IT’S GOT TO BE PERFECT…OR NOT
1 Corinthians 1:1-12
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge, God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I appeal to you, brothers, and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Would it not be nice to be in a perfect church where everyone is kind, considerate even loving, where people always agreed on matters. The teaching, not too complicated, not too simple, exactly right, where the music, wow, not too modern, not too old, not too fast, or slow, not too loud or soft, where the seats are just right, the lighting not too bright or dim, the temperature adjusting to the heat. Oh bliss.
OF COURSE, there is no such thing as a perfect church, I mean if it were perfect for you, someone else would have a problem and anyway the church could never be perfect as it is made up of different sinful, non-sinful people. YET THE MESSAGE FROM THIS BIBLE VERSE IS THAT EACH CHURCH IS PERFECT, NOW HOW?
Did you ever hear the phrase?
JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME.
Well, I did a lot and boy oh boy did I pay for whatever I did wrong. I wonder how Apostle Paul would react if he walked into a church today. Now we know that most people do not want to come to church stating the church wronged them or something is wrong in that church.
So, let us look at that church in Corinth, they had problems, issues, they were divided, following different leaders, social class playing a big role, they all thought they were better than others, they even sued each other. Argued about what they should eat, even about the Lords supper.
Now to understand this church, we need to know that there were two main cultures, Greek, then Corinth was destroyed in 146BC, and then built back up by Romans, they worshipped Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Sexual abuse and attaining status was the norm for this church. Does it not sound familiar, is it not most of the problems we experience today?
So, Paul writes this letter to the church to address the problems, the issues, one would expect Paul to explode and tell them off, I mean what would you have done? Yet Paul starts off by saying thank you God for what is good at Corinth…
WHAT ABOUT OUR CHURCH, WHAT ABOUT US?
I know the temptation is to notice the problems however as we look around, where can you see God at work? Can you see the evidence of the good God has done?
Do we as a church thank God?
Apostle Paul then goes on to call them the church of God, we too are a church of God, it is not owned by anyone, it belongs to God. Paul then goes further to say that they are sanctified which means Holy, (I mean there are problems, they have issues, yet he is telling them they are Holy),
Is anybody listening?
To be God’s church, to be sanctified means we are to be set apart for His purpose, you are called to be different, to be Holy.
SO, ACT LIKE IT, LOOK LIKE IT, LIVE UP TO IT.
HOW DIFFERENT ARE WE?
DO YOU HAVE JOY, CONTENTMENT OR DO YOU MOAN?
HOW HARD DO YOU WORK?
WHAT IS THE ATTITUDE YOU HAVE?
HOW DO YOU SPEAK TO PEOPLE, CAN THEY TELL YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN BY THE WAY YOU TALK?
The next apostle Paul says is that those people are called to be saints. We to are called to be saints, expected to live in holiness, both individually and as a church, but do we?
Now in those days, people did not like Paul, some challenged him, accused him, hurt him, wronged him yet he chose to thank God for them. Then how is it that we know so much about people and yet we do not even know their names, or that they have problems they need help with. We cannot even thank God for them.
Paul states that the church of Corinth have been given all speech, all knowledge, they have been enriched. We have all heard the saying, if you have nothing nice to say then do not say anything at all. We have the Gospel, God gave His Son to die for us, we have the Holy Spirit, so if God has called you to do something, he will equip you for it. God has given us all gifts. We all have issues, problems that is why we all need God.
HOW DO YOU USE THE GIFTS GOD HAS GIVEN YOU? ARE YOU MOTIVATED BY LOVE OR SOMETHING ELSE?
PERHAPS YOU LIKE BEING THE CENTRE OF ATTENTION OR YOU WANT TO BE NOTICED. DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF WHEN YOU HELP OR SERVE? PERHAPS YOU ARE NOT USING YOUR GIFTS THAT GOD GAVE YOU.
IN MATTHEW 25:14, It speaks about a master going on a journey and he puts his servants in charge until he returns.
That is us, we are in charge until the master returns, so I will ask again how are you using the gifts that God gave you?
Are you grateful to God for His work in your life?
Are you playing your part in the lives of others?
Apostle Paul had confidence, not in the church but in God. Nothing in our lives will keep us strong, only God can do that. We need to serve in love, help each other, be there for one another.
If we look in Revelations chapters 2 and 3, we can see churches are still issues, which Jesus then spoke to, to help them, to clean them of their spots and blemishes.
How many of us need that spoken word from Jesus Himself?
To the church of Ephesus, He called them the loveless church.
Have we as a church lost our first love?
To the church of Pergamum, He called them the compromising church.
Have we as a church allowed idols/ relationships to distract us from God?
To the church of Sardis, He called them the dead church.
Have we as a church become so lost that we let it die?
To the church of Laodicea, He called them the complacent/ lukewarm church.
Are we as a church spiritually complacent? Are we in need of a revival, if this is the case then we all need to get down on our knees as a church and pray to God to revive us?
To the church of Thyatira, He called them the corrupt church.
Are we as a church corrupt?
To the church of Smyrna, He called them the persecuted church.
Are we as a church persecuted?
To the church of Philadelphia, He called them the faithful church.
Are we as a church faithful?
We need to become like a hospital, a working environment for brokenness, the lost, the hurt yet at the same time, we need to be spiritually well, emotionally well, and health wise.
So, now you are asking, what is wrong with our church?
Let us look at it like this, each person has issues, problems. Do you agree with that? Instead of asking for help or trying to work it out, some people will make problems for others, instead of coming to church for God, to worship and glorify His name, we have made it all about ourselves, and what we can do to make someone miserable.
It is time to put God first, a verse comes to mind:
Matthew 7:3-5
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Maybe we need to concentrate on God, on His purpose for the church, on fixing our relationship with God, surely then the rest will have a way of sorting itself out.
If you need a prayer, a push, a help then you are more than welcome to come forward, God always answers prayer.
Let us pray…
