Missing the Point

Day 233
OT Reading: Psalms 119:1-48
NT Reading: 1 Corinthians 3

There is quite a bit to say about Psalms 119...and rightly so since it is the longest chapter in all of Scripture. But I'm going to save that for one of the next two days (see...I'm setting myself up to try and get back to blogging regularly :-) ). But as for today, 1 Corinthians 3 provides a great opportunity for conversation, so let's take a look there.

Based on the two letters we have to the Corinthians (it appears Paul wrote at least one, perhaps two others which have since been lost to us) we can understand quite a bit about what was taking place there. However to sum things up...they gave us every example of what a church should not do.

Take today's reading for example. Based on what we see here (coupled with what we read back in chapter one), it seems there were a lot of divisions in the church. And in chapter three, the subject matter has to do with, "Who's your favorite preacher?"

Some people claimed they were followers of Paul. Others claimed to follow Peter. Some said they were followers of Apollos (another preacher we met back in Acts) and others proudly said, "I follow Christ." The people of Corinth began picking sides and apparently were claiming some were greater or more holy than others based on the guy they followed.

And as Paul responds he lays it out very simply. The Corinthians had missed the point.

Paul tells the Corinthians, "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe..." (1 Corinthians 3:5a, NIV) Paul tells the Corinthians that the point lies in that they have been saved by the grace of Jesus. None of their preferences redeemed them. None of these preferred leaders paid for their salvation...they were all servants of Christ. All that they had spent time arguing about was secondary.

At this point it would be easy for us to sit back and berate the Corinthians for their ridiculousness of putting personal preferences in front of the message of Christ. But as you look around, honestly, how often do you see this take place in the 21st century?

I recently was having a conversation with a man I'll call Dave. Dave recounted a discussion he had with another local church leader a couple years prior. At the time of the conversation Dave had recently begun coming to our church, having left the church in which this other leader served. In the midst of the discussion the church leader proclaimed, "Sure you can get to heaven either way. But would you rather take a Ugo or a Cadillac?" Like the Corinthians...I'm afraid this church leader was missing the point.

Because regardless of whether your preacher's name is Billy Graham or Jim Bob Smith, that's not the point. Regardless of whether your church has been around for 200 years or two days, that's not the point. Regardless of whether you were baptized in a church or a pond, prefer a pipe organ or an electric guitar, worship with dirges or hip-hop...none of that is the point.

The point, my friends, is Jesus.

If we don't get that...then we've totally missed the point.