Robbing the
Cross of its Power
1
Corinthians 11:17-22
Jim Davis
When the
Corinthian believers came to Christ their
pagan religious practices naturally
overflowed into their fellowships. It
was the natural result of their pagan
mindset. It was all they knew—chaos
reigned. Paul writes to them about their
chaotic fellowship.
1
Corinthians 11:17-22
17 In the
following directives I have no praise for
you, for your meetings do more harm than
good. 18 In the first place, I hear that
when you come together as a church, there
are divisions among you, and to some extent
I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be
differences among you to show which of you
have God's approval. 20 When you come
together, it is not the Lord's Supper you
eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes
ahead without waiting for anybody else. One
remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22 Don't
you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do
you despise the church of God and humiliate
those who have nothing? What shall I say to
you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly
not! NIV
The Corinthians
witnessed God’s presence as they spoke in
tongues and exercised their supernatural
spiritual gifts. God was present. The
Corinthians had everything needed to build a
spirit filled fellowship.
1
Corinthians 1:4-9
4 I always
thank God for you because of his grace given
you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have
been enriched in every way — in all your
speaking and in all your knowledge— 6
because our testimony about Christ was
confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not
lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait
for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8
He will keep you strong to the end, so that
you will be blameless on the day of our Lord
Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into
fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our
Lord, is faithful. NIV
Yet, chaos
reigned.
1
Corinthians 1:10-17
10 I appeal
to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one
another so that there may be no divisions
among you and that you may be perfectly
united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers,
some from Chloe's household have informed me
that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I
mean is this: One of you says, "I follow
Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another,
"I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow
Christ."
13 Is Christ
divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were
you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I am
thankful that I did not baptize any of you
except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can
say that you were baptized into my name.
16(Yes, I also baptized the household of
Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if
I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did
not send me to baptize, but to preach the
gospel — not with words of human wisdom,
lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its
power. NIV
The fellowships
were doing more harm than good. Those at
odds with each other were not challenged to
start new fellowships as followers of
Apollos or Peter. They were not even
told to leave their wine skins at home. Some
were told they might be better off to stay
at home.
Corinthian
believers were lining up behind their
favorite leaders touting their spiritual
wisdom, gifts and oratory skills. It was
common practice in the Roman world to line
up with the greatest orators. Great orators
were actually paid by their listeners for
their wisdom and skill. This mindset bled
over into the Corinthian fellowship.
Impotence
reigned. They were powerless to cross
socio-economic lines to simply share their
food in Christian fellowships. Drunkenness,
egos and immorality reigned. Their worldly
mindset reigned.
1
Corinthians 3:1-4
3:1
Brothers, I could not address you as
spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in
Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food,
for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed,
you are still not ready. 3 You are still
worldly. For since there is jealousy and
quarreling among you, are you not worldly?
Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when
one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I
follow Apollos," are you not mere men? NIV
The Corinthians
were much like the Hebrews in the
wilderness. The Hebrews had visible
signs of God’s presence. They ate manna as
God led them in a cloud by day and a pillar
of fire by night. Yet, they brought their
Egyptian mindset and their idols with them.
They were always
looking for a new leader or another idol. So
it was with the Corinthians. They fell
behind in no spiritual gift; it all was a
sign of God’s presence. Yet, they were
endanger of dying in their spiritual
wilderness.
Paul’s letters
to the Corinthians sought to place Christ in
the center of their fellowships. He
mentions the name of Christ 104 times. Paul
sought to place Christ in the center of
every problem. Of course they believed in
Christ. They were sanctified and justified.
Christ was the foundation upon which they
stood, yet chaos reigned.
According to
the second Corinthian letter Paul’s
instruction worked--unity was restored.
Amazingly, many of our postmodern churches
can’t read the Corinthian letters today
without dividing. For many—the books raise
more questions than we seem to have answers.
One can only wonder why Paul’s advice
brought healing to the Corinthians and
brings division to the postmodern religious
movement.
Today’s
Religious Smorgus Board
The
problems going on in the Corinthian
fellowships are prevalent today on a much
larger scale.
Religious division is at an all time high.
The religious smorgasbord of today seeks to
make the church appealing to individual
tastes. Apparently our religious
tastes are running wild as evidenced by the
multitude of strip mall churches springing
up. It’s not much different than the
Corinthians who were initially seeking to
follow their favorite leaders. They followed
those who appealed to their personal desires
and tastes. No doubt they were seeking to
fit the message of Christ into their
preconceived mindset of the kind of leaders,
and religious atmosphere they desired.
The postmodern
religious world is much like the Athenians
who were very religious; they were
continuously on a religious quest for
something new and exciting.
Acts
17:22-23
22 Paul then
stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and
said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every
way you are very religious. 23 For as I
walked around and looked carefully at your
objects of worship, I even found an altar
with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.
Now what you worship as something unknown I
am going to proclaim to you. NIV
The Athenians
remind me of the new churches springing up
in strip malls all across the country.
The inscriptions on their signage describe a
quest for something new and more
exciting—more meaningful. Sadly, most only
discover new and exciting ways to be
religious. It is usually only a temporary
diversion until the excitement wears off and
the pursuit begins anew. Many tiring in
their search to find something new and more
exciting are simply dropping out. Others
simply settle for a new way to be religious
failing to move beyond religion.
Now there is a
new church movement afoot to form “organic
churches” for those tired of the postmodern
religious movement. This is an excerpt
from one website.
“Word
on the street is that people out there are
fed up with organized religion. Rather, they
are longing for a genuine connection with
"the supernatural" and with a community of
friends.
‘The
typical answer provided by the church falls
short among most people in our postmodern
culture. The church says, "OK…come to our
religious building. We'll give you a
religious program and you'll get to hear a
religious person talk in religious language
about religious topics. After it's all over,
you can go home."
‘‘No
thanks,’ comes back the beleaguered
response, ‘I'd rather stay home…’
‘In
light of this, maybe we ought to think about
taking church to the people instead of
bringing people to the church. Maybe we
ought to think about planting churches where
people live and then cooperate with God as
he brings about the growth.” (This quote is
from http://www.missionspokane.org/globalocal_organic_church_planting.html)
Could it be our
idea of building churches somehow runs
counter to the message of Christianity?
Has the message of salvation been lost in
the message of the church? Is there a vast
difference in preaching Christ to build a
church and preaching Christ to salvage
lives?
I was
visiting a church over on the coast of
Florida a few months ago. They were
collecting money to establish “mission”
churches. They mentioned how they had
started a “mission” church in the city where
I live. I turned to my wife and said,
“That’s all we need another church, there is
already at least one on every block—two and
three on some blocks. I think they really
desired to clone another church like
themselves.
A couple
attended a class designed to introduce them
to a particular religious group. The
leaders of the class spent an hour defining
their group. They explained their take on
certain religious issues. Yet, the couple
came away with the idea they were as
interested in exclusion as inclusion. It was
as if they thought they would nip problems
in the bud, before they got a foot in the
door. Just eliminate those who might
disagree with them to minimize problems. To
them, an ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure.
I understand
what they were doing. Some of those
attending the class were disgruntled
religious people. If they are running from
problems elsewhere, it probably want be long
until they become a problem wherever they
go. Yet, prevention is not a cure. Too often
religion deteriorates into a controlled
atmosphere that drives as many away as are
gained.
Some call the
church movement of today Churchanity. We
definitely live in an age where the
paramount issue is how to build churches. It
is as though the word “church” and the word
“Christ” have become synonymous. We believe
preaching the message of the church is
synonymous with preaching Christ. Christ is
preached for the purpose of building
churches.
Thinking people
are fed up. They are looking for
something more. I can only wonder if
reinventing the church is it. After years in
the ministry I must confess. I wouldn’t know
how to start a church that would be much
different than what is already available on
the religious smorgus board in most
communities. Building new churches isn’t the
challenge. The challenge is becoming
Christian.
The Samaritan
woman came to Jesus inquisitive about the
right place to worship.
John 4:19-25
19 "Sir,"
the woman said, "I can see that you are a
prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this
mountain, but you Jews claim that the place
where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
21 Jesus
declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is
coming when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not
know; we worship what we do know, for
salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is
coming and has now come when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth, for they are the kind of
worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is
spirit, and his worshipers must worship in
spirit and in truth."
25 The woman
said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ)
"is coming. When he comes, he will explain
everything to us." NIV
Is it this
mountain or that mountain? Jesus said,
neither. Today, if we asked Jesus, is
true worship taking place in this church or
that church. He would give us the same
answer. He would say “Neither, the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth, for they are the kind of
worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit,
and his worshipers must worship in spirit
and in truth."
It reminds me of
Joshua coming face to face with the
Commander of the army of the Lord as he was
about to lead God’s people into Canaan
against Jericho.
Joshua
5:13-15
13 Now when
Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and
saw a man standing in front of him with a
drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to
him and asked, "Are you for us or for our
enemies?"
14 "Neither
," he replied, "but as commander of the army
of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua
fell facedown to the ground in reverence,
and asked him, "What message does my Lord
have for his servant?"
15 The
commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take
off your sandals, for the place where you
are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
NIV
Joshua asked,
are you for us or for our enemies? The
Commander replied, neither.
It is not about
taking sides. It is not about whose side God
is on. It is about realizing we are standing
on holy ground. We don’t seem to know much
about holy ground. Paul reminded the
Corinthians they were standing on holy
ground. He reminded them they were standing
on a holy foundation—Jesus Christ. We need
to take off our shoes. But wait! We don’t
want to turn taking off our shoes into just
another religious ritual. Imagine, a church
with signage reading “Take off your shoes
church.” Don’t laugh—it is no more
ridiculous than other signs we read.
Let us fall
down in reverence and ask, “What message
does my Lord have for his servant.” Now
we can take off our shoes for the question
in and of itself places us on holy ground
wherever we are standing.
The Corinthians
were not only standing on holy ground their
bodies were also the temple of the living
God. They were not just standing on holy
ground; they had the holy ONE desiring to
come alive in them.
1
Corinthians 3:16
16 Don't you
know that you yourselves are God's temple
and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17 If
anyone destroys God's temple, God will
destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and
you are that temple. NIV
This meant God
desired to live through them. He desired
to exert his influence in their world
through them. He sought to manifest himself
in every relationship. He wanted to glorify
himself through their lives. This is true
worship. We can’t imagine such a humble God.
This maybe why we have trouble going beyond
religion. God wanted the world to get a
taste of his power through their lives. They
had wisdom, knowledge, spiritual gifts and
everything they needed, but a crucial
element was missing.
The message for
Joshua was to lead the battle in a way to
demonstrate God’s power to a heathen world.
The world needed to get a first hand view of
their God. Joshua conducted himself in such
a way that the world had no choice but to
attribute his success to the power of
Israel’s God. Amazingly, the walls and the
giants fell by the power of God. It wasn’t
the result of Joshua being brighter or
smarter. He simply allowed God’s message to
lead him to victory.
There is a message
in this story for believers today.
Conclusion:
Jesus walked
out of the synagogues into a world starving
for something more real than the vanity of
religion as he preached the message of
salvation. Christ challenged his world
to look beyond religion as he pointed them
to a new way of living. He walked into their
lives through demonstrative preaching. He
exemplified a new way of life—a new way of
thinking—a new way of living. He wasn’t
afraid to cross racial or social barriers.
The Jewish
leaders were always taking issue with Jesus’
disciples for failing to observe their
religious practices. Jesus’ message
challenged religious leaders of the Jewish
community. He challenged the mere observance
of holy days, washing hands, washing cups
and platters, fasting and tithing. Jesus had
this to say to them.
Matthew
15:7-9
8 "'These
people honor me with their lips,
but their
hearts are far from me.
9 They
worship me in vain;
their
teachings are but rules taught by men.'"
Matthew
23:1-4
23:1 Then
Jesus said to the crowds and to his
disciples: 2 "The teachers of the law and
the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you
must obey them and do everything they tell
you. But do not do what they do , for they
do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie
up heavy loads and put them on men's
shoulders, but they themselves are not
willing to lift a finger to move them. NIV
Religion often
ties up heavy burdens to place upon our
shoulders to make us look religious.
However, the message of Christ begins with
Christ as we seek to emulate Christ. Jesus
proclaimed a way of life in the Sermon on
the Mount. It’s the message Jesus gave to
the religious people of his day to salvage
their lives. It was a brand new way to study
the Old Testament. He introduced a new
hermeneutic as he crossed every “T” and
dotted every “I” of the law in that short
sermon. He summed up the law and the
prophets concisely in one sermon. The
foremost principle being to seek one
another’s highest good. It was precisely the
message Paul gave the Corinthians.
It is sad, but
many seeking the real thing today may be
forced to look beyond self-proclaimed
religious leaders to find truth—the real
thing. The religious world is very
confusing. Even John the Baptist came to
Jesus asking, “Are you the one or should we
look for another?” The religious atmosphere
of his day was confusing. It’s is shocking
since he was the one who heralded the coming
of Jesus.
We use the
Corinthian letters to establish church
practices—Lord’s supper—a gender
hierarchy—giving of our means, a doctrine of
the resurrection, etc. The trouble with
our approach to the Bible is that too often
we only seek to duplicate their practices.
Paul wrote the letters to teach the
Corinthians on how to be a Christian as they
stood on holy ground.
