Spiritual

We are making our way through a letter Paul wrote to Jesus followers in Corinth. Today, Paul encourages us to listen carefully.


1 Corinthians 2
6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God - his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.


Spiritual. Last week, we acknowledged that God’s viewpoint is different than our viewpoint (check out Foolish). Today, Paul goes on to explain that what God considers wise is different than what our world considers wise; and more importantly, that this wisdom is available to those that are “spiritual”. So, how do we get this wisdom (become “spiritual”) that allows us to “know” and “explain” and “evaluate”? Paul seems to imply three steps ... two in this passage and one in tomorrows. The first step is really pretty simple ... you have to receive God’s Spirit (reread verse 12) by accepting God’s grace and becoming a follower of Jesus (check out Acts 2:32-39 and John 14:15-17). The second step requires a little more perception ... you have to be tuned in to God’s Spirit. The best analogy I can think of is a weather alert radio that I can remember my grandmother listening to. It was tuned in to the broadcasts of the National Weather Service. These special broadcasts are transmitted 24/7, but aren’t available on a regular AM/FM radio. They are only available through one of these special receivers. When we become a Jesus follower, God places a special “receiver” (his Spirit) in each of us that is tuned in to and “broadcasting” his wisdom. The key is listening carefully to hear it (reread verse 13) which can be very difficult in a world that wants to offer so much wisdom from so many different sources. Have you ever practiced the spiritual discipline of solitude ... where you took some time to be alone in God’s presence and “listen”? Jesus did (check out Mark 1:35) ... maybe we should try it too.