1 Corinthians

So far my favorite class of the semester has to be 1 Corinthians. Every day I sit and am amazed at the power of God's Word. Every day I sit and am challenged that my beliefs and my thoughts and my attitudes do not all line up with the Bible. It's encouraging to see the Spirit working through the Word of God. I thought that I would share some of it with you all.

First off, just some background on Corinth. Corinth was a town kind of like our Las Vegas. It was the center of blowing money for the people at the time...mostly on prostitutes. It was a town of much importance; it is surrounded by seas and on the Isthmus that connects Greece to the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The Isthmus is so small that it was actually cheaper for ships to drag their boats across Corinth on a roadway called the Diolkos or for them to unload their cargo and transport it by wagon over to boats waiting on the other side. It was a major center of commerce! A nickname for prostitutes worldwide at the time was "corinthian women." You often hear people say that the Bible was written in a different time where the men didn't have to deal with all of the sexual temptation like the world we live in, but if you look at Corinth, you would have to think otherwise. Prostitution was on almost every corner and readily available, a huge part of the culture. And this is the world to which Paul wrote 1 Corinthians.

Now that we know a bit about the culture, I want to share with you some things that have been impacting me lately. First of all, the letter to the Corinthian church was necessary because a) Paul was informed of immorality and division within the church and b) the church had written to Paul asking him for advice and instruction in the Lord. The Corinthian church was a MESS! And yet Paul begins his letter to them by stating who they are in Christ and telling them that he is THANKFUL for them always. I don't know about you, but this is one of those worldview smackdowns. Oftentimes I see believers who are carnal and then (enter pride) think of them in my head as almost second-rate. They aren't living the way that they should be and that causes me to think less of them. But God doesn't see things that way. There is nothing that they can do or that I can do to make my standing with God any better. I truly believe that, yet sometimes my thoughts do not show this. Sometimes I am just thinking "This is the reason that the world thinks Christianity is full of a bunch of hypocrites." Yet instead of addressing believers in love and then addressing the hard subjects, I am content to judge them in my heart, look down upon them, and let it go. That is not the heart of Christ. That is not the example that we have in Paul. Paul constantly brings them back to their position being found in Christ, which is the reason they are erring in the first place. Paul first gave them an understanding of what things are true of them and then told them how to respond and what actions flow out of what is true of them. What a different way to think of things. It is very contrary to the way that I have seen things handled and the way I think to handle things myself, but then again, human wisdom often is contrary to God's way. It was really neat being able to see this though. God continues to show me examples of truth and love combined. :)

Well I have already written so much and I'm not even past the first 9 verses! So I'm going to take a break for now and go eat some dinner. Check back soon for some more of what I'm learning as I continue to update you!