This is Church not Theatre
1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Today’s scripture passage is meant as a loving correction from a father to his children. St. Paul is writing to his spiritual children in Corinth a church that he planted and now he goes about watering it.
Just like the parable of (The Sower) that Jesus gave us in Matthew chapter thirteen and Mark chapter four. The seed of our faith springs up in us regardless of the where we live.
For the Corinthians they were living in a very cosmopolitan city with lots of temptations and many local experts who professed to know what real Christianity was and how it was to be practiced.
As a result the Corinthian church had Christians who were trying to grow along the path where the birds came and ate some of the seed, and others were trying to grow in rocky places and sprang up quickly but had shallow roots. Still others like the parable had been trying to grow among the thorns only to be choked out. Fortunately there were those who had been growing in the good soil.
Paul as their spiritual father wanted to rescue those who were not in the good soil. Paul wanted to lovingly correct the Christians who were in a bad environment and gently bring them back where they could all grow together.
The church in Corinth had become divided as these Christians went off each in their own direction and many of them were in peril because of it. Even though they were in trouble they thought they were safe because each splinter group thought they were the ones who were right.
Paul wrote them telling them that they should not choose their faith like the flavor of the day at some ice cream store. The people at this church were all picking their favorite Pastors and then their favorite teachings. This resulted in disunity and confusion and hard feelings among the leadership. It was like an episode of Canadian Idol for Pastors, just phone in your vote to see who stays this week and who gets kicked off.
The Greeks love the science of logic and reason in fact they claim to have given it to civilization. Just as they claim to have created civilization through democracy. It’s like in the movie A Big Fat Greek Wedding where the father constantly teaches his daughters non-Greek fiancé about the true Greek root of every English word. The Greeks have a tremendous pride when it comes to language and reason and logic. They see themselves as the author of all these things. But in fact they are the recipients having received these things from God but that is another story.
So it is no small wonder that when it comes to the preaching of the gospel that they also claim an original orthodoxy. For them the gospel should be preached according to a specific formula or manner. It is almost as if it was a recipe that required the proper amount of very carefully measured ingredients. Each ingredient had to be pure and perfect and added to the discourse at just the right time. Preachers in Corinth who strayed from this formula were not following by the rules as they saw them and so it created conflict.
Paul loved them as only a father could and so he penned this letter to them in an effort to bring peace back into the body of the church and conformity to their understanding of the gospel.
Paul opens by talking about servitude. He uses a Greek word that refers to the kind of servants who serve on a Greek Galley (ship). The word he used for servant is the same one that referred to a rower. The ship had three levels of rowers and the ones Paul is talking about were in the bottom level of the Trireme. That is the kind of servitude that Paul wanted to bring them back to.
I know that I like to use music and props when I sing for you and sometimes it may look like I’m making a theatrical production out of a musical presentation. It is not my intention to so distract you from the message in the music that you get caught up in the entertainment rather than the teaching. But some people could see it that way and some people may be offended while others might really enjoy it. But that is me, that is how I am led to communicate and my personality comes out.
It was this kind of thing that was happening in Corinth. Some people in the church preferred one Pastor over another. Some people liked one Pastors teaching style and others disliked it and the division grew until the noise reached St. Paul’s ears.
Paul tried to narrow the field of division a little by using himself and his friend Apollo’s as an illustration of the problem. What Paul is trying to explain to the church is that they must not value one Preacher over another. He is saying that both he and Apollo’s are called by God and are gifted by God but that call and the gifts may be expressed differently in the ministry of each person.
The Corinthians had made the mistake of approaching worship like a smorgasbord. They were taking what they thought was the best and walking by what they really needed on their plates. It was like a child loading up with deserts and sweets and passing up all the nutritious food they really needed. To make matters worse each of the leaders of this church thought he or she had the perfect combination on their plate and wanted the others to copy them.
Paul said wait a minute, who is it that first brought you to faith in Jesus Christ? Who is it that nurtured you and taught you like a father teaches his child? Well the answer was only Paul could be our father in the faith. Since that was the case Paul was telling them to leave behind the new and different things that they were picking and choosing and look again at their father as an example.
It reminds me of how you can cut out a copy of something over and over again until it no longer looks like the original. With each little turn of the scissors’ we deviate from the true pattern until we find we have left it all together.
So Paul is sending his best example, he sends Timothy whom he calls his son. In Timothy the Corinthians will see Paul and they will see Jesus. In this example the Corinthians will have a true copy of Paul and they will not be misled by the many poor copies they have been listening too.
Finally Paul speaking like a father says we can do this two ways the hard way or the easy way which one do you prefer?
So my word to you today is that you do not judge a ministry for its style against the style of someone else’s. Let what is said and taught or sung or acted out stand or fall on its own against the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastors are just the messengers the message remains Jesus Christ.
But for me I sometimes have to sing about it and act it out. Try to put up with me as I try to reflect Jesus among you. I apologize if from time to time it seems like you’re looking into one of those fun house mirrors but it is what is on the other side that matters. On the other side is a Pastor who is just a sinner saved by grace trying his best to be like Jesus.
That is all any really good Pastor tries to do, so look past the person and try to see Jesus.
Let us pray.
