Dave Dishman

Paul expressed his frustration with the group of young believers in Corinth. They just couldn’t make the jump from their former ways to maturity in Christ.

At one point he calls them babies: Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

He pushes them to grow up: When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Then he chides them for naive thinking: Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.

Paul yearns for this young congregation to flourish in grace and knowledge and the practice of their faith. He longs for them to develop into fully mature followers of Jesus. They are not there yet, so Paul keeps hammering away.

But notice the one aspect of life Paul hopes they remain infantile—in regard to evil. Corinth was a cosmopolitan seaport. Wicked walked the streets arm in arm with corrupt and immoral. The world pressed in from all sides.

Paul strove to build neophytes into thinkers who allowed the Holy Spirit to guide and direct them. He then juxtaposed these qualities with a refusal to engage in the seamy side of life. In other words, don’t get good at being bad. Paul reminds us that adults in the faith know when act like a grown-up and when to think like a child.

I Corinthians 3:1-2; 13:11; 14:20

Photo by Luke Jones

A company of German soldiers launched World War 1 by invading a small village in Luxembourg, a vital center for lines of communication between Germany and Belgium. While only a tiny step in an enormous tragedy (20 million people died in WWI, which set the stage for WW2 where another 75 million died), the act underscored the madness to come.

The name of the village? Trois Vierges, or the Three Virgins, representing faith, hope, and love—the first casualty of the war to end all wars.* The name referred to this line from the Apostle Paul: So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Paul penned one of the most beautiful and moving passages in all literature on the overwhelming power of love: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Our world promotes love, talks of it constantly, protests in favor of love and at times uses love as a cudgel to batter an unfavorable cause. Those German soldiers invading Trois Vierges all had people they loved, either wives or children, or at least their dogs. It’s easier to talk about love and read beautiful words about love, than it is to practice love.

I need the Lord’s help to practice love. I must rely on the Holy Spirit to enable me to trouble myself beyond my circle of family and friends. I see too much of myself in those who tromp others underfoot while mouthing shibboleths about caring. To love my neighbor as myself remains a powerful challenge, and so I pray:

Lord, help me to love, and remind me of when I’m trampling those around me who need your touch today.

1 Corinthians 13

*The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman (p. 98)

Photo by Kyle Cleveland

Unique means one of a kind or without equal. Snowflakes are unique because the number of ways water molecules can combine into complex patterns is so massive that the chance of any two large snowflakes matching in nature is virtually zero. People are unique, as even identical twins carry different personalities.

God is unique. Here’s how the Lord described himself to the prophet Isaiah: I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior...Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

God is sovereign, God is incomparable, God is unmatched. God is unique.

As a result there is no other foundation upon which to build a life. No alternative hope for eternity. No fallback for my soul. Despite popular rhetoric, no conflicting belief system takes me to the Rock that is higher than I. Nothing else delivers. Every contrasting religion is false. While it seems a hard teaching in our therapeutic age, only the truth about the Lord God sets me free.

Clever copies in all their guises distract you and me from the real thing. Turn away and embrace the unique.

Isaiah 43:11; 44:8

Photo by Aaron Burden

The apostle Paul knew a great deal about athletes. It seems he was a sports fan, and likely attended the Olympic-style games held regularly in the region of Corinth. Look how he encouraged the members of the Corinthian church to excel in their faith:

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as to avoid hitting air; but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Back in the day athletic competitions in Greece drew large crowds. People understood the discipline necessary for athletes to compete successfully. Paul wrote to fellow enthusiasts who understood his metaphors. Box with purpose, discipline the body, run to win. Paul preached an intensity more in line with an elite athlete than a weekend warrior.

Which makes me ponder the vigor with which I follow Jesus. Am I a spare timer who lounges on the couch all week and only gets in the game on Sunday? Do I occasionally workout, yet continue to fill my belly with mental junk food? Paul encouraged a serious approach. Making my body my slave pushes me into a different lifestyle than merely jogging to maintain weight.

Over the years I’ve seen multiple disqualifications among ministers and co-workers. The value of discipline, self-control, and a rigorous approach to living as a follower of Jesus cannot be overstated. Time in the Scriptures, prayer, attending a good church and the power of the Holy Spirit all lead toward an enduring prize. Keep training, and the imperishable wreath will be yours.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Photo by Olena Karlyk