A Good Place to Start

The church in the city of Corinth was a mess. People were fighting with one another. Some were taking others to court. Sin and dissension had crept in so far that they could not even agree on what their worship times should look like. They even fought during a friendly meal that they called “The love feast” (ironic huh?).

It is no wonder then that as we read the letters that we call 1 and 2 Corinthians, we see the apostle Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, trying to sort out one issue after another. The surprising part, though, is the problem that Paul deals with first.

In the first ten verses of 1 Corinthians chapter one, the name of Jesus is used ten times. In these verses, Paul reminds them that they have been “called by Christ” (verse 2) and they have received “grace” and “mercy” from Christ (verses 3 and 4). He underlines the fact that Jesus is the one who will keep them “strong to the end” and that he is the one who makes them “blameless” in God’s sight. In fact, he tells them that the only hope that they have of finding unity and agreement is for each and every one of them to be focused on and following Christ. “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1:10).

Before he deals with their specific problems, he refers them back to Christ. Before he attempts to fix anything else, he reminds them of who they all should be following. As he talks about the divisions and the things that are tearing that church apart, ten times in ten verses he mentions the name and the purpose of Jesus.

Could that be a message to us? Could it be that if we all really focused on Christ, many of our other issues would automatically disappear? If church was not about “getting my way” but “following Christ’s way”, would things be different?

It is certainly worth a try!

The Bible is like…

Over the years, people have often compared the Bible to a map or an instruction book, because it is something that gives you information and tells you how to get home.

While I understand that, I have two problems with those analogies. First, maps and instruction books are boring! You only use them when you are lost or in trouble and you do not use them every day. Secondly, the Bible never calls itself a “map” or an “instruction book”. It does, however, give us some other, much more useful, pictures.

1. The Bible is a Light. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). Lights are powerful. They allow us to see and understand what is around us and, strangely enough, they give us courage!

My Grandparents used to live about four blocks from our house and the quickest way to get there was to cut through a cemetery. I was never scared of the cemetery in the daytime, but nighttime was a different story. The lack of light made the journey more difficult and much scarier.

2. The Bible is a story. Stories are inspiring and they touch us in ways that other things simply cannot. If you have ever cried during a movie, you know the power of a story.

After crossing the Jordan River on dry ground, the men are commanded to pick up twelve stones from the riverbed and make a monument out of them. Then God says, “In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord” (Joshua 4:6-7). It was important for God’s people to know and pass on the story of how God looked after them.

My point is that the Bible is not a boring, academic book that should only be referred to in times of trouble. Rather, it is a powerful, living, life changing story that gives us light, help and understanding (1 Peter 1:22-23; Hebrews 4:12-13).

If we change the way we think about the Bible, maybe we will read it differently.

Not worth the Fight

It was supposed to be a day to remember and it was, for all the wrong reasons.

Two 10-year-old best friends convinced their dads to take them to a soccer game at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. The big attraction was soccer star David Beckham. The boys talked about the day, dreamt about it and even made a sign for Beckham.

After the game, Beckham walked over to where the two boys were sitting, removed his jersey and threw it over the fence to them. Eric Kerr’s son was holding the sign and Wilfred Ho’s son who caught the jersey. That is where the trouble started.

The Kerrs claim that Beckham saw the sign and intended their boy to have the jersey. The Hos claim that their son caught it, so it belongs to him.

On April 10, the Hos received a letter from the Kerrs’ attorney demanding the return of the shirt. In turn, the Hos attorney responded that they were the rightful owners and that they were not giving the shirt up. The case is now headed to court and the one time best friends do not speak to one another anymore.

Sadly, that story is not unusual. Too often, we let little things ruin the big, important things. We sacrifice people and relationships because of things and positions. Pride, selfishness, greed, and many other ungodly attitudes get in the way of maintaining healthy, strong relationships. Too often, we “Win the battle, but lose the war”.

No matter who wins the David Beckham jersey battle, the Kerrs and the Hos have lost the war because they have lost their friendship.

Here is a radical idea: “Why not rather just be wronged?” That was Paul’s advice to the church in Corinth. In fact, that same verse says, “The very fact that you have lawsuits (and all kinds of other fights) among you means that you have been completely defeated already” (1 Cor. 5:8). Some things are just not worth the cost of the fight.

It is important not to let “little things” become “big things”.