Thursday, November 13, 2008

Power

We are making our way through a letter Paul wrote to Jesus followers in Corinth. Today, Paul reminds us about a very important (but sadly underused) source of power.


1 Corinthians 2
1 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness - timid and trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.


Power. I hope this passage encourages you when it comes to sharing your faith. Part of our responsibility, as Jesus followers (and one of our passions at Eastside), is to reach out to the people God has placed in our “circle of influence” (our family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc.) and share with them our life story ... what we have “seen and heard” (check out
Acts 4:18-20) in our relationship with God. I think we are sometimes afraid to take this step in our journey because we don’t think we are wise enough or clever enough or persuasive enough; but as you can see they aren’t prerequisites. What God is really looking for is humility and graciousness and compassion ... and a little preparation. I would encourage you to take some time this weekend and write out your life story. What was life like before you experienced Jesus? What was it like when you accepted God’s offer of grace? What has life been like since you began following Him? I hope what you will find is a reminder that it wasn’t some creative presentation that transformed your life; but the power of God. I think what you will find is the courage and conviction to share your life story with someone you care about ... so that they can experience the power of God for themselves.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Boast

This week, we are making our way through a letter Paul wrote to Jesus followers in Corinth. Today, Paul encourages us to boast ... really.


1 Corinthians 1
25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. 26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. 30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”


Boast. Remember, this section of the letter is dealing with division among the Jesus followers in Corinth. They had shifted their focus from the message (of Jesus making us right with God) to a debate about who was the best messenger (check out
1 Corinthians 1:10-17). Now, take a minute and reread today’s passage. Go ahead. It’s only six verses. I’ll wait. Did you follow the action (verbs)? God called. God chose. God used. God united. God made. Jesus made. Jesus freed. Who is doing the “heavy lifting” in this relationship? That is why Paul thought it was so absurd for them to be boasting about who had told them the message instead of who made the message possible. Maybe we should consider being a little more boastful … about God. It would certainly help us maintain a more accurate focus.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Foolish

This week, we are making our way through a letter Paul wrote to Jesus followers in Corinth. Today, Paul explains God’s point of view.


1 Corinthians 1
18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.


Foolish. In case you hadn’t noticed, God sees things differently than we do. From the world’s perspective, humility and compassion and integrity and peace are seen as signs of weakness. From God’s perspective, they are signs of strength that he blesses (check out
Matthew 5:3-10). From the world’s perspective, power is an opportunity to gain control. From God’s perspective, power is an opportunity to offer peace. From the world’s perspective, wisdom is a resource that gains status. From God’s perspective, wisdom is a resource that offers service. From the world’s perspective, the cross was foolish. It was a shameful way to end life. From God’s perspective, the cross is the ultimate display of power over sin and death that leads to eternal life. From the world’s perspective, the cross was foolish. Why would God let himself get nailed to a cross? From God’s perspective, the cross is the ultimate display of wisdom. It allowed him to express the full extent of his love and his justice. Which perspective do you live by?

Monday, November 10, 2008

United

Last week, we started making our way through a letter Paul wrote to Jesus followers in Corinth. Today, Paul focuses on divisions.


1 Corinthians 1
10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) 17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News - and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.


United. Last week, our preview revealed that Paul would be addressing a couple of important issues in the church at Corinth (check out
1 Corinthians). This issue of division is the first. Divisions have a way of distracting our focus. Our focus tends to shifts away from the focus and onto the division; and until the division is dealt with, the division becomes the focus. The only way to reverse the division is to rediscover the focus … and then stay focused on it. For the Corinthians, Paul had made very clear that the focus was the “Good News” made possible by the “cross of Christ”. After Paul left, the focus had been divided into a debate about who was the better/more important speaker/leader … some thought Paul was a more important speaker … some thought Apollos was a better speaker … some thought Peter was a more important leader … some thought they were more important because they had developed some better level of spirituality. The focus had moved from the message to the messenger and the presentation of the message. Sound familiar? Sadly, many churches today are still focused on this division. The only hope of reversing this division universally is for us to refocus individually.