Close Menu X
Navigate

Who Did This to Me? - 1 Corinthians 1:10-2:5

Sermon Series: Confused?

There aren’t a lot of things for which I have a brand loyalty, but I do for athletic shoes. When it comes to athletic shoes there is something wired in my DNA that won’t let me buy any brand but Nike. I have seen pairs of Adidas shoes or Puma shoes in the past that I have really liked, but I have never purchased any. In fact, I don’t even try them on. When it comes to athletic shoes I only like to purchase Nike. Most of the time Nike is a pretty respected brand. When you go the YMCA to exercise people don’t look at you funny if you are wearing a pair of Nike athletic shoes. If you show up at the basketball court wearing a pair of Nike basketball shoes no one is going to give you any questionable looks. But apparently there is one place where showing up wearing a pair of Nike shoes will cause everyone to question your sensibility – a running club. Here in Hickory there is a running store that hosts a running club and serves as a hub for runners all over our community. Last fall they began to advertise a “Guy’s Night” for which the promotional flyers I saw said that the store would be closing early on one particular night so that guys could get together for a group run, then come back to the store and hang out eating pizza and playing corn hole. While I am not a running enthusiast I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet a few new guys and to perhaps invite some people to check out our church. So that night I threw on my exercise clothes, including my Nike running shoes, and headed to the store. But from the moment I walked in it seemed like everyone was looking down at my feet and then looking up at me giving me questionable looks. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. I hadn’t stepped in dog poo and I didn’t have toilet paper stuck to the bottom of my foot. So I started looking at other people’s feet and quickly began to realize that I was the only person in the store wearing Nike running shoes. I then proceeded to go over to the area of the store where they sold shoes to start looking at what kind of shoes they sold. To my complete shock there were NO Nike running shoes. In fact while there were many different looking shoes there were only two brands that they sold – Brooks and Saucony. At this point I began to realize, "these people think I’m crazy because I’m wearing Nike running shoes." Apparently in their minds Nike wasn’t an acceptable brand of running shoe – only Brooks and Saucony were. So I had a decision to make: I could be so embarrassed that I stealthly head out the door and go home; I could hang my head in embarrassment for the night and do my best to hide behind clothes racks; or I could just do what they were doing – look at their feet and then look at them funny for not wearing Nike running shoes (which is ultimately what I decided to do). You see for me, my allegiance was to Nike. For them, their allegiance was to Brooks and Saucony. Neither side, myself nor them, was willing to budge on that loyalty. And while I ultimately learned that these other brands do make a better running shoe, it made for a great conversation starter that evening and a lot of good-natured joking. Brand loyalty or allegiance in this particular example was just a matter of preference that made for some good natured fun. But as we get into the body of Paul’s letter we discover there was some confusion about allegiance and loyalty within the church that was unhealthy and which was damaging the proclamation of the Gospel.

We began our study of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth last week by examining the introduction to the letter. The text revealed to us that the letter was written by the apostle Paul specifically to the church that he had planted in Corinth. But we spent even more time noting that God had used Paul to communicate some profound truths in a portion of the letter that we would typically consider to be less significant. Last week we noted that God acts upon those who trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord by sanctifying them (cleansing and purifying them from sin and setting them apart for His own purposes) and resourcing them with the gifts that they need to carry out the purpose and mission that He had given them. This would serve as an important foundation for a church confused about how God, Jesus, and the Gospel impact real life. The reality is that God does an amazing work of transforming the identity of those who have believed in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection on their behalf and that He resources them so that each and every day they can live on mission with Him. That’s important news that should impact our each and every day.

As we jump into the text this week, we jump into the actual body of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. In verse 10 Paul makes a very clean break from the introduction in order to address some specific issues with the church. So let’s read verses 10-17 and see if we can identify one of the specific problems.

[Read 1:10-17]

 At the outset of this letter we discover that there is some division within the church at Corinth in regards to allegiance. There were some individuals within the church who were placing too much significance on certain leaders, wrongly attributing certain accomplishments and victories to those individuals, and then wrongly placing their allegiance with those individuals. Now let’s make sure we have a right understanding of how Paul is made aware of this. Paul is writing the letter to the Corinthians from the city of Ephesus, which sits just across the Aegean Sea. There was a business woman who lived in the city of Ephesus by the name of Chloe who had become a believer in Jesus, along with many who were a part of her household. It appears that Chloe’s business took members of her household to the city of Corinth on a somewhat regular basis. While her household would have been a part of the church at Ephesus it is very likely that while members of her household were in the city of Corinth doing business that they would have worshipped with the church in Corinth. So the members of Chloe’s household would have had some first hand knowledge of what was going on with the church of Corinth and when they learned of the growing division among the church they reported that problem to the apostle Paul upon their return to Ephesus.

Let’s look now at what had transpired in Corinth. We know that the believers in Christ had experienced a radical change in their identity. You’ll recall last week that one of the key points of emphasis was the descriptive language Paul had used to describe the church at Corinth – “to those sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1:2). We talked about all that this communicated: that those whose lives had been characterized by sin, evil intentions, and selfishness had been forgiven, cleansed, and set apart with a new purpose and a new mission. Additionally, they had been resourced with gifts and abilities to help them carry out all that they had been set apart for. That this had taken place wasn’t the point of contention or division. What appears to be the point of contention and division was who (or what) was responsible for this transformation and to whom allegiance should be pledged to. Now it’s important to remember how location fits into the context here. Corinth was located in Greece, which was a hotbed for philosophy and education. In Greece there was an extremely high value placed on wisdom, so those who possessed it were placed in prominent positions, and others journeyed there in pursuit of it. Keep this in mind, because you’re going to see ‘wisdom’ playing a significant role in the division that had begun to grow in Corinth.

Paul says that he had been made aware of quarreling – that there were different individuals who were a part of the church pledging their allegiance to different leaders. Some had pledged allegiance to Paul, others to Apollos, others to Peter (Cephas), and still others to Christ. [Note that the greater division among the church seems to be between Paul, the founder of the church at Corinth, and Apollos, who personified wisdom – “He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24). As the letter continues neither Peter nor Christ are brought up again in the context of opposition or division.] After identify the divisions Paul uses a series of rhetorical questions, all of which demand a negative response, to begin to help the church at Corinth process the foolishness of their reasoning. He asks, “Is Christ divided?” In other words, “Did Jesus come to establish opposing camps?” The answer is, “Of course not!” He asks, “Was Paul crucified for you?” The point of the question here is to get to the heart of the transformation that took place in their lives. The answer to this question is also ‘no.’ In 1:2 Paul was clear to articulate that those whose lives had been transformed were “sanctified in Christ Jesus.” The cleansing from sin and the setting apart for God’s purposes hadn’t been accomplished through anything Paul had done – it was accomplished through Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Lastly he asks, “Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” At the time baptism was a symbolic act by which individuals identified themselves with Jesus. The picture presented in baptism by immersion is one of death, burial, and resurrection. An individual’s baptism proclaimed that they had placed their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and that because of their faith in Jesus their old self (the sinful self) was put to death and buried, and that they had now been raised in newness of life to walk in obedience and submission to Jesus. That is why individuals are baptized ‘in the name of Jesus.’ So through these questions Paul begins to bring to light the foolishness of the division that existed in the church. Jesus had not come to establish opposing camps, He is the One who worked sanctification in the lives of those who believed in Him, and those who had believed and who had been baptized were supposed to have declared their allegiance to Jesus alone. But in a setting where wisdom was so highly valued, the people of Corinth began to try to incorporate wisdom into the message of the Gospel. But Paul was quick to point out that salvation and sanctification had not come from wisdom (see vs. 17).

This kind of division and opposition happens a lot today – not always with leaders, but sometimes over different groupings or schools of thought. Within the broader context of Christianity in the southern United States there is division between denominations. Back in August I was helping with “Freshman Move-in” at LR. I wasn’t there to promote Escalate Church or to create a sense of competition with other churches or campus ministries, I was simply there to help out the CRU ministry and to present an united effort to put the Gospel on display in a very practical and tangible way. With our arms full of stuff that we were carrying for one family, the mother began expressing her gratitude for what we were doing. She quickly moved on to ask more questions about who we were and why we were helping. Jared briefly told her about CRU and our desire to love on the new students and then introduced me as a local pastor who was there to help out. Immediately she asked me what denomination the church was and let me know that they were Lutherans and her daughter would not be attending any other kind of church. At no point in helping out had either myself or Jared said anything about Escalate, only that we were representing CRU and that we wanted to love on the new students and their families. But this mother wanted to make sure that I was clear about what denomination they aligned themselves with and that I didn’t need to make any efforts to go beyond helping carry their things in because I was not representing a Lutheran church.

There are divisions that exist around schools of thinking today too. While I was attending seminary there was a group of students who only wanted to know one thing when they met you – “What was your perspective on Calvinism?” If you shared the same theological viewpoint as them they welcomed you as a friend; if not, they spent the next four years debating you and trying to get you to change your convictions. For them, their allegiance was to a school of thought (were you Reformed or not) and they drew up strong lines of division between opposing schools of though. It was as if they believed that God had only accomplished His work throughout history through those who shared a particular theological conviction and God was dependent upon those who held that particular theological conviction to continue to work in the future.

Additionally, there are divisions that exist around leaders today as well. We had a couple that began to visit Escalate last year. I used to watch this couple at times. While I was teaching they were smiling from ear to ear and nodding their heads. After their second visit I got this really encouraging email about how excited they were to find a church that was teaching the Scriptures and where they felt like they could learn and grow. They said they had not been a part of a church that had taught the Bible the way Escalate did and that they were excited about continuing to be a part. A week or two later as I was teaching I quoted a very popular pastor today and encouraged the congregation to read through one of his books. That night I received another email from the same couple that absolutely ripped me for suggesting to the congregation that they read one of this pastor’s books and they informed me that they absolutely refused to be a part of a church that would encourage the congregation to do such a thing.

These divisions often occur because we rightly recognize that a transformation has taken place in our lives. The problem is there are far too many who give credit for the transformation and allegiance to the wrong individuals or organizations. Listen carefully, no school of thought has ever sanctified anyone; no denomination has ever sanctified anyone; and no pastor, scholar, theologian, or religious leader has ever sanctified anyone. Individuals and organizations can help us to grow in our faith, in our understanding, and in our walk with Jesus – but at no point should credit for our new identity or allegiance ever be given to these things. We have to rightly understand who or what deserves the credit and then direct our allegiance to that.

If 1:10-17 is dealing primarily with the question, “To whom do we give credit and allegiance to for the transformation that has been experienced in the lives of believers?” then 1:17-2:5 is Paul’s answer.

[Read 1:17-2:5]

Paul explains that a new identity and life transformation doesn’t happen as a result of wisdom, but rather as a result of the Gospel. Had sanctification come through words of eloquent wisdom and learning then the work of Jesus on the cross would be “emptied of its power.” Paul goes on to make his case for this. Paul told the church at Corinth to look around at those who made up the church – where were the individuals who really excelled in wisdom; where were the scribes (considered the wisest of the Jews in regards to the Old Testament); and where were the wise debaters? There weren’t many (if any at all) among the church at Corinth. Why? Paul says it’s because “the world did not know God through wisdom” – in other words ‘worldly wisdom’ wasn’t the method or means by which God chose to make Himself or His salvation known, nor was it the means by which an individual came into a relationship with God. In fact, great wisdom was actually a hindrance for believing the claims of the Gospel and having a relationship with God.

What was it about the Gospel that made it so hard to believe and trust in. Gospel means “good news,” and that’s exactly what it is! But there are parts of the Gospel message that some people find hard to understand or to accept.  For example, the Bible reveals that all of humanity is guilty of sin and that our sin has devastating consequences (see Romans 3:23; 6:23). The Bible reveals that the very real and serious consequence for our sin is our death along with God’s wrath poured out on us, and eternal separation from Him in a real and literal place of great agony and suffering called Hell. And what’s worse is that we are helpless and hopeless to do anything about it. You see there isn’t a “re-do” button in life. Once we sin we can’t go back and have a do over to change our action or our thought – we can’t go back and undo our sin. Nor is there some kind of “Magic Eraser” for our sin that we can just rub on our sin to make it go away. Instead the sin stains our lives which makes us unholy and unrighteousness. This leaves us both helpless and hopeless, because no amount of good deeds or religious activity can erase or cover over the sin which stains us. Our only hope was for God to send someone to rescue us from our sin and its consequences. And that’s what God did for us by sending Jesus to die on the cross. But Paul goes on to say that "Christ crucified" is “a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” Why? Because it was a huge contradiction of terms!  For the Jews the word 'Christ' meant 'Messiah.'  So when they heard the word 'Christ' it communicated ideas like power, might, splendor, and victory.  They believed that God's 'Christ' (or 'Messiah') was going to come to earth in great power and might.  He was going to fight on behalf of God's people (the Jews) and free them from all of their enemies.  They believed that He would usher in a time of ultimate victory and permanent prominence.  The word 'crucified,' on the other hand, communicated ideas that were much different.  Roman crucifixion was reserved for the worst of criminals.  It communicated ideas of 'weakness,' 'humiliation,' and 'great defeat.'  These were words and ideas that would never be connected with God's 'Christ.'  They couldn't go together, because in their minds a "crucified Christ" was an impossibility.  So for Paul to say "we preach Christ crucified" was absolute foolishness. For the Gentiles (especially the Greeks) the message that salvation and new life came through a "crucified Christ" was just as foolish.  There were a bunch of Gods that were worshiped in Greek mythology.  Those gods were powerful gods who exercised dominion over creation.  In order to stay in the good graces of those gods the Greeks were constantly trying to appease them and to avoid provoking them to anger.  As the Greeks heard Paul proclaiming the gospel they heard a message of a god that got himself murdered by mortals who were his enemy.  This didn't make any sense either.  And even if it were true, this god's murder at the hands of mere humans would have meant that he was incapable of bringing salvation and that he was certainly not a god worthy of worship or allegiance.  Salvation and rescue simply could not come through the death of a god - it made no sense. So regardless of background - whether Jew or Greek - to preach Christ crucified was "a stumbling block" and "foolishness."  Yet Paul declared that this was exactly what he proclaimed, because it is God who calls some to salvation and when He opens our eyes to the truth of what was accomplished in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, then Jesus alone becomes “the power of God and the wisdom of God” for salvation and sanctification.

Paul knew that de-emphasizing ‘wisdom’ in a culture that placed so much value on it probably wouldn’t be quickly accepted. So Paul goes on to challenge those who made up the church at Corinth to give some consideration to themselves. He said, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” While the culture tended to look at individuals who possessed wisdom, power, and nobility and applauded them for their so-called accomplishments, Paul said to the church at Corinth that there weren’t many like that who were a part of the church, so their salvation and sanctification must have been dependent upon something else. But what? Paul says, “It was dependent upon God!” “But God . . .” Paul said “God didn’t look at you guys and say, ‘Wow! Here are a few all-stars! Based on their abilities and giftedness I bet they will be able to earn my forgiveness and salvation, and then set themselves apart for my purposes.’ That wasn’t it at all! God saw you and your foolishness; God saw you and your weakness; God saw you and your lowliness and despised state and He CHOSE you!” This is more than good news – this is the GREATEST news that could ever be proclaimed. God looked at you and me and saw ‘sinner.’ He looked at our state and he did not see anything good or impressive. He looked at us and saw one with less-than-impressive traits; He looked at us and saw that we were helpless and hopeless to change our state; and in His love for us, His mercy for us, and His grace, He did something about it – He chose us! Listen carefully to verses 30 and 31, “And because of Him [i.e. God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

Have you received God’s gift of salvation and sanctification? If so, understand that it is only because of God. It is because of God that we have a new identity and place in Christ Jesus! You were chosen by Him and the salvation we are able to possess, the sanctification that we are able to experience, and the redemption that we are able to have are ours solely because Jesus purchased those things when He was crucified for us and defeated death, sin, and Satan by rising again. So forget wisdom – it didn’t do anything of eternal significance for you; forget power – it didn’t do anything of eternal significance for you; forget nobility – it didn’t do anything of eternal significance for you. You and I have no reason to boast in ourselves. All we have received has been the gift of God through Jesus Christ! So if you are going to boast or make much of someone, make sure you are boasting in Christ. The answer to the question in verses 10-17 (To whom do we give credit to and allegiance to for the transformation we have experienced?) is ‘God.’ We give credit to and allegiance to God, who through His Son, Jesus, and the message of the Gospel, brought us to salvation and sanctified us.

Finally, Paul offers his own example in 2:1-5. Paul recalled that when he came to Corinth and started teaching, he didn’t do so with exceptional wisdom or eloquence. Paul didn’t come onto the scene as a highly sought after philosopher. Paul says in verses 3 and 4 that he showed up in Corinth in weakness, in fear, and without words of great wisdom. What he did do was proclaim salvation and sanctification through faith alone in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. God then took that message and demonstrated how His Spirit would work in power, by using the message of Christ crucified for sinners, to accomplish the salvation of those who would believe.

Connection Point Questions for Discussion:

1. Have you ever met believers in Christ who had a really strong allegiance to a particular denomination, school of thought, or pastor / ministry leader?  How about you - do you have a really strong allegiance to any of these particular things?  What are some reasons that individuals might choose such strong loyalty to these people / things?  How would we respond if we inserted that particular person / thing into the series of questions that Paul asked in 1:13?  "Is Christ divided?  Was _______ crucified for you?  Or were you baptized in the name of _______?"  Do the answers to those questions have any impact on the things that we might be really loyal to?

2. If we allow ourselves to be prideful for a minute, what are some reasons that we might give for why we think God should look favorably on us?  Now think about those qualities / things in light of how you compare to others.  (For example, if you said your athletic ability, how does your athletic ability compare with say, that of professional athletes?)  How do you measure up?  What does that say about our significance?  What does that say about what we have to offer to God?  How are we to respond then to what Paul says in1:27-31

3. When you think about the idea of telling a family member, friend, co-worker, or neighbor about Jesus, what emotions does it conjure up?  How does 2:3-4 make you feel when the apostle Paul says that when he was proclaiming the gospel in Corinth he was doing it in weakness, and in fear and much trembling, and with words wiich weren't all that eloquent?  How should the reality that the power of the Gospel lies within the message and the work of the Holy Spirit encourage us when we do become nervous and fearful?

Leave a Comment

Comments for this post have been disabled.