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We’ve created a habit of complicating the Gospel. Most of us are guilty by association with certain traditions of Church. We often take for granted the past and lessons learned from it. It seems these issues of division are new and there’s no possible way that the past could relate to the present, but I take comfort in knowing that division is nothing new and that Christianity’s greatest theologian, Paul, dealt with these issues in written form. I’ve found here in Orange County a Corinthian problem: a problem of boasting of greatness. In Orange County we have a blessing that has become a curse in that we have so many churches and new ones popping up it seems most weekends. I believe that cynicism is the root of our problem. This fits in with the culture of Orange County. The title of this article is cynical because it comes from the “Unity” by Operation Ivy. We question, we don’t trust, and if a church is doing well then they must be up to something. The solution to the problem for the church is to understand the real life implications when we confess that “Jesus is Lord”(Phil. 2:11) and the embodiment of the cruciform community. By cruciform community, I mean a community that is self-giving in the way Jesus showed us.
1 Corinthians is a great letter to fix our problem. Corinth was known for its materialistic lifestyle and sexual habits. It sounds like an old school Orange County, yet, Paul still refers to the Corinthian church as the church of God. Paul paints a picture of an excellent church as far as the tools available. The problem is division within the church. Paul addresses over and over the issue of “boasting” (verses?). To help illustrate the natural phenomena of the human concept of greatness we should take a minute to venture back into the Gospels and see the Disciple’s idea of greatness.
We can take a moment and turn back to Mark 9:30-37. Prior to the discussion of who is greatest, Peter confesses Jesus as “the Christ.” We see Jesus explaining that, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later”(Mark 9:31). It seems simple enough to understand, but the subsequent discussion between the Disciples is who among them was the greatest? Who will share in the Messiah’s glory? Jesus then gives them and us his (God’s) idea of what greatness means: “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all”(9:35). I mention this story to show that even Jesus’ inner circle found his definition of greatness difficult to grasp. He states again that to be great is to be servant of all because even “the Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Our struggle to find how it is I am to be great without being great. Paul is now going to take this idea of greatness and tell these boastful Corinthians whom and what they should be boastful in.
The word “boastful” appears numerous times and Paul lays it out clearly the terms of boasting: that no one man can boast before God (3:21), in men (4:7), what one has received (5:6), and he himself has nothing to boast of when preaching the Gospel (9:16). He removes all that we could point to as the source of our pride is removed from us. Even the very Gospel we preach leaves no room for boasting. We live in and on an equal playing field because this is God’s Church and He will do as He wills with it. “The Spirit gives the gifts to the various members of the community; Jesus, as Lord and as the one whose body is constituted by the church, is served; and God activates the gifts”(Gorman).
I hope you can see the Corinthian ethic in our current situation in Orange County. We have every reason to be proud, but the source of our pride is severely misplaced and if we do not understand that our confession of “Jesus Christ is Lord” has “the most basic and essential characteristic of the community, distinguishing it from all forms of paganism”(Gorman), then we are in trouble. I hope everyone would agree with me when I say that one of the most common criticisms of the church is the lack of unity. This criticism comes through cynicism towards other churches or more directly, the people who make up that church. What distinguishes the church from society? So what is the basis of our unity? It is the same Spirit, same Lord, and same God working all aspects (1 Cor. 12:4-6).
Paul’s goal is stated at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 1:10, “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Michael Gorman comments on the fundamental issue facing the Corinthian church (and today) as Paul sees it: “a failure to understand the real-life consequences of the gospel of “Jesus Christ, and him crucified”. His goal became to convince the Corinthians to embody the cross in daily life in light of the past resurrection and soon return of their crucified Lord.” The means by living are displayed in Paul’s “triad” of faith, hope, and love. I want to define these terms in light of the cross, in light of the future hope of resurrection, then we can live into our community and together we will focus on the eternal value: love.
Paul’s response to our dysfunctional community is stated plainly in 12:25, “that there should be no division in the body, but that all members should have the same care for one another.” My favorite verse is next because it is a motto that every believer in every community should memorize: “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” As is fitting with the nature of humans the latter proposition is easy enough. Just as James and John claimed to be able to drink of the cup and go through the baptism (thought not fully understanding what they were agreeing to) that Jesus was about to endure (Mark 10:39), we too have entered into that baptism. Our community life has suffered so much in Orange County and it is clearly shown by the cynical nature of this area, the loneliness of this generation and the constant striving to be “original.” Also, I believe it feeds the idea that we don’t need to be involved with a church. Instead of always trying to be the best in our church or as a church, perhaps, we should embody the story of the cross towards each other and then to the outside. Because if we “earnestly desire the greater gifts” Paul will still show us “a still more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31). The “excellent way” is now laid for us to look upon and lower our heads as the rich young ruler did (Mark 10:17-31).
1 Corinthians 13 is speaking to the church about living a new ethic as a result of “Christ and him crucified.” This seems necessary to Paul because the Corinthians are gifted (prophecy and tongues), and they are extremely knowledgeable. Yet, none of these gifts have been motivated by love. They may have led to the statements of factions, “I am of Apollos”, “Cephas”, and “Paul” some even some use “Christ” as a dividing statement (1 Cor. 1:12). I can honestly see in my experience the Corinthian problem manifest here in Orange County, but our problem lies in our cynicism, which cannot co-exist with Paul’s concept of love.
Paul is a wonderful storyteller, always telling Israel’s, Christ’s and his story to communicate to his churches that they are now a part of this story; the story of God’s people. He tells stories of Christ and his life to communicate the action of faith, hope, and love by being defined in light of the cross. “Faith is cruciform, then, because Jesus’ life of faithful obedience toward God was cross-shaped… hope is the confidence that the bodily resurrection and eternal life offered through Christ’s death will come to pass as part of the redemption of the entire universe…Like faith, love can be costly; it cost Christ his life, and it often cost Paul his time, his money, and his status. And it almost certainly finally cost him his own life, too. Love, like faith and hope, is cruciform”(Gorman).
So how does Paul describe the love that is to be practiced amongst the Corinthian community: patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, not arrogant, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never fails (1 Cor. 13:4-8). This is a tough pill to swallow as I search for any way out, but Paul clearly states the permanence of love: love never fails (4:8). Apparently his audience is not living this blueprint of life as a new creation. To say that love is patient and kind is describing the character of love, just as one would describe a friend as patient and kind. The other characteristics include “not jealous, does not brag, not arrogant, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” and I find myself wanting to see the church described in this manner.
How does our cynicism fit into this concept of love? Put simply it does not. I am speaking as a cynic/sarcastic person. If a church is doing well the first thought is something is wrong. Or if a church has a certain style to it, we see it as a clique. A lot of us have had a negative experience being a part of a church. We have seen infidelity, financial mismanagement, or nepotism. This feeds into our cynicism. The problem is our cynicism is an opposite reaction to love. “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?” (6:7). I admit the difficulty in the practical application of this mindset, but love does bear, believe, and endure all things! I do believe suffering precedes resurrection. Our faith is in this resurrection and it is our love that works through faith that brought us to be a servant to all.
Why are we to focus so greatly on this love? What is the use or relevance? 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 Paul tells us the permanence of love. Interestingly enough he uses the gifts of prophecy, tongues and knowledge as the examples of what will be done away with when “the perfect comes.” The reasons of boasting are temporal, in part, and have an end. I propose we find our substance of boasting and measure it to the eternalness of love. Verse 11 has a depiction of maturity; speaking and thinking like a child, but growing into a man requires these childish ways to be left behind. Now we, the church, see dimly and only partly know but one day soon just as God has known us we too shall know fully. “Love never fails” is not we singing The Beatles “All you need is love”, but it is cruciform love, a love shaped by the cross. I highly doubt that John Lennon had this “love” in his mind. This love is work, it is self-giving and supremely, this love is eternal. To be quite honest, this definition of love is foreign to human ears. Paul goes beyond the character and permanence of love; he establishes love as the greatest.
“But now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love”(13:13). I believe N.T Wright said it well in his book Paul, “That is why Christian ethics is so much more than keeping a new law. It is living in the new age. In particular, that is why, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul expounds the life of love not so much as a new duty but as the Christian’s new destiny: faith, hope and supremely love are the things that will last, the qualities which, as fruits of the Spirit, are the bridges into the new world, and by learning to cross those bridges we are already living by the rule, as Paul can still sometimes call it, of God’s new creations.” I find hope in this and my romantic side loves this view. The idea of living into a new destiny fits perfectly with the dreamer’s mind. All that we complain about in the world, all the we see lacking in the world, and all that we want to be is only possible in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There is no other way. Those who claim Jesus Christ as Lord now have a new destiny to live as God’s new creations. This foreign idea of love is now a present reality to which we must live.
I find it difficult to imagine when God’s Kingdom has been fully realized we would stand and turn to the person next to us asking what church or what your view was on Martin Luther? This is a ridiculous scenario that will not play out. I propose we live the cruciform life now. We do this by understanding the story of our Lord and Paul’s teachings on this story. We don’t need a government to protect us, a cool style in our church, a verse-by-verse teacher or anything of the meaningless debate between Christians. None off these matter in the long run. The cynical nature has to be killed in order for love to work. All we do need is love, but that love can only be defined in our Lord Jesus Christ. Daniel Kirk said in his Storied Theology, “There’s a connection here between unity and humility. A call to oneness will only be successful when that oneness is predicated on the gospel narrative that turns the world on its head: the narrative of the handed-over Messiah as God’s agent who embraces the world.” Let us learn together what being last means and how to receive a child in Christ’s name. As Tim Armstrong once sang, “Ain’t nothing wrong with another unity song”
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