23 Now
I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I
didn’t return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke. 24 But
that does not mean we want to dominate you by telling you how to put
your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will
be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand firm.
Christians are not perfect. We know it, and the world sure knows it. The Outsiders expect to enter a church and find a bunch of people who are put together perfectly, prim and proper, and holy. And sometimes we are. But more often than not, we too, are a mixed bag of emotions, experiences, relationships, preferences, and personalities -- as different as the spices in our spice racks -- that when used together in the right way, make something delicious, so delicious that the world wants a piece of it.
...but that's on our good days.
The further I get into this book, the more mess I see with the Corinthian church. Paul, the leader, is showing us a lot about how to lead some unruly folks, who at one time followed Him with great gusto, but seem to be a little distracted right now...hmm, I wonder if these methods work on squirrely fifth-graders, too?
Feelings have been hurt...guidance has been given...grief and pain abound in this book so far...accusations of falsehood are being tossed around. Yet, Paul has not given up. In fact, he continues to be loving and direct. I love verse 4, "I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears. I didn’t want to grieve you, but I wanted to let you know how much love I have for you." What? Paul has cried about this? Apparently a lot.
Have you ever cried over something that's happened in your church? I have. I grew up in the church where I currently attend, and I absolutely LOVE my church. But I love it more now than I did as a child because I see the imperfections -- I can look at us as we really are, imperfect people so desperately trying to love and serve our perfect God. I've been so disheartened by some of our choices one moment, and then so proud of us the next. I've lost sleep over different situations in my church. I've had conversations with people that left me so broken and sad. So, if the church is a mess of people, too, why even go?
Well, here is what I have come to learn about why The Church really is different than the world: because of God's wisdom and guidance for us in the Bible, we are shown how to deal with the hard stuff. It doesn't mean life is any easier for us or there is any less hard stuff (just yesterday I talked with someone who had just lost a family member, another person who is waiting for a diagnosis today and it doesn't look good, and yet another who is dealing with some major life changes that are over-whelming at times), so no, life is not easier, per say. But we are given the knowledge and then the opportunity to choose a different perspective, to choose forgiveness, to choose to love.
I absolutely love my church. I want the best for my church, and I want us to be the best representatives for Jesus Christ that we can be. And sometimes, that means direct and loving conversations. No one has ever had one of those with me at work, or in the grocery store line, or at school when I was a student. But they have come to me from the people in The Church, who also don't want us to stay the way we are -- they want me to be better, too.
So, no, we're not perfect in the Church. But, I think those of us who really love Jesus and desire to serve Him sure want to be better. We want to grow. We want to put ourselves aside and put Jesus and others first. We want to be united with each other, not torn apart by conflict. We want to be loving to everyone, not judgmental because of our own prejudices and self-righteousness. We don't do it perfectly, but we really do try with Christ's help. And when you have a bunch of sinful people with that attitude, it is one of the most beautiful creations I have ever seen. THAT is The Church.
And here is why we keep going, even in our messy moments, Church: "so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes" (verse 11). The Evil One knows that we are a powerful unit when we are working together, and he will do whatever he can to divide us, to distract us, to make us focus on the small stuff...and he's been using the same tactics for millennia! Why does he spend so much time working against The Church? Because we are the spark that could start the forest fire, so he continually tries to snuff us out in whatever ways he can...usually the really dumb stuff. So we don't let him -- we continue to work through conflicts, continue to serve others instead of ourselves, continue to look to Christ for wisdom and direction, and continue to work together for the sake of eternity.
...so, I'm not giving up on these Corinthians yet. Satan is currently using false teachers, lies, and accusation to misdirect them. But perhaps, hopefully, they are experiencing a season where they will look back one day and be able to admit: I was wrong. I was immature. I was selfish. I know I have 20,000 examples of retrospective moments like that in my life, thanks to the direct and loving conversations others have been willing to have with me.
And so we are being renewed day by day...cleaned and re-cleaned, pruned and primed as we grow closer to Him. The world knows we're not perfect, but my prayer is that they would also see that though we are dirty, we know The Way to be cleaned.
2 So I decided that I would not bring you grief with another painful visit. 2 For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad? Certainly not someone I have grieved. 3 That
is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I do come, I won’t be
grieved by the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy. Surely
you all know that my joy comes from your being joyful. 4 I
wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many
tears. I didn’t want to grieve you, but I wanted to let you know how
much love I have for you.
5 I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. 6 Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. 7 Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. 8 So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.
9 I wrote to you as I did to test you and see if you would fully comply with my instructions. 10 When
you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever
needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, 11 so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.Christians are not perfect. We know it, and the world sure knows it. The Outsiders expect to enter a church and find a bunch of people who are put together perfectly, prim and proper, and holy. And sometimes we are. But more often than not, we too, are a mixed bag of emotions, experiences, relationships, preferences, and personalities -- as different as the spices in our spice racks -- that when used together in the right way, make something delicious, so delicious that the world wants a piece of it.
...but that's on our good days.
The further I get into this book, the more mess I see with the Corinthian church. Paul, the leader, is showing us a lot about how to lead some unruly folks, who at one time followed Him with great gusto, but seem to be a little distracted right now...hmm, I wonder if these methods work on squirrely fifth-graders, too?
Feelings have been hurt...guidance has been given...grief and pain abound in this book so far...accusations of falsehood are being tossed around. Yet, Paul has not given up. In fact, he continues to be loving and direct. I love verse 4, "I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears. I didn’t want to grieve you, but I wanted to let you know how much love I have for you." What? Paul has cried about this? Apparently a lot.
Have you ever cried over something that's happened in your church? I have. I grew up in the church where I currently attend, and I absolutely LOVE my church. But I love it more now than I did as a child because I see the imperfections -- I can look at us as we really are, imperfect people so desperately trying to love and serve our perfect God. I've been so disheartened by some of our choices one moment, and then so proud of us the next. I've lost sleep over different situations in my church. I've had conversations with people that left me so broken and sad. So, if the church is a mess of people, too, why even go?
Well, here is what I have come to learn about why The Church really is different than the world: because of God's wisdom and guidance for us in the Bible, we are shown how to deal with the hard stuff. It doesn't mean life is any easier for us or there is any less hard stuff (just yesterday I talked with someone who had just lost a family member, another person who is waiting for a diagnosis today and it doesn't look good, and yet another who is dealing with some major life changes that are over-whelming at times), so no, life is not easier, per say. But we are given the knowledge and then the opportunity to choose a different perspective, to choose forgiveness, to choose to love.
I absolutely love my church. I want the best for my church, and I want us to be the best representatives for Jesus Christ that we can be. And sometimes, that means direct and loving conversations. No one has ever had one of those with me at work, or in the grocery store line, or at school when I was a student. But they have come to me from the people in The Church, who also don't want us to stay the way we are -- they want me to be better, too.
So, no, we're not perfect in the Church. But, I think those of us who really love Jesus and desire to serve Him sure want to be better. We want to grow. We want to put ourselves aside and put Jesus and others first. We want to be united with each other, not torn apart by conflict. We want to be loving to everyone, not judgmental because of our own prejudices and self-righteousness. We don't do it perfectly, but we really do try with Christ's help. And when you have a bunch of sinful people with that attitude, it is one of the most beautiful creations I have ever seen. THAT is The Church.
And here is why we keep going, even in our messy moments, Church: "so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes" (verse 11). The Evil One knows that we are a powerful unit when we are working together, and he will do whatever he can to divide us, to distract us, to make us focus on the small stuff...and he's been using the same tactics for millennia! Why does he spend so much time working against The Church? Because we are the spark that could start the forest fire, so he continually tries to snuff us out in whatever ways he can...usually the really dumb stuff. So we don't let him -- we continue to work through conflicts, continue to serve others instead of ourselves, continue to look to Christ for wisdom and direction, and continue to work together for the sake of eternity.
...so, I'm not giving up on these Corinthians yet. Satan is currently using false teachers, lies, and accusation to misdirect them. But perhaps, hopefully, they are experiencing a season where they will look back one day and be able to admit: I was wrong. I was immature. I was selfish. I know I have 20,000 examples of retrospective moments like that in my life, thanks to the direct and loving conversations others have been willing to have with me.
And so we are being renewed day by day...cleaned and re-cleaned, pruned and primed as we grow closer to Him. The world knows we're not perfect, but my prayer is that they would also see that though we are dirty, we know The Way to be cleaned.
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