The Upper Room Community

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul tells his readers that they should not associate with immoral people. In fact, he said not to even eat a meal with them.  However, he specifically states that this instruction applies to “anyone who bears the name of brother” (1 Cor. 5:11).  In other words, it applies to people who claim to be followers of Christ.  Paul applies a different standard to people of the world who do not yet know Christ.  He said that these instructions don’t apply to non-believers.  In fact, he said “For what have I to do with judging otusiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” (1 Cor. 5:12).  In other words, while we have some responsibility to judge the actions of believers and to provide some correction where they continue to live in sin, that responsbility does not carry over to people who do not yet have a relationship with Christ.

In our society, Christians often do not follow this instruction.  They judge non-believers by the same standards as they judge those who are part of the body of Christ.  They expect non-Christians to have the same morals, take the same actions, and avoid the same things that Christians do.  They criticize those who do not live up to these standards and often won’t associate with them.  This is backwards.  If we judge non-Christians and refuse to associate with them, we will never be able to let our light shine before them so that they can see Christ at work in us.  However, judging and correcting those within the body of Christ in the way that Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians 5 and 6 will also serve this purpose, because non-believers will see that followers of Jesus really mean what they say and put their words into action.  And they will see that the people who don’t live out the teachings of Jesus aren’t really followers of Christ.

In the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 4, Paul reminds his readers of who our judge is.  He points out that he doesn’t care about the judgment he received from the Corinthians or any other people.  It didn’t matter to him whether people approved of him or disapproved of him.  He said that he didn’t even judge himself (1 Cor. 4:3-4).  While he was not aware of anything that he was doing wrong, that didn’t mean that he was not guilty.  He recognized that he could be blind or indifferent to his own motives. People are not perfect, so their judgment isn’t going to be perfect, either.  God’s judgment is what is truly important, and it is based on everything, including things that we don’t see.

The lesson for us is that we need to not be concerned with the judgment of people, either positive or negative.  Being thought of highly by people, even other followers of Christ, should not be our goal.  People judge based on different things than God does, so they may approve of us even when we are missing the mark as far as God is concerned.  Also, people might not take it well, and judge us harshly, when we are doing exactly what God wants us to do.  At the same time, there are people who believe that if they are not being persecuted, they are doing something wrong.  The negative judgment of non-believers becomes a goal for them.

Paul reminds us that we need to remember who our judge is.  His judgment is the only one that matters.  What people think, either positive or negative, pales in comparison to what God thinks.  If we do what God wants us to, and if we are right in his eyes, then everything will be fine.  We need to keep focused on that, rather than on what other people think.

I think it is significant that, after his greeting, the first topic that Paul discussed in his letter to the Corinthians was the problem of divisions and disunity within the church.  The fact that this is the issue he decided to focus on first tells us how significant the problem of disunity is.

In Corinth, the people appear to have divided over whose teachings they liked best.  Some preferred Paul, others Apollos, and others Cephas (Peter).  Still others essentially said “I’m not crazy about any of them, I’m a follower of Christ.”  Paul points out the fallacy of this division: Jesus, Peter, Paul and Apollos were all on the same side, working toward a common goal.  Jesus isn’t divided, so his followers shouldn’t be either.

While the body of Christ is divided, there is infighting and strife, and there can even be jealousy.  When these things exist, they affect our relationship with God and our ability minister to the world around us.  We will never be as efficient and effective as possible when we are working against each other rather than with each other.  In addition, the church is less attractive to non-believers when it is divided.  Why would people want to be a part of something where the people can’t get along with each other?

The followers of Christ need to get along with each other and work together.  We need to put aside our differences.  We need to give up our own desire to be right and to get others to admit that they are wrong.  We need to give up the idea that “working together” means “everyone agreeing to do it my way.”  If we can do that, we will be more effective as followers of Christ and more effective at taking his message to the world around us.

There is no reading for today, so feel free to use today to catch up on the readings from last week.  Here are the readings for the next week:

Wednesday, May 16 – 1 Corinthians 1 & 2
Thursday, May 17 – 1 Corinthians 3 & 4
Friday, May 18 – 1 Corinthians 5 & 6
Saturday, May 19 – 1 Corinthians 7
Sunday, May 20 – 1 Corinthians 9:19-10:33 Monday, May 21 – 1 Corinthians 11:17-12:31
Tuesday, May 22 – Catch up day

What struck me in today’s reading was the description of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.  When Paul came to town, there were about 12 disciples, and this group had an incomplete knowledge and understanding about Jesus.  After a little over two years, Luke could write that “all the residents of [the province of] Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10).  It is estimated that Ephesus alone had around 250,000 residents during this period, so we are talking a lot of people who heard the message of Jesus during that time.

How did he do it?  He and his disciples met every day in the Hall of Tyrannus, which was a public venue of some sort. They met and talked and learned in a place that anyone could walk into and be a part of the discussion.  I think it is interested that during this time, Paul’s ministry was stationary.  He didn’t go into the streets to take the message to people who hadn’t heard.  It appears that they came to him.

It also says that he was there every day.  In fact, the ESV adds a text note stating that some manuscripts add that he was there every day from the fifth hour to the tenth, or from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  No matter what someone’s work or life schedule was, they would likely be able to find some day that they would be available for at least some of those hours to go engage with Paul.  It is also worth noting that, while we don’t know what exactly Paul said or how he presented the message of Jesus, it must have been done in a way that made people want to come and listen.

This is a very different model than we tend to see in the modern church.  We tend to handle evangelism and teaching in one of two ways.  Either, we go out into the streets to deliver the message to people whether they are interested in hearing or not, or else we make people come to church buildings on Sunday mornings (and maybe also on Sunday or Wednesday nights, depending on your church).  Either of these options creates high barriers to entry.  Even if people are interested in hearing to what the church has to say, they have to a religious building where they will feel like an outsider, and they have a very small window of time to go.  If that window doesn’t fit their schedules, they are out of luck.

We need to figure out ways to be more like Paul’s model.  We need to find places to have discussions about Jesus and the Bible and to teach and learn that allow and encourage “outsiders” to listen and participate.  We need to be available in a way that fits people’s time schedules.  If we want everyone to hear, we need to eliminate as many barriers as possible.  We need to be in places where they are comfortable, and we need to deliver the good news in a way that makes people want to hear.  If we can do that, we should be more effective at helping people to “hear the word of the Lord.”

In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul warns his readers about the dangers of idleness.  We live in such a busy, constantly moving culture that it seems like having some time to do absolutely nothing is a good change.  Accomplishing everything so that we can get to that point can become a goal.

However, Paul points out that idleness can become a problem.  It can reach the point where idleness can become an excuse to take advantage of others.  In true Christian community, people take care of each other and make sure that everyone has what they need.  If others are taking care of what we need, there can become a disincentive to do things for ourselves.  For the Thessalonians, this had become such a problem that Paul had to tell them that if someone is not willing to work, they should not eat (2 Thess. 3:10).  They were taking advantage of the generosity of others and becoming a burden to the community.  Instead of being a burden to others, Paul is telling us that we should do as much as we can so that not only are we not a burden to others but so that we can contribute to taking care of people who truly do need help.

Additionally, when we are idle is can be easy to fall into sin.  For example, Paul notes that a person who is not busy at work can very easily become a busybody.  The more free time we have, the more opportunity we have to be tempted and to fall into that temptation.

Times of rest, when we do not have responsibilities that are demanding our attention, can be important.  In fact, the entire idea of the Sabbath is based on this idea.  However, when being idle turns into idleness, it opens the door to sinfulness.  And that needs to be guarded against.

What struck me in today’s reading was the 1 Thessalonians 4:21, which says “but test everything; hold fast to what is good.”  Paul is reminding us that people are not perfect.  Even well-meaning people who are trying to follow Jesus can say or do things that are not perfect.  They can be wrong.  This is true even for followers of Jesus who are in leadership positions.  And even Christians can have less than perfect motives.  As a result, we should test everything.  We should check it against scripture and what we know to be true.  If something we are told doesn’t pass that test, we should reject it

However, this is not a call to cynicism or skepticism.  Paul is not suggesting that we should have ignoring the words of others as our default position.  In fact, he chose to focus on the things that do pass the test.  If test something and it passes, then Paul tells us to hold on to it.  Just like we shouldn’t assume that something is true and correct just because it comes from a follower of Jesus, we shouldn’t assume that something is false or misleading just because it comes from a flawed person. We should test everything we are told.  Then we can hang on to the things that are good and let go of the rest.  If we can do that, we will be more effective followers of Jesus.

Several times in the first couple of chapters of Thessalonians, Paul reminded his readers the importance of imitation.  In 1:6, he told the Thessalonians that they were imitators of him and the people with him and imitators of Jesus.  In 2:14, he told them that they were imitators of the churches in Judea.

Followers of Christ, particularly new followers of Christ, have examples that they can follow.  They have the examples of Jesus.  While obviously he is the best example for us, he is also the most remote.  We can only read about what Jesus did; we can’t see for ourselves.  There is also the example of people who are following Jesus and who are farther along the road to discipleship than we are, like the example Paul was to the Thessalonians.  This is a more practical example, because we can actually watch what they do and how they respond to situations.  Also, there is the example other successful churches.  That example allows us to see how other believers life in community and how they impact the world around them.

We often learn best when we follow the examples of others.  Paul reminds us that this is true in Christianity as well, and he also reminds us that we do have some good examples that we can follow.  We have people we can learn from.  If we learn from those examples, we will be more effective followers of Jesus.

In Acts 17, Paul visited Athens.  When the people of Athens realized that he was preaching some kind of new philosophy or religion, they invited him to speak at the Areopagus.  As he began his sermon, Paul started by making a connection to things he had seen while walking around Athens.  He was new to town and to the culture of the place, but he did his very best to make a connection and to create a common bond that would make it easier for his listeners to connect with the message of Jesus.

I think it is significant that Paul didn’t start his message with ideas about theology or the sinfulness of his listeners.  Instead, he started with something that would demonstrate how what he had to say was relevant to his listeners.  He began by saying things that would draw his listeners in and make them want to know more rather than by saying things that he knew might turn them off before he even started.

Paul gives a great example of how to be relevant and engaging toward a decidedly unchristian audience without watering down or changing the content of his message.  Some people accepted his message, and some did not.  But the reality is that more people accepted his message and became followers of Jesus than would have if he had taken a different approach.  There is always the danger that when we try to relevant that we water down the message of Jesus and leave out parts that might be offensive.  However, Paul shows that we can be both sensitive to our listeners and their context while still being faithful to the message of Christ.

What struck me in today’s reading was Paul’s admonition “and let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 (ESV)).  I think there are lots of times that we oversimplify that verse down to just the idea that we should keep doing good, always.  But when we boil that verse down, I think we miss something important:  there are times when we can actually become tired of doing good.

There can be lots of situations in life where it seems like there is no benefit to doing the right thing.  Maybe there is a work situation where there seems to be no punishment for bad behavior and no incentive to do the right thing.  Maybe there is a situation where the problems and the people causing them get all of the attention.  Or maybe we feel like the people who always do the right thing are taken advantage of, because they do the right thing.  All of these can lead us to become tired of doing the right thing.  It can feel like not only is the no reward for doing good, but we seem to actually be worse off.

I think that this is really the situation that Paul is addressing.  When we are ready to give up on being good, we need to persevere.  He uses an agricultural metaphor.  Doing good is like sowing seed.  The harvest doesn’t come immediately after we plant the seeds.  It can be a long time between planting and the harvest.  Paul says that in good season we will reap the rewards of doing good.  It is also worth noting that this verse comes after a discussion of sowing the Spirit and reaping eternal life.  In that context, it is worth remembering that the reaping that follows sowing good may come from God in eternity.  We may not see the the rewards for doing good here on earth, but it is worth persevering even if the harvest “only” comes from God after this life is over.