Selfish and petty motives are suspected. Not all Christians are justified in this quest. For years, I encountered people at a loss with what to do about church, including members of a house church I attended. Many of these places are busy share inspiring messages and promote exciting visions. So why are good Christians leaving? A biblical model of church?
The Acts church model and epistles show preaching was originally designed to encourage close following after God. Fellowship meant meaningfully supporting fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and mutual participation was expected and encouraged. Church meetings were to be orderly and in reverence of a holy God who desired sincerity and devotion. Entertainments in the form of dazzling places of worship and fun events have proven especially damaging. Instead of being spiritually challenged and built up, congregations are becoming distracted by being made to feel good about themselves and their lives for no particular purpose.
Local community service gets neglected along with fundamental gospel truths. Grace is distorted as license to sin and an excuse not to daily die to self, evangelism ignored, and Jesus and scripture mentioned less and less. So… what is a perfect church? Have a look at what Paul thanks God for.
I’ve finally found the perfect church
It was full of divisions and disagreements. There was sexual immorality. People were suing each other. They were criticising Paul behind his back. At their church dinners, the rich were pigging out while the poor went hungry. The church meetings were a shambles with people calling out whenever they felt like it. They loved their spiritual gifts, and were proud of the power they had.
But he chose to thank GOD for them. Who gives the gifts in the first place. And who causes it to grow. God looks favourably on his children because of Jesus.
Then Paul moves onto specifics. Now if it was me. A bit like school reports. You always try to begin by saying something nice — even the worst student. Corinth loved eloquent speakers. Smooth and profound and slick. In fact, they were a bit like rock stars. Or Anthony Robbins — the motivational speaker. Greek philosophy reckoned knowledge was the highest form of good. Knowledge lifted you out of the everyday. Onto a higher plane of consciousness. You can see that in Ch 2.
- Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series 2, Volume 14 - Enhanced Version (Early Church Fathers).
- Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories (Oxford Worlds Classics)?
- La Pistola Táctica (Spanish Edition)?
- 1 Corinthians The Perfect Church | The Bible Talks.
As soon as a gift is used in church from the wrong motive, any benefit is lost. Look at how Paul puts it in ch 13 v 1. Speech and knowledge without love are nothing. Are you motivated by love? Or is there some other reason? Perhaps you like being the centre of attention. Or perhaps your motivation is personal.
The Perfect Church Sermon by Steven Chapman, Colossians - theranchhands.com
It makes you feel good about yourself when you help or serve. God HAS gifted you. The perfect church waits eagerly for Jesus. Look at the connection in v7. And an Airforce jet flight simulator.
- It’s important to remember because it keeps us humble.
- An archive of expository Bible talks;
- The Perfect Church.
- The Perfect Scriptures.
Two people playing them might look pretty similar. But ONE has no real purpose. No real goal apart from the immediate fun of the moment. Pilots preparing for the ultimate mission. That was the goal that motivated them.
One thought on “1 Corinthians 1:1-9: The Perfect Church”
Gifts are to be used as we wait eagerly for Jesus. To get people ready for that day. To encourage and evangelise and discipline and teach and rebuke and pray and disciple and train and correct. To grow people as followers of Jesus. Their Master goes on a journey, and puts them in charge until he returns. In charge until the Master returns.
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No one seems to notice, or appreciate me. And he needs the encouragement to keep going. But not only THAT. God equips us at every point. How does he keep us strong? His Spirit gives us the words to say as we witness for him. He makes our faith SURE. He keeps ALL his people strong to the end. Well, Paul concludes this section. How can we be sure of all this? He answers our objection in v9. How can Paul be so confident in the Corinthians?
He must have real worries about their behaviour.