If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. I Corinthians 6:1-8
This ministry of mediation that Paul speaks of in this passage is almost completely lost in the modern church. I have visited nearly every kind of church and I have seen internal squabbling in every one of them. I have seen Christians cheat and take advantage of each other in business dealings and rake each other over the coals through nasty divorces.
O, Church, what has happened to turning the other cheek? When was the last time we went two miles with one another when one would sufficed? What wind whipped away our Lord's words, "Give to him that asks of you"? Paul says we are better to be cheated than defeated by our interminable squabbling.
Friend, don't be afraid to take the risk of being a peacemaker. Let us hold each other to the standard that Jesus set and preserve the unity of the Spirit among us.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: Keeping Pure
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
Sin is contagious. The reason behind dealing with sin in our midst is the same reasoning behind the Levitical law concerning lepers: to protect the community from infection. At the first appearance of the slightest spot, we must examine it and take steps to remove it and keep it from spreading.
Paul reminds us here that the infection of sin is rampant outside the camp of the redeemed. But neither germs nor sin know the meaning of boundaries and the wickedness around us seeps into our lives and the church. When we find it, he tells us to throw it out and start afresh.
The recipe for spiritual growth is to be around those who are morally pure and spiritually mature. We absorb the essence of around us. If it is the essence of the Holy Spirit, then we are more likely to also be filled with the Spirit. If it is the essence of sin, then we are more likely to sin.
So let us examine ourselves – aware of every taint of boasting or immorality. Let us purify our hearts through repentance and confession, and then let us partake of that which is pure, sincere and true.
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
I Corinthians 5:6-12
Sin is contagious. The reason behind dealing with sin in our midst is the same reasoning behind the Levitical law concerning lepers: to protect the community from infection. At the first appearance of the slightest spot, we must examine it and take steps to remove it and keep it from spreading.
Paul reminds us here that the infection of sin is rampant outside the camp of the redeemed. But neither germs nor sin know the meaning of boundaries and the wickedness around us seeps into our lives and the church. When we find it, he tells us to throw it out and start afresh.
The recipe for spiritual growth is to be around those who are morally pure and spiritually mature. We absorb the essence of around us. If it is the essence of the Holy Spirit, then we are more likely to also be filled with the Spirit. If it is the essence of sin, then we are more likely to sin.
So let us examine ourselves – aware of every taint of boasting or immorality. Let us purify our hearts through repentance and confession, and then let us partake of that which is pure, sincere and true.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: Restoring the Fallen
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. I Corinthians 5:1-5
When a Christian falls into destructive sin patterns, it is an emotionally charged situation for both the one who falls and for the ones trying to restore their brother or sister.
For those of us who fall, we experience a confusing mix of emotions from guilt to doubt and from anger to sadness. Being exhorted about sin in your life can be a scary thing. Your reputation is likely ruined. Your friends and family may desert you. You may even lose your church home. You find yourself in a mud pit fighting to keep your head from going under.
For those of us who love someone who has fallen, the path is by no means easier. A profound grief pervades our spirit. We fear the fallen one may not repent and be lost forever. We find it hard to know what to say – wanting to love the sinner, but not sure how to do that without condoning the sin. Even if the lost one is restored, sometimes our relationship with them is forever tainted with the bittersweet memories of the difficult journey of restoration.
Brothers and Sisters, as someone who has been on both sides of the fence, let me beseech you to be kind. You do not need to agree with each other to be kind. You do not need to condone sin to be kind. Kindness warms the heart. It makes the fallen one feel loved and wanted. It eases the grief, the pain and the anger. It sows seeds of light at the end of the tunnel.
When a Christian falls into destructive sin patterns, it is an emotionally charged situation for both the one who falls and for the ones trying to restore their brother or sister.
For those of us who fall, we experience a confusing mix of emotions from guilt to doubt and from anger to sadness. Being exhorted about sin in your life can be a scary thing. Your reputation is likely ruined. Your friends and family may desert you. You may even lose your church home. You find yourself in a mud pit fighting to keep your head from going under.
For those of us who love someone who has fallen, the path is by no means easier. A profound grief pervades our spirit. We fear the fallen one may not repent and be lost forever. We find it hard to know what to say – wanting to love the sinner, but not sure how to do that without condoning the sin. Even if the lost one is restored, sometimes our relationship with them is forever tainted with the bittersweet memories of the difficult journey of restoration.
Brothers and Sisters, as someone who has been on both sides of the fence, let me beseech you to be kind. You do not need to agree with each other to be kind. You do not need to condone sin to be kind. Kindness warms the heart. It makes the fallen one feel loved and wanted. It eases the grief, the pain and the anger. It sows seeds of light at the end of the tunnel.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: Role Models
I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. I Corinthians 4:14-17
Nature tells us that every baby has parents. In the same way, every Christian needs spiritual parents to show them the way of faith. Like earthly parents, spiritual mentors teach us what this new world is all about. They warn of us the pitfalls and dangers to watch out for. They direct us to places we can find joy and fulfillment. The live faith out before our very eyes and we learn more by watching them than we do by what they say. An then, when the time is right, they send us out to show others everything we have learned.
Brothers and Sisters, do you have a spiritual mentor in your life? Someone to advise you, pray for you and be a role model for your life? If not, pray for God to show you who that could be or ask him to bring someone into your life to meet that need.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: Those Who Lead Us
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment. I Corinthians 4:8-13
Our leaders are the face of the church to the world. They allow themselves to be pushed down that those they lead may be raised to a higher plane. They take the hits the world swings at us and wear targets on their chest for the arrows of the enemy. It is the shepherds who are injured fighting off the wolves that the sheep may remain safe.
Spiritual leadership is not for the faint-hearted. Many of us long to find a place in leadership, yet when we get there we lose focus and allow the pressures it brings to topple us. Faithful leaders need their faithful followers not to forget their sacrifice. Take time today to send an encouraging email or card to the most influential spiritual leader in your life.
Our leaders are the face of the church to the world. They allow themselves to be pushed down that those they lead may be raised to a higher plane. They take the hits the world swings at us and wear targets on their chest for the arrows of the enemy. It is the shepherds who are injured fighting off the wolves that the sheep may remain safe.
Spiritual leadership is not for the faint-hearted. Many of us long to find a place in leadership, yet when we get there we lose focus and allow the pressures it brings to topple us. Faithful leaders need their faithful followers not to forget their sacrifice. Take time today to send an encouraging email or card to the most influential spiritual leader in your life.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: Empty Hands
Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
I Corinthians 4:6-7
In a posting from a couple weeks ago we talked about being empty shells except for what God instills in us. This passage talks about our hands that are empty save what has been put into them. Paul is not saying here that we should not follow our spiritual leaders. In fact, in Hebrews we are urged to “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
What Paul is cautioning us against is being prideful. He instructs us to not boast in our leaders, or in the things that distinguish us from others, or in what we have that others do not. Our leaders are appointed by God; the gifts and fruits of the Spirit are from God; our possessions and talents are from God. What do you have that you did not receive? Nothing.
Paul said in another letter to “never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). So, cheer up, Christian! We have been given a refrain to shout from the mountaintops, a song to sing in the byways, a mantra to chant to our heart’s content –
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross…and ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.
Our hands were empty, but are now full of all the things the blood-stained hands have given to us.
I Corinthians 4:6-7
In a posting from a couple weeks ago we talked about being empty shells except for what God instills in us. This passage talks about our hands that are empty save what has been put into them. Paul is not saying here that we should not follow our spiritual leaders. In fact, in Hebrews we are urged to “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
What Paul is cautioning us against is being prideful. He instructs us to not boast in our leaders, or in the things that distinguish us from others, or in what we have that others do not. Our leaders are appointed by God; the gifts and fruits of the Spirit are from God; our possessions and talents are from God. What do you have that you did not receive? Nothing.
Paul said in another letter to “never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). So, cheer up, Christian! We have been given a refrain to shout from the mountaintops, a song to sing in the byways, a mantra to chant to our heart’s content –
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross…and ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.
Our hands were empty, but are now full of all the things the blood-stained hands have given to us.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: Judge Not
This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. I Corinthians 4:1-5
Paul says he does not judge himself. If we cannot even discern our own hearts to know the motives that drive us, how can we determine the darkness or light in another’s person’s heart? Have we not seen time and again individuals that we thought were strong, unmovable Christians exposed for the corruption that had sprouted in their heart and grew into horrific sin? On the other hand, have we not seen someone we thought unspiritual show an act of compassion or kindness to someone in need?
Have you ever noticed that the verse where Jesus says, “Judge not,” is immediately preceded by the verse where He says, “Be merciful” (Luke 6:36-37)? Judgment is not condemned because it sets a standard of right and wrong, it is condemned because it is unkind. As servants of Christ, we are called to love others unconditionally, despite their status with God or how much they engage in their favorite sin. We who have put our trust in the Lord who judges must allow Him to bring to light what is hidden in darkness in His way and in His time.
Paul says he does not judge himself. If we cannot even discern our own hearts to know the motives that drive us, how can we determine the darkness or light in another’s person’s heart? Have we not seen time and again individuals that we thought were strong, unmovable Christians exposed for the corruption that had sprouted in their heart and grew into horrific sin? On the other hand, have we not seen someone we thought unspiritual show an act of compassion or kindness to someone in need?
Have you ever noticed that the verse where Jesus says, “Judge not,” is immediately preceded by the verse where He says, “Be merciful” (Luke 6:36-37)? Judgment is not condemned because it sets a standard of right and wrong, it is condemned because it is unkind. As servants of Christ, we are called to love others unconditionally, despite their status with God or how much they engage in their favorite sin. We who have put our trust in the Lord who judges must allow Him to bring to light what is hidden in darkness in His way and in His time.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: A Dwelling Place
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. I Corinthians 3:16-23
In the Old Testament, the temple was the place where God met men. The Ark of the Covenant was called the mercy seat (Ex. 25:17 KJV), a seemingly empty throne that could only be sat upon by the invisible, all-powerful Yahweh. God called the temple His dwelling place (Lev. 15:31) and the Apostle Paul makes that connection here with how God relates to the followers of Jesus.
In this passage, He emphasizes that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst opens up the entire world to us. All things are yours. It is a humbling thought that the apostles, the world, time, and life itself belong to those who are of Christ. Everything before existed to this end – that God may dwell among men.
This is a pearl of wisdom the world does not comprehend. Let us not be deceived by the lies the world tells us about all things being random and chaos. All things have been for us, Brothers and Sisters, and are ours to embrace.
In the Old Testament, the temple was the place where God met men. The Ark of the Covenant was called the mercy seat (Ex. 25:17 KJV), a seemingly empty throne that could only be sat upon by the invisible, all-powerful Yahweh. God called the temple His dwelling place (Lev. 15:31) and the Apostle Paul makes that connection here with how God relates to the followers of Jesus.
In this passage, He emphasizes that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst opens up the entire world to us. All things are yours. It is a humbling thought that the apostles, the world, time, and life itself belong to those who are of Christ. Everything before existed to this end – that God may dwell among men.
This is a pearl of wisdom the world does not comprehend. Let us not be deceived by the lies the world tells us about all things being random and chaos. All things have been for us, Brothers and Sisters, and are ours to embrace.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: A Firm Foundation
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. I Corinthians 3:10-15
We have no idea the shoulders we stand on that has allowed us to reach this height. When calculating an algebraic formula, we don’t even know the name of the Muslim man who invented it. When glancing at our watch, we don’t think about the Sumerians whose mathematical system decided there were 60 minutes in an hour. When driving our car into our concrete driveway, we have no idea that the surface is constructed with a substance that has been around for two millennia.
So when you toil away as you build the Kingdom of God, remember who laid the foundation and build carefully, thoughtfully, and with a grateful spirit.
We have no idea the shoulders we stand on that has allowed us to reach this height. When calculating an algebraic formula, we don’t even know the name of the Muslim man who invented it. When glancing at our watch, we don’t think about the Sumerians whose mathematical system decided there were 60 minutes in an hour. When driving our car into our concrete driveway, we have no idea that the surface is constructed with a substance that has been around for two millennia.
So when you toil away as you build the Kingdom of God, remember who laid the foundation and build carefully, thoughtfully, and with a grateful spirit.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: One Purpose
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. I Corinthians 3:1-9
No one is unimportant. Thing about the food you ate at your last meal. Who is greater? The farmer who raised it or the grocer who sells it? The line worker in the packing plant or the truck driver who took it to the store? Each one must do their part to bring the food to you so your body can benefit from its nourishment.
In the family of God it is the same. The preacher is not greater than the pianist. Nor is the missionary greater than the intercessor. The one who invites is not greater than the one who evangelizes. We need each other to do our little bit to help our Heavenly Father do His work.
No one is unimportant. Thing about the food you ate at your last meal. Who is greater? The farmer who raised it or the grocer who sells it? The line worker in the packing plant or the truck driver who took it to the store? Each one must do their part to bring the food to you so your body can benefit from its nourishment.
In the family of God it is the same. The preacher is not greater than the pianist. Nor is the missionary greater than the intercessor. The one who invites is not greater than the one who evangelizes. We need each other to do our little bit to help our Heavenly Father do His work.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Ramblings on What We Share: Mystery
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
I Corinthians 2:6-16
As followers of Jesus, our lives are shrouded with mystery. We work for a boss we cannot see who oversees a realm that is not of this world. We speak with words that make no apparent sense and are convinced of facts for which there is no proof. We do battle with an enemy the world denies and are paid with treasures we may not receive in this life.
We trust that the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God and will not lead us astray, but we are filled with uncertainty about what voice is His and what voice is the world and what voice is our own mind. Our hearts long to serve God, but our spirits feel inept at unraveling the mystery of His thoughts.
To prevent discouragement, we must embrace the mystery wholeheartedly. It is the discovery of the multiple facets of the mystery that brings excitement and anticipation to the Christian walk – opening the Scriptures without knowing what God will say, ministering without fully knowing the eternal results, sharing our faith not knowing the response.
Confidence comes when we rest in the covenant we have with God, when we trust that He is at work in our lives even when we cannot recognize it. Faith assures us that, despite our doubts, we have the mind of Christ.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
I Corinthians 2:6-16
As followers of Jesus, our lives are shrouded with mystery. We work for a boss we cannot see who oversees a realm that is not of this world. We speak with words that make no apparent sense and are convinced of facts for which there is no proof. We do battle with an enemy the world denies and are paid with treasures we may not receive in this life.
We trust that the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God and will not lead us astray, but we are filled with uncertainty about what voice is His and what voice is the world and what voice is our own mind. Our hearts long to serve God, but our spirits feel inept at unraveling the mystery of His thoughts.
To prevent discouragement, we must embrace the mystery wholeheartedly. It is the discovery of the multiple facets of the mystery that brings excitement and anticipation to the Christian walk – opening the Scriptures without knowing what God will say, ministering without fully knowing the eternal results, sharing our faith not knowing the response.
Confidence comes when we rest in the covenant we have with God, when we trust that He is at work in our lives even when we cannot recognize it. Faith assures us that, despite our doubts, we have the mind of Christ.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
By God's Power
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. I Corinthians 2:1-5
History tells us that the Apostle Paul was an educated (Acts 22:3) and charismatic individual. Years before he wrote these words he confidently approached the high priest for permissions to persecute the followers of Jesus (Acts 9:1-2). So how does such a person undergo an unbelievable transformation into someone who is ineloquent, single-minded and afraid? Simple – he met Jesus and realized that all his abilities were for naught without God’s Spirit.
If only those of us in the church today would experience this kind of humility! That we who find pride in our skills and, yes, God-given gifts and talents would realize that we are just a resounding gong and clanging cymbal unless we minister in God’s love and power (I Cor. 13:1).
History tells us that the Apostle Paul was an educated (Acts 22:3) and charismatic individual. Years before he wrote these words he confidently approached the high priest for permissions to persecute the followers of Jesus (Acts 9:1-2). So how does such a person undergo an unbelievable transformation into someone who is ineloquent, single-minded and afraid? Simple – he met Jesus and realized that all his abilities were for naught without God’s Spirit.
If only those of us in the church today would experience this kind of humility! That we who find pride in our skills and, yes, God-given gifts and talents would realize that we are just a resounding gong and clanging cymbal unless we minister in God’s love and power (I Cor. 13:1).
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