Reading the Gospel in Someone Else’s Mail

January 18, 2009

The church in Corinth did not get the gospel.  They believed it and were genuinely converted, but in many aspects of their personal lives and relationships within and outside the church, they simply did not get the gospel.  And I am glad they did not.

Thanks to their need for correction, the apostle Paul, their father in the faith, wrote a pastorally sensitive, gospel-drenched letter to instruct them on how the message of Christ crucified and risen bears on everything from speaking in tongues to sexual immorality.  These were issues the Corinthians had actually inquired about in a letter to Paul, as signaled by his words “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote…” (7:1).

But like any good father, Paul addressed not only the questions the Corinthian believers knew they had, but the problems they did not know they had.  Not surprisingly, Paul began with these first, showing how their divisions in the church and emphasis on power, wisdom, and eloquence unveiled their need of further gospel transformation.

God willing, we are going to take much of 2009 to explore how Paul unpacks the gospel to this grace-challenged congregation.  However, I want to be be explicit from the outset that this prescription does not emerge from a diagnosis of “Corinthianitis” for Whitton Avenue Bible Church.  By God’s help we have much deeper levels of unity, humility, and purity than the church at Corinth did.  So on the one hand, I need to preface the series with “Don’t take this the wrong way.”

On the other hand, I believe we have tons to learn from Paul’s assessment of the Corinthian problem and his approach to addressing it.  To use the language of one of our core values, the believers in Corinth were being shaped by the values and assumptions of this passing age more than they were by the Christ-centered story line of the Bible.  Paul wrote to correct that tragic inversion.

My prayer is that as we study this expansive letter, the Holy Spirit would reveal areas of our lives in which we are more influenced by American culture than the realities of the cross and resurrection.  As the Spirit refines us through deeper trust in Christ, may he transform us into a people that reflect the love and truth of our Lord.

Eager to learn with you,

Pastor Chris