grow up

Like a lot of things, it appears we may have gotten the whole idea of “adult” wrong. We think of adult as a permissive category; adults get to do whatever they want. Adult movies can show whatever they want. Adult night clubs are the same way. “Adult” means there aren’t many constraints, so keep the kiddies away.

Paul didn’t see it that way. He wrote the church in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 14:10: “Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.”

That church was full of men and women who thought they could do what they want. They were living that permissive idea. And Paul pulled them up short. “No,” he said, “little kids think like that. You need to think like adults.”

Turns out God’s plan for adults is self-control. It’s being thoughtful toward others. It’s letting go of our dependence so we can become interdependent. We need each other to build the kingdom.

I think it might be time for a lot of us to grow up. Adult doesn’t mean anything goes. It means putting yourself last.

the greatest is love

I wonder how any people know the Bible only by 1 Corinthians 13. This is the famous love chapter, and it’s one we grab onto for romantic purposes, like weddings. After all, what could be better for a couple than verse 13?

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

As simple as it is, this is one of my favorite passages, but not for romantic reasons. To me, this is a verse about missions, and about life.

Paul wrote this to a bickering church, one where certain puffed-up leaders made a big deal out of their gifts and their status. So verses 1-3 of this “love chapter” talk about those gifts - speaking in tongues, prophecy, giving money - and how they all need to be done in love. Without love, instead of those beautiful helps to the church, what you have is resounding gongs, clanging cymbals, and gifted people who are nothing and gain nothing. That doesn’t sound like much of a worship service, or a church!

So, Paul challenges us, get rid of all that envy, boastfulness, and pride. Stop dishonoring others and promoting yourselves. Don’t get mad; in fact, don’t even think about or dwell on the things others do that frustrate you. 

Here’s a more excellent way, as Paul puts it: Love. Because then you’ll be patient and kind; you’ll protect other people instead of put them down. You’ll trust each other and God, you’ll have hope, and that hope will allow you to keep on in your love. Because love never fails.

That’s the Greg version - a little ragged, maybe, and not word for word or verse for verse, but it’s how I understand the first seven verses.

That’s why, of the three great gifts that will never pass away, love is the greatest. Faith can ebb and flow, hope can flicker or burn bright, but love never fails. And love - especially the capital L love that is God - will always pull us back to faith and hope. 

Love is the thing we do that makes us most like God. It’s at the core of what it means to be made in his image. I think that’s why it’s the greatest gift. And, unlike many others, he gave his greatest gift to everyone.

diversity

Observation suggests that humans don’t value diversity. We like sameness. Oh, we argue for diversity, but tend to buy our homes and send our kids to school in areas that make us comfortable with their familiarity. Even minorities often suggest special dorms or schools for their race, and will form companies and promote business networks made up only of people like them.

 We buy land and work hard to eliminate bio-diversity; our goal is a mono-culture (one species of grass only) and we’re ruthless in killing everything else. Oh, we might add a few trees and bushes, but only where we decide they should be, in orderly, eye-pleasing arrangements. And not too many. 

That’s also, sometimes, the way we do church, but I don’t think it’s God’s way.

1 Corinthians 12:24-26 says: “But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

This is a passage about spiritual gifts, addressing the propensity of the Corinthian church and Christians today to think some church members are special because of the gifts God chose to give them. We like preachers and teachers and prophets and givers; we think hosts and prayer warriors and quiet servers are more ordinary. 

But that’s not right. In God’s kingdom there are no in-important people, and in God’s church there are no ordinary gifts. Everything is needed and valued. Diversity is to be prized.

When I preach, I sometimes use the example of tulip beds and meadows, because in my originally Dutch town we love our tulip beds. We like them uniform, with flowers of the same height and in complimentary colors. These beds take a huge amount of care; left to themselves they’d be a mess and, eventually, completely overtaken by other plants.

God made meadows. Meadows have lots of different plants, and tons of bugs and dozens of animals and birds. Living together, each contributes and each takes what it needs. And meadows flourish with no outside intervention.

We may love tulip beds, but God made meadows. There’s a lesson there for the ch

blessed by forgiveness

I don’t think there are many out-and-out sinners, by which I mean people who want to do bad and be bad. I think most people, Christians or not, honestly want to be good people. We want to be liked by others, we want to be a positive force in the world.

But our reality is that we can’t – none of us, not the most pious Christian, nor the most earnest unbeliever. We struggle with our sins, even those of us who are saved. But those of us who are saved have one huge blessing: we don’t have to live with the guilt.

Psalm 32 is one of my favorites. Verses 3-4 capture so well what it means to live with guilt:

“When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.”

That’s how we all live, saint and sinner alike. But we who know Jesus can relate to more in this Psalm. There’s something we can do about it. Here’s verse 5:

"Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, ‘I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.’And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.”

Forgiveness, and no more guilt! That’s exactly why the Psalmist starts the Psalm this way:

“Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

And ends it this way:
“Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!”

Because that’s what I want to do every time I feel that weight of guilt lifting. It’s one of the most amazing things in the world.

glory of God

Paul had a simple test for things. At the end of 1 Corinthians 10, he wrote this: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

The topic was food. In chapter 10 he remembered the time God’s people ate spiritual food (manna, I think) in the desert, but then moved on to revelries and feasting when they had their own land. He pointed out the current practice of the Corinthian church where some hogged all the food and even got drunk at church during the Communion meal. And earlier in this letter he talked about all foods being OK unless they caused a brother to stumble.

At the end of it all, this simple rule: have as your motive God’s glory.

Paul threw a little phrase into that sentence to tell me this rule is for all of life: he said, “or whatever you do.” That means that this one rule could be enough for all of life. It becomes an answer to a plethora of questions.

What to do about a relationship? How should I handle my finances? Should I watch that movie or read that book? Exercise or lounge on the couch? Seconds or no? For all of life, the answer is, “What glorifies God?”

That was Paul’s entire life, spreading the gospel for the glory of God. Surely I can make my choices with the same goal.

Discipline

Looking at 1 Corinthians 9 today, I’m realizing that sometimes it’s important to ignore the section headings in my Bible and just read it as Paul wrote it. In this chapter, my Bible has four separate sections that combine to make a powerful point.

The sections break down like this: the first 11 verses talk about how he should have a right to expect material support like all the others. Then, starting in verse 12, he explains why he didn’t demand those things, verse 19 begins a discussion of how he made himself a slave to everyone, and then the last section is the famous passage about running the race.

As I picked this chapter apart, I noticed Paul paired three things he didn’t do with three things he chose to do, and then gave three reasons for them.

He didn’t claim his rights for support, but instead put up with anything. The reason? So as not to hinder the Gospel of Christ (verse 12).

He didn’t take advantage of his freedom, but instead made himself a slave to everyone. The reason this time? To win as many as possible to Christ (verse 19).

He didn’t run aimlessly, but instead made his body a slave to his calling. The reason for this? So that he himself wouldn’t be disqualified for the ultimate prize of salvation (verses 26-27).

Taken all together, this is a chapter about rigorous discipline focused on kingdom work. Paul gave up his rights and his freedoms and trained himself ruthlessly to be able to fulfill God’s call on his life. What mattered to him was saving souls, his own and others.

It shames me a bit to see this constant discipline and unfailing purpose. Too many of my thoughts are self-centered; I like my rights and freedoms, and I want my life to be easy. But I also want to bring others to Christ, to see his kingdom come.

I can’t have both. Paul didn’t expect to; he made good choices, and look at his legacy.

knowledge

One thing I’ve always liked about my denomination is that we value knowledge. We Calvinists are known for a cerebral faith, and as a person who is uncomfortable with emotion I’ve always found some security in that. I’m a guy who thinks stepping back from your feelings and acting based on facts is the best way.

In this, as so many other things, I’m not always support by scripture. Here’s how Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 8:1-2: “We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.”

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I’m not sure who said that, but there’s a lot of truth in it, and it’s central to Paul’s point. Those emotional Christians who make me uncomfortable make a lot of other people feel better. It takes an emotional connection to build people up.

Instead of taking pride in what I know, I need to remember that I don’t know all that much, and some of what I think I know is wrong. But Christ-like love is never wrong, and loving motives are a better guide to navigating life that all the head-smarts in the world.