Readings for the day: 1 Corinthians 1-4
I woke up this morning to a tweetstorm. A post was put out by someone I follow describing how thankful he is for the church he serves as pastor. In it, he declares, “I pastor a church, not a Twitter following. A real real church in Missouri...for 37 years. We have all kinds of people—from newborn to 99, Trumpers and progressives, ICE officers and undocumented immigrants (for real). What we have in common is JESUS...and a culture of kindness.” The response was sadly predictable. Many of my progressive friends were quick to pounce. How could he allow Trump supporters in his church? How could he tolerate ICE officers? As the rhetoric heated up, he was accused of fostering an environment of abuse, racism, fascism, concentration camps, and supporting the American Gestapo. Many pledged to stop following him for His obviously white, privileged perspective. Conservatives weren’t any easier on him. How could he give sanctuary to illegal immigrants? Clearly he was more about social justice than the gospel! Was he for open borders? The destruction of the American way of life? Isn’t this what happens when the purity of the gospel is compromised for the sake of cultural accommodation? It was swift and brutal and it exposes a heretical reality at the heart of the American church. We simply do not believe Jesus is strong enough to hold the center. Though we claim to believe Jesus’ sacrifice was enough to tear down the dividing wall of hostility between us and God, we do not believe it is enough to tear down the walls that divide us from one another.
Paul clearly believed Jesus was enough. “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” (1 Corinthians 1:2) This is an extraordinary statement in light of what’s about to come. In this first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul will confront divisions and factions. He will confront sexual immorality, lawsuits among believers, and idolatry. He will confront the abuse of spiritual gifts and the self-righteous pride of the Corinthians who lived with power and privilege and wealth. As Paul’s own rhetoric heats up - he pulls no punches throughout - it is easy to lose sight of Paul’s fundmental belief that despite all their problems. Despite all their foolishness and sin. Despite all their deep-seated divisions and factions. Paul believed with all his heart that they were sanctified in Jesus Christ. Called to be saints together in one body, one local church, as a witness to the world of the unconditional love and grace of Jesus.
Is Jesus enough? Does His unconditional love exert enough centrifugal force on our lives to keep us together? Or does His grace fall flat in the face of the powerful cultural forces that swirl all around us? What does it mean to be part of the “real, real church?” Does it mean we only gather with people who look like us? Think like us? Spend money like us? Vote like us? Or does Jesus push us out of our homogeneous spaces? Is it possible to be part of a local community of believers who come from all walks of life? All kinds of backgrounds? Different ethnicities? Different social classes and tax brackets? Is it possible to honor one another in those differences by sitting down together? Listening to one another? Seeking to walk in one another’s shoes rather than be so eager to condemn? Give one another the benefit of the doubt before rushing to judgment? Grant one another the grace to grow rather than be so quick to cut them off?
Clearly division is nothing new in the church. Jesus himself counted tax collectors and zealots among his closest friends. Paul was planting churches were Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free came together in Christ. Their social, economic, ethnic, and political differences could not be more stark. And yet they found a way to do life together. Found a way to process through all their mutual frustrations. Found a way to forgive and reconcile and walk together in humility. It was never easy. Never neat and tidy. It required daily death to self and yet it was these fledgling communities of faith that would eventually change the world.
How could this happen? A relentless focus on Christ. Paul describes it in all kinds of ways...
- Christ is the power and wisdom of God
- Christ is our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
- Christ is our sure foundation
- Christ is all things to us and for us
Paul also exposes the folly of the ways of this world...
- The foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
- God chooses the foolish to shame the wise.
- God chooses the weak to shame the strong.
- God chooses what is lowly and despised in this world to shame the proud.
Ultimately, then, God leaves us no other options but to trust Christ. To cling to Christ. To follow Christ. Without Him, the center of our life together cannot hold. Without Him, the foundation of our life together will crumble. Without Him, the forces that threaten to tear us apart will be too great to resist. Unless Christ holds us together, we will fall apart. Unless Christ holds the world together, it will plunge into chaos and ruin. Death and sin and evil will have their way. Christ truly is our only hope.