"For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.
We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe,
to angels as well as to men.
We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!
We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags,
we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
We work hard with our own hands.
When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
when we are slandered, we answer kindly.
Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world."
(1 Cor. 4:9-13)
Paul was a little upset with his "dear children" (1 Cor. 4:14) for taking an "I'm 18 now and I can do what I want in the faith" attitude. They were back home in Corinth living for themselves, squabbling over the remote control, wrecking the family donkey, eating all the cookies and neglecting one another's needs while Daddy Paul was out in the field in soul-to-soul combat with the lost world. He was fed up with their childish and immoral behavior and decided to get it out of his system by writing everything he was feeling in a letter. Then, unlike many of us, he actually put a stamp on it and sent it. Part of me would like to have been a fly on the wall when this letter arrived at the church office and word got out to head to Chloe's house (1 Cor. 1:11) to hear what Paul had to say. People pushed their way into the room, shoving "less-thans" out of the way to get a good seat while the "less-thans" glowered and muttered at the gluttons with crumbs in their beards. The beginning of Paul's letter, the part where he thanked God for them and assured them of God's Presence and Power, had them smiling smugly at one another and one fat fellow who's mouth was still full said it should be framed and put in the church office. However, the mood in the room quickly cooled as Paul wasted no ink with long greetings or opening prayers but jumped right off the parchment and down their throats. The news of their immaturity and immorality, their divisiveness and selfishness had reached his ears all the way across the Aegean Sea to Ephesus. I imagine there was some awkward silence, then uncomfortable shuffling, and maybe some glaring at each other when certain problems were addressed but all heads were most likely hanging by the end of Paul's lengthy and scalding epistle when he signed off by saying, "If anyone does not love the Lord - a curse be on him. Come, O Lord! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen." (1 Cor. 16:22-24) The Message states the same idea this way, "If anyone won't love the Master, throw him out. Make room for the Master! Our Master Jesus has His arms wide open for you. And I love all of you in the Messiah, in Jesus." The ones with crumbs still on their mouths stopped by the drugstore for some Pepto on their way home.
I feel I've received a similar letter from Oswald Chambers the last few days. Within my home and church walls I stay busy working to make the niceties even nicer while the people God called me to give Living Water and the Bread of Life shiver outside the fellowship. Mr. Chambers insists that being "separated unto the gospel" means I no longer pursue personal comfort, private ambitions, or pet projects. The call of the Gospel overrides everything - everything else - especially my reputation in the world's eyes. I've got to learn not flinch when media personnel and news networks criticize and persecute evangelical Christians. They need our prayer and witness as much as anyone. I can't let criticism of my church, my denomination, my beliefs, my favorite version of the Bible distract me from living and teaching the Gospel. The "my's" in that last sentence are the whole problem - I keep taking the wrongs things personally and fighting in the back with my fellow soldiers to see who gets the last cookie instead of getting on the front line to slay ignorance with God's Truth and Redemption.
Lord God, we're petty people but You can change us. You can do anything. You can rearrange our priorities and empower us to live and teach Your Word. It doesn't matter who's against us - You're for us and fighting through us when we're fighting for what You died to give people: the Redemption of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Keep our heads and hearts in Your battles and make us big enough people to drop the "niceties" to live "separated unto the Gospel." Open our eyes to see Your Face and nothing else will matter.
In the Name of Jesus who never took His eyes off of You and Who stayed on the front line His entire time on earth!
"What, then, shall we say in response to this?
If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:18
"She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her:
"You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." Genesis 16:13
No comments:
Post a Comment