Forged For Be More Than A Personality Cult Series

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking to 1 Corinthians to come to a better understanding of what it means to call oneself a Christian. As Christians, we are called to live a very distinctive way. Being a Christian is a calling to the hard work of shaping the metal of our lives (our character) into a form that expresses God’s masterpiece within all of us. The whole letter focuses on and purports to show us how Christian virtue and character are the transforming habits of our mind and heart which demonstrate the power and wisdom of Jesus Christ. A power and a wisdom that is often baffling to the rest of the world.

I’ll never forget the first time I came across a Christian of real character. I was still in the everyday work world. I had just started this journey with Christ and honestly, I thought I had it all figured out. I thought that there were different rules for how you acted at work and in your personal life. The Christian life is what you did after the work day was over. I know warped but that’s where I was. So when a business owner who was a friend and a Christian shared that their work troubles - a partner slowly squeezing him out, a cash flow problem and the weight of being an employer – I thought I should share my business acumen to help him know which way to head. I suggested an attorney, a lawsuit, a sales force commission reduction and letting go of some support staff. It would be hard but in the end, he would regain control. He literally winced at my suggestions and then he said he would pray on it. I thought he was just conflict avoidant. However, after a few months had passed by he shared why he didn’t listen to my suggestions. He explained he didn’t want to sue his partner or cut the commissions or lay anyone off because for years, he saw himself as a man of influence to his materialistic partners, the staff and even his suppliers. He believed he was a Christian business owner so he could use the platform for God’s glory. He had identified my suggestions prior but felt in carrying them out, it would have made him like every other business.

As I reflect on this, I am drawn to 1 Corinthians 1:18-25. While you are turning to it in your bible or on your bible app, let me give you a little background. The apostle Paul is writing to a church plant in Corinth which is rife with fights rumors, and factions. His writing is an attempt to restore Christian unity without losing impact on an ever-increasing group of new Christians. He says,

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

The reality is that the worldview outside the church is one without a long term view. It’s centered on the here and now, on one’s own propulsion, not failing and on getting what you can before the timer of your life goes off. However, a Christian worldview calls us to a different understanding. It calls us to a eternal view of life, a reliance on God to provision, on an understanding that our greatest failings are not to be buried but lifted to the Lord to be healed and so used to witness and glorify God’s perfect will in this life. This life is not about any one of us. It is about the larger message of Jesus and our role as his body, his hands and feet to world in desperate need of his redemption.