Sometimes a passage is difficult because it contains a lot of ideas in a small space, or because of the intensity of the logic. Sometimes they are difficult because they prove so incisive and challenging that we kind of sub-consciously protect ourselves against what they are saying: we won’t let ourselves understand what is being said because the consequences are more than we can deal with.
If my own experience is anything to go by, we’re dealing with the latter scenario as we turn to I Cor.1:18-30. We are so susceptible to the same temptation, to making the same mistakes, as Corinth. We have a (well-intentioned) desire for the Church to be influential in the world. We often want the Church to have a kind of cultural credibility, financial clout, or political influence. Or if we are a bit more subtle, we long to see a more overtly ‘spiritual’ power. We want people to think the Church is relevant and accessible (in a bygone generation we might even have said ‘cool’). We want people to be impressed. We want to be seen as rational and educated and sophisticated. For the good of the Gospel, of course.
We are, in other words, very Corinthian.
And Paul has little patience with such spiritual posturing. We cannot preach the Gospel using methods that critically undermine that Gospel. And a community brought into being by the cross must not reject being shaped by that cross. The end does not ever justify the means when it comes to the economy of God.
Paul is challenging that whole way of thinking… and is calling us back to a humble dependence on the Holy Spirit and the Gospel of Christ… that affects how we present ourselves and how we are perceived. Paul categorically rejected everything that his culture would have considered essential to getting a message across effectively. He consciously rejected the wise and persuasive, and relied instead on a ‘demonstration of the Spirit’s power’ (2:4). It is when we have lost the Spirit’s power that we rely on production values, marketing techniques and cultural credibility. Which is ironic, because often Churches that shape themselves in these ways are most vocal about their experience of the Spirit’s power!
Read I Cor.1:18-31
Where do we see the Church today aspiring to use the ‘power’ and ‘wisdom’ of the world in its evangelism and worship? Why is this so compelling to Christians?
Is it legitimate for a Church to do this, or is it sinful?
What would you say to someone who decided they were going to start going to a Church that was embracing such techniques?
Do you think Paul is unduly pessimistic about humanity’s pursuit for knowledge of God? What about those who are sincerely seeking God?
Why has God made truth so obscure and elusive? Why is our ‘boasting in the Lord’ so important?
Do you think God is deliberately frustrating humanity in their search for truth? Can you show why you think what you do from this passage? If you think the answer is ‘Yes’, why would God do that?
If ‘demanding signs’ is a bad thing, what do you make of the idea that people would become Christians if they saw more miraculous signs?
If ‘wisdom’ is a bad thing, do you think we should work hard at explaining what we believe and why we believe it? What does Paul have in mind when he talks about wisdom? What might be a contemporary equivalent?
Why do you think Paul is so derogatory about the Church (v.26-27)?
How does this passage affect our approach to evangelism?
(When you have answered this question, read I Cor.2:1-5. Does that change your answer in any way?)
What would a Church be like that followed Paul’s teaching and example? Where do you think we have this right at MIE? …and where do we have it wrong?
