Spirit in which His gifts build up the body and His fruit brings healing to the hurting, forgiveness to those who fail, love to the alienated, joy to the sorrowing and peace to those who are troubled.
Paul’s warning: to those who destroy the temple by human wisdom or division, by pride and self-centredness – God would destroy such persons! Here is a sober warning to ‘false’ teachers, ‘compromised pastors’, those building their own reputation and following, do not take God’s Word and warning for granted. We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ- there is nothing that is hidden that would not be manifested; God sees the hearts of men, not just the external appearance and outward showings of ‘spiritual success’. Soberly evaluate our ministry now before God’s final judgement.
Paul’s dealings with the church at Corinth are still relevant to the churches today. There is much in our society and community which mirrors that seen in the city of Corinth. The people of God are still focusing on idols of false spirituality and power, human wisdom and methods, and seek to build the church with material not compatible with the only true foundation in Christ. They are merely material which would not stand the test of fire. God’s temple, like the temple in Jerusalem of old, is generally contaminated, corrupted and unholy – it is a matter of time before “God leaves His temple” and allows it to be ‘destroyed’. Let us hearken to the exhortations in Scripture as we seek to build the temple of God, the body of Christ and the ‘bride’ of Christ – let us ensure that the temple is truly holy,’unblemished’, and fit for the dwelling of the almighty transcendent God.