Dave Dishman

We live in the most individualist society in human history. Catering to self surrounds us. More people live alone than ever before, and grocery stores sell half-loaves of bread for those of us who cannot get through a full loaf before it goes stale. A lot of good comes from developing our potential and encouraging others to do the same. But the needs of those around us fade in significance.

Paul wrote about a unique concern to the church at Corinth. Vendors sold meat from animals originally slaughtered as a sacrifice to an idol. Paul’s view was that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one. He had no trouble eating that meat. But others in the congregation struggled. Many new followers of Jesus converted out of a powerful culture of idolatry. They loathed their former religious practices. That meat sitting in the butcher’s stall represented enslavement, and at the same time served as a subtle enticement to return. It was better to avoid the whole mess.

Paul strongly encouraged those in the congregation to pay attention to this issue and care for those who struggled. He wrote: Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Paul chose to go meatless in order to nurture the faith of those new to Christ. For us that might mean evaluating how much we spend when we’re out to dinner, or watching certain movies, or taking our friend who struggles with drinking to a party where we know alcohol will be served. Better to miss the party than ruin the faith of a friend.

Cain famously retorted Am I my brother’s keeper? when the Lord asked him about Abel. The answer is yes. The emerging faith of new believers is delicate. Those of us with more experience and knowledge are to guide and encourage rather than skip off on our own. Seedlings of faith are precious in the eyes of the Lord. Many times swearing off a brief pleasure builds the kingdom of God, and no party matches the joy of bringing others along in their faith.

1 Corinthians 8

Photo by Kylo

During an intense scene from the legal drama A Few Good Men, an attorney hammers at a witness who happens to be a hardened Marine colonel. The attorney pushes and prods and delivers the line, I want the truth! The colonel thunders back, You can’t handle the truth!

I act the same way with God. I’m afraid to share what’s really driving my thoughts, my frustrations, my fears and my desires. I’m not the attorney asking for truth, I’m that bottled-up colonel refusing to answer. I’m afraid God cannot handle the truth.

How ludicrous, yet how human. Adam and Eve hid from God after eating forbidden fruit. They feared God couldn’t handle the truth. In the same spirit I cover up my wrong-doings and failings from the Lord.

King David wrote: For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him...Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

David hid again and again, yet returned again and again. David poured out his heart, at one time lying in his face for days praying for his infant son with Bathsheba to live. Despite the boy’s death, David still made God his refuge. Surrounded by people always jockeying for position, his heart awakened to the steadiness of the Lord. David learned that he could tell God anything, and so he did.

You and I can tell God anything as well. Share your frustrations, angers, fears, mistakes and embarrassments. Seek forgiveness, even for those things you feel are unforgivable. Lay out your case. God can handle the truth.

Psalm 62:5-8

Photo by Rémy Penet

Does a thought ever strike that surprises you, as in where did that come from? I don’t mean an unkind, nasty type of thought, but one that sheds insight into a person that allows you to see them as God might? Or perhaps you perceive that a friend running after money might actually being running from the Lord? Or you get the inkling that our culture’s obsession with cutting and mutilating our bodies and the bodies of our children point to a deeper need to connect with the God of the universe?

If so, you’re seeing evidence of a renewed mind. Paul wrote to the church members in Corinth teaching that those who follow Jesus have received the Holy Spirit so that we might understand the things freely given us by God. He goes on to contrast the Spirit of God with the natural spirit of the world. Those without God’s Holy Spirit cannot understand spiritual matters. They don’t have the capacity, and refusal to bow to Christ locks these folks out of such discernment.

But those indwelt with the Holy Spirit possess a not-so-secret power—the mind of Christ. Over time, the Lord trickles wisdom into our soul. With a willingness to submit, hang with the Lord in his silences and listen to his whispers, new ways of thinking develops.

A fresh mind develops in fits and starts. We begin to discern what is important and what it not, what might matter to the kingdom of God and what is dross. We learn to avoid issues and blunders. We see God all around us, we understand more than ever the lostness of man and the glory of being found. We treat our neighbors as we would like to be treated. Best of all, we enjoy the Lord and walk in his good graces.

Lean into the Lord. Give the Holy Spirit your life to do with as he wishes, then watch your soul expand as the mind of Christ develops within you.

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Photo by Daniel Dan

When I go for a physical exam this week the doctor will check my cholesterol. Heart disease runs in my family, so if it’s high I pay attention. At that point I want reality, not illusions. I need to change my behavior. Heeding the doctor’s warning saves me from a shortened or incapacitated life.

The children of Israel failed their own exam by chasing after pleasure and demonic gods. They ignored warning after warning from the Lord. They told the prophets: Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.

I prefer to hear smooth things from the Lord. Nothing too challenging or upsetting, just mild, soothing words. Indeed, the Bible carries comfort and peace and I go there often for that purpose. But the Word of God also carries a bite. I need to hear from the Holy One of Israel.

Truth often hurts, but reality is my friend. The honesty of Scripture saves me from a weak and incapacitated life. The words of the Lord carry rough edges, but their difficulty going down draws me closer to Him and makes me a better man.

Isaiah 30:9-11

Photo by Julia Taubitz