Series: 1 Corinthians: Church Off the Rails
Sermon: The Thing That Should Not Be - Part 1
Outline and Manuscript:
I. Jesus’ Grand Plan
II. When Church is Made into Something Else
III. Church Off the Rails
IV. Hope for a Church Off the Rails
Manuscript:
Introduction: We’re in the middle of a sermon series studying the first letter Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. It’s known as the letter or book of 1 Corinthians. We’re calling this series “Church Off the Rails” because the church at Corinth was a church that started well, but got off track pretty quickly.
• They forgot important truths and had a defective understanding of the gospel.
• This led to divisions within their fellowship, unbiblical ministry practices, and numerous doctrinal errors.
• Paul is the founding pastor of this church and has a deep love for the people there, so he writes to correct their many problems.
Opening Story: I recently met a couple and invited them to our church. Their story is common to hear these days: they used to actively serve and attend a church for years. But when they saw how some things in the church were done behind-the-scenes (i.e., “where the sausage is made”) they got discouraged how people treated each other and eventually decided that they could love Jesus but pass on His church. How tragic. But I think they are not alone…
I. Jesus’ Grand Plan
During His earthly ministry, Jesus told His disciples that He had a mission: it was to build His Church. And this church would start out small, like a tiny mustard seed, but would one day grow into something large, beautiful and profound. And this church would be an unstoppable entity. Persecution would not prevent its growth. Oppression would not put limits on its boundaries. Even the gates of hell itself would not prevail over Christ’s church.
This church would be an ecclesia—an assembly or gathering of people. But it wouldn’t be like a civic assembly; people wouldn’t unite around community service or sports or politics or caring for the environment (although all of these can be very good causes). No, the thing that would unite this gathering would be their commitment to follow Jesus and His teachings.
The people who would make up His church would have different stories and life experiences. Some had been morally respectable citizens, who paid their taxes, exemplified faithfulness in marriage, served in the military, and made great neighbors. Others would have a more “colorful” life story. Some were sexually immoral, idolaters, thieves, drunkards, and con artists who cheated people out of money. But none of that mattered; no one felt superior or looked down on someone else because all recognized the unifying factor between them: they were all were sinners needing a Savior.
And what an interesting group picture the church would make! From the days of Jesus till now, people in society separate themselves from others based on things like gender, age, ethnicity, wealth, education, disabilities, political worldviews and so on. But when Christ established the church, He created something different, some new that the world had never seen before. He took people divided by all sorts of things in this world, individuals who normally would never interact with one another—and through the gospel—turned them into a family.
The kind of family:
• Where people deeply love each other from the heart.
• Where we use our gifts to sacrificially serve each other.
• Where we don’t act judgmental when one of us sins, but we restore one another with humility and gentleness.
• A family where gossip and slander are as repulsive as eating trash and kindness and compassion are the motivating impulses behind every action.
• Where love is the law and humility is the governing attitude
To add another layer to this whole thing, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help to live out this new identity in Christ. The Spirit comes and creates the unity of the church. He teaches us and reminds us of all Christ’s teachings. He convicts us of sin. He empowers us to be His witnesses to the world around us. He helps us in our weaknesses and enables us to grow in Christ’s character, developing spiritual fruit within us.
Isn’t the church that Jesus died to establish a beautiful thing? Wouldn’t you want to be a part of a group of people that love and support each other like that. Through good times and bad, they are there. Kind and compassionate, earnest and humble. Patient and loving, they do not cast you aside in spite of your flaws. But together you grow into something so beautiful and glorious that only eternity itself will reveal.
II. When Church is Made into Something Else
When I got saved, I gave myself to Christ first, and then to His church. My whole adult life has been dedicated to leading, shepherding, teaching, and protecting God’s people as a pastor, wherever he sent me. It has been the honor of my life to serve Christ’s church. It may disappoint you to hear me say this, but I want to be honest and keep it real, serving and being a part of the church has been very disillusioning for me in some ways.
I don’t think I’m alone in this. The church I’ve just described—as we seen it in Scripture—is not the church I have consistently seen over the years.
• In fact, maybe you’ve had some negative church experiences that have left you scarred and hurting, and you’re only here today because someone you love invited you
• Or maybe you’re about ready to check out on the church—you’re tired of it and negative experiences have just worn you down.
• Or, maybe you’re in a classification of people that researchers call the “dechurched”—that is, people who have given up on the church for a number of reasons—but close to the top of that list is the fact that the church I just described is not the church you’ve experienced.
I have not seen this church in any sustained way over my life. But I long for it…how about you?
III. Church Off the Rails
How do we have this kind of church I’m describing?
I’ll give you the answer in a moment, but I first want us to look at the situation at Corinth. Corinth was a congregation that lost its way; the members ended up making the church about themselves, rather than Christ and the collective unity of the body. We see this really addressed in these verses. Paul minces no words in v. 17:
• 17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
What an indictment! How does a church get to a place where its meetings do more harm than good, where your worse off AFTER attending church? If you’re like me, you’ve had times when you didn’t feel like coming to Sunday worship, but you talk yourself into it (especially if you’re the pastor!) and by the time you go home, you’re saying to yourself, “Man, I’m glad I came to church today! I would have missed out on such a blessing!” Well Paul is saying that is happening in reverse at Corinth! You feel worse when you go home! How does this happen in a church? The answer: you make the church about you and your agenda, rather than us and Christ.
• 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
Paul says, “I hate to believe it, but apparently it’s true!” You come together as a group, but you’re really fractured. You have differences that you won’t reconcile. This group is opposed to that group. You act like Congress. You smile for the group picture, but after the photo shoot, you take up sides, defending your turf. It’s us vs them!
• 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
In other words, in times of division, you can really see who has God’s approval. Christian maturity is found in those who honor Christ and work to edify the whole body of Christ; not those who splinter and fragment the church.
Christ’s goal is that His church be one people, who passionately love Him and unceasingly love each other. And division militates against this. Division forms groups; it sees color of skin; it fixates on a person’s age; it loves cliques; it focuses on “rights” and “representation” in the church and power to be gained, or held on to. God hates division because it divides what He has joined together, thus making the church ineffective—so much so that the apostle says it has corrupted your worship gatherings. Notice how this all affected their worship in particular:
• 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
The problems at Corinth had impacted an important part of worship. (Explain the Lord’s Supper and share the gospel here)
How do you end up corrupting one of the most beautiful ceremonies of worship the church participates in? You make it about you and your pet issues rather than Christ and us. And so, Paul says you can give your gathering a spiritual name, you can call it worship or the Lord’s Supper but it’s not because the way you’re going about things dishonors the Lord and your brother.
• 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
In biblical times, when they had the Lord’s Supper, they would also have a larger meal attached to it. It was sort of a covered dish dinner—people brought food from home. The wealthier members brought lots of good food and wine with them. But the poorer members usually had nothing or very little to bring. The wealthy people felt entitled to the food and wine since they paid for it and brought it, and left none for the poorer members, thus leaving them hungry and humiliated.
And so they took something that was sacred—the Lord’s Supper—and treated it as common—as if it were the last run at the Golden Corral just before closing time. And by the end of their worship service you had drunk, gluttonous church members staggering around. The whole thing looked more like a Thursday night frat boy party than a worship service.
IV. Hope for a Church Off the Rails
Now, at this point, you’d think that Paul would tell them to just pack it up. You folks are a lost cause! You guys are too messed up to call yourself a church. Take Jesus but reject the church.
But Paul would never say that.
So, what’s the solution for a church like Corinth that goes off the rails? Or, to state this in a positive way: How do we have this kind of church that Christ died and rose to create? Is it merely just staying with the church? No, it’s more proactive than that. The answer is love.
Answer: We cultivate love for Christ and each another.
As we read the letter of 1 Corinthians, Paul will show us in chapter 13 that love is preeminent in the church; it is the defining quality and character trait of God’s people. Without love, our good deeds don’t matter. Without love, the exercise of spiritual gifts is hollow. “If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. (1 Cor. 13:3, The Message)
Divisions and selfishness surrounding the Lord’s Supper at Corinth were only manifestations of the deeper problem at Corinth. The real problem is that they were lacking love for Christ and each other:
• When love takes a backseat in the church, pride sits in the driver’s seat.
• When love for Christ wains, then gluttony becomes our passion.
• When love for each other fades, self-seeking and personal agendas become our focus.
Application: When love for Christ and each other in a church is our central commitment, then…
• We can disagree but genuinely love and respect one another
• A person’s social status, occupation or their race is irrelevant
• Coming to church on Sunday is transformed from obligation to joy; no longer an “ought to,” but about want to: I want to love and serve Christ and others; I want to be a blessing to others
• Brothers and sisters are visited in the hospital; meals are gladly prepared for the sick or those recovering from surgery
• Politics is left at home, where it belongs
• Songs, instrumentation, worship style are unimportant. Our attention is given to other things: Did we honor Christ with our singing, were our songs gospel-centered, did we serve and encourage one another by singing with joy and enthusiasm?
• “Us and them” is not in our vocabulary
Closing Illustration: Recently I was invited to do the invocation for a ceremony in our town that honored citizens age 90 and above for their positive contributions to the community. Twelve people were honored for “loving their neighbors” in unique and different ways. As I read the brief biography of the twelve citizens who were honored, I noticed something they all had in common: every one of the recipients belonged to a local church. It made me think…what would a biography say about my generation? Will the next generation know Christ AND stay with His church till the end of their days on this earth?
Why stay with Christ’s church? I could give us a number of reasons, but let me give you one: Christ is making His church into something beautiful. We’re not there yet; we’re all a work in progress. But as long as you participate, you continue to grow into the likeness of Christ and you help others to do the same. In short, we all help each other grow into the kind of spotless, holy bride that Christ is making us. So I would say to you, if you really love Jesus and you really love His church, then give yourself to it. Christ is worth it. So is the church. My hope for each of you and I is that when we reach the end of our days on this earth, that we will be able to say that we didn’t just stay with Christ, but also with His people, creating a community of love that helps believers grow and is the longing of a watching world.
