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November 6, 2017

1Corinthians Chapter One -- The Cult of Personality and the Powerless Cross

By Anthony Wade

A verse by verse examination of 1Corinthians Chapter One.

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Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. -- 1Corinthians 1: 1-3 (ESV)

What is in a greeting beloved? Sometimes in our zeal to get into the heart of the matter, we overlook these types of verses. Seemingly throw away verses of just a friendly greeting, there is much we can glean and learn from even this. God does not waste anything in His Word. Some quick background however. Corinth was a major player in the days this was written. It was strategically located on an elevated portion of an isthmus which all north-south traffic had to pass through. The result was a bustling metropolis and also a haven for all sorts of paganism and sin. If someone in these days was referred to as a "Corinthian Girl -- that meant they were a prostitute. Another word for fornication was to "corinthianize." Amidst this debauchery, Paul planted the Corinthian Church from which he would eventually move onto Ephesus. He writes this letter to them because they were having some problems that may seem eerily familiar to problems the church has today. Before he gets into the problems however he opens with the greeting found in the key verses. Within these three verses, we see Paul reminding Corinth and us today, who exactly the church is.

Firstly, the church is those who are sanctified. This means set apart and holy for the Lord. Set apart from what beloved? From the world! This is what it means to be as shining city on a hill. To stand out as being different. Of being set apart. We just finished Halloween in this country and yet another year of Christians engaging in the high holy day of Satanism and defending it by saying they did not want their kids to be different. They are different! That is entirely the point of being set apart. Disgraced pastor Mark Driscoll once said that he participated in Halloween at his church because he did not want to be those crazy Christians down the block who have no relevance to their community. Better than being those faithless Christians who believe in nothing and are trying to be relevant to a sinful and dying world. Every week we hear yet another tale of mega church madness. Highway to Hell, Miley Cyrus and Backstreet Boys sung as worship! Sermons about Jesus as your wingman! Gun giveaways, plasma TV raffles, Star Wars themed services. That isn't sanctified beloved. Do not seek relevance to the world because there should be none.

Taking this even further, too often today we see the church referred to as the congregants of a particular building. The reality is many if not most of the attendees are not actually saved. This is what the purpose driven model has wrought. Yet the average churchgoer will attest that the church is their building they go to on Sundays. No beloved it is not. The church is the body of Christ throughout this world. This is why most in American churches seemingly have no care about their brethren throughout the world. Sure there is an annual pilgrimage to build a playground somewhere in the third world but most of that is to make ourselves feel as if we are doing good. There is precious little done regarding the martyred in the Middle East or the underground church in China. No that's too much a downer. Let's sing Friend of God again and take a second offering for the building fund.

Secondly, the church are those called to be saints. The word saint is not what the Catholic Church has made it out to be. Catholicism has turned sainthood into a battle of the most pious throughout history. The reality is all who are saved are together the saints of God. The word sanctified comes from saint. It is again those who are sanctified, set apart, and made holy. Once again called to be different for God.

The final point of who we are is the fact that we are both local and universal at once. The church is of course local. Paul addresses them as the Church in Corinth. We are supposed to be part of a local body of believers. The trick is finding one that is preaching the Gospel. Better to be a group of 5-10 true believers than a mega church who is busy scattering people away from Christ. Compromise always begets more compromise. If you can find one that is preaching the true Gospel and not marketing their church to goats -- stick with that one. We can deal with not having a good choir, or poor children's ministries, or not enough parking, or bad coffee. Give me Jesus and I can deal with the rest. Additionally however, the church is also everywhere at the same time -- those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The local church is merely a part of the body of Christ. The American church has created this silo mentality through the purpose driven paradigm. The object is to grow the individual building and not the kingdom. The preaching largely cannot be preached outside of these shores. We could not preach the prosperity gospel to the underground church in China or the word faith heresy to the Christians in the Middle East. If your gospel cannot be preached everywhere then by definition it is false. Because we are all one church. One body of believers. That is the point Paul is making right here in the greeting. Having established a greeting that reminds them who they are, he moves into thanksgiving:

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge-- even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you-- so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. -- 1Corinthians 1: 4-9 (ESV)

The thanksgiving is an extension of the greeting from Paul and is typical in his writings. He has some serious matters he needs to address to the Corinthians but he starts be reminding them why they should be thankful. Not a bad strategy to remind ourselves when we need to address something serious. It focuses everyone on God instead of themselves. It reminds them of all that is good and right before dealing with what might be wrong and in need of correction. We should note that there is no carnality in this thanksgiving. I did a devotional last week about Bethel Church's four sets of declarations they make the congregation declare during the offering each week. Included in what they declare to God is that they want: "a better job, bonuses, raises, increased benefits, estate settlements, inheritances, interest, rebates, returns, random checks in the mail, surprise gifts, debts paid off, decreased expenses, blessing, increase, finding money, unlocked storehouses, provision and resources, being showered with favor, blessings, and repentance from poverty." They also make them declare:

I am powerful

What I believe changes the world

I declare God is in a good mood today

Everywhere I go becomes a perfect-health zone

Compare this to what Paul reminds us we ought to be thankful for:

Because of the grace given to us in Christ Jesus

Being enriched in Him in all speech and knowledge

Not lacking in any spiritual gift that is needed

That Christ will sustain us until the end

That we will be held guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ

That we are in fellowship with Christ

Are you sensing quite the difference? The carnal church today is enamored with and focused on this world and this life when our blessings and promises are eternal. We need to keep our focus on the prize, not the trinkets of this world. Paul references Jesus Christ in every sentence of his thanksgiving! Bethel and the church today make everything about you instead of Him. It is always about what He can do for you instead of what He already has done. It is childish, petulant, and arrogant. Paul now gets into the first matter at Corinth that should ring a bell for us today:

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ."Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. -- 1Corinthians 1: 10-17 (ESV)

Now Paul gets into the first major theme -- disunity. It seems unity is a buzzword in false teaching circles because they do not want to be questioned. Unity however is not singing Kumbaya with anyone who happens to be standing in a church. That is false unity. It seems much of Churchianity today has blanketly accepted that if someone speaks from a pulpit they must be part of the body of Christ. This ignores vast swaths of Scriptures that deal with false teachers, false prophets and the wolves in our midst. The reason why people tend to feel this way is the purpose driven church has created a cult of personality with their gifted speakers. The model calls for skilled public speakers who can capture the imaginations of people. The congregants end up worshiping their pastors instead of Jesus however. That is the cult of personality. Isn't it interesting that Corinth was essentially going through the exact same thing? Just compare the two periods of time. Some followed Peter, some followed Osteen. Some followed Paul and others followed Prince. Some followed Apollos and others followed Warren. Is Christ divided? Yes in the church today He most certainly is. He should not be but just try leaving a church and see what happens. There is far too much pastor worship and church worship in the church today.

What is interesting are the two things Paul says here we ought to be unified in and neither of them is "love." The modern church is infatuated with the carnal sense of love that they try and apply to the church as a unifying principle. False teachers and their followers wield this carnal love like cudgel against any legitimate criticism. Yet look at the two things listed here that we are supposed to be unified in -- mind and judgment. First, we are to have the mind of Christ. This speaks directly to His Word. God has already provided us with a glimpse into how He thinks and how He wants us to think. Our core unity must be in doctrine or there is no unity. Romans 16:17 teaches us that disunity comes from false teaching, or the corrupting of doctrine within the body of Christ. Do we understand this today? False teaching corrupts the mind of Christ. It corrupts the unity of our doctrine. Were we baptized in the name of Joel Osteen? Did Andy Stanley die for our sins? The second unifying principle is judgment, which refers to how we then apply this knowledge. It does not matter if we know something and refuse to implement it. For example, we know what the bible teaches about adultery yet churches will often turn a blind eye when members are openly flaunting their adultery. That is not unity but rather disunity with the judgment of Christ. This also refutes the "judge not" crowd who use unity as a means to avoid being corrected. Paul now brings it all home with the most powerful verse of the chapter:

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. -- 1Corinthians 1: 17 (ESV)

The job of a preacher is to preach the Gospel, period. Paul does not stop there however but instead gets into style as well. In these days in Corinth there was a high value placed upon speech-craft. Eloquent and articulate speakers were revered in Greek culture. God is saying here that it will only get in the way of the message. You see the message counts -- not the messenger. John the Baptist said he must decrease so Christ could increase. So many pastors today are entertainers with their speech and the Gospel gets lost because of it. Have you ever had someone rave about how great a sermon was but they could not tell you lucidly what it was about? That is someone who was entertained carnally by the speaker but the Gospel was lost. Not only that but the cross was emptied of its power! What is the power of the cross? The salvation of man! When a preacher makes it a show about himself then he removes salvation from his listeners. Paul warns Timothy of this when he says that very salvation of his listeners is on the line when he goes to preach. Say no the strobe lights and live animal illustrations. Preach the Gospel. Chapter One now wraps up:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." -- 1Corinthians 1: 18-31 (ESV)

Paul expounds on this point about not having cult of personality preachers by expanding on the fact that God uses the simple to confound the wise and that He will not share His glory. Four points stand out for us and the first is that the cross is foolishness to those perishing. So often we hear about people seeking within the seeker friendly models of church growth and that we must cater things in the church to the goats. That is biblically absurd because the things of God are still foolishness to them. Trying to explain Leviticus to someone unsaved is like speaking Chinese to someone who does not know the language. Without the indwelt Holy Spirit, they cannot discern what God is saying. The model seen in Acts 2, when the church was established, is really quite simple. Preach the Gospel to the saved, because it is spiritual food for them. Of course we want the unsaved to come but only so they can hear the Gospel, which according to Romans Chapter One is the only thing that has the power to save them! Not the fancy speech of the pastor. Not the intricate sermon illustrations. Not about making the unsaved feel better or somehow relevant to a God they still think is foolish!

Secondly, where is the debater of this age? The ways of God are so much higher than ours beloved. The most learned man is just a man. The wisdom of man would never have considered the cross. That is why it is folly. That is why you constantly see the world challenging the "logic" behind Biblical accounts. Along these same lines is the third point which is the foolishness of God is wiser than man and the weakness of God is stronger than man. The friend of God theologies are raising up generations of Christians who do not revere who the Lord is. God is not your buddy or your wingman. People talk too much about religion versus relationship but that misses the mark. Everyone is already in relationship with Christ. He is either your Lord and Master or He will be your judge and jury. There is no third choice. If your faith hinges on an emotionalism that you believe is a relationship be warned that the only relationship you have is with your deceitful heart.

The final point is about letting him who boasts, boast only in the Lord. God will not share His glory beloved. Those Bethel declarations included declaring that we are responsible for securing the reward for Christ. It is the oldest sin. It is Lucifer in heaven ascending to the throne of the Most High. It is Eve thinking the fruit will make her like God. But He uses the foolish to confound the wise because He will not share His glory. Think of Gideon! 32,000 men in his army were too many to face the hundred thousand coming against them because God said that He will not have anyone claim His glory! He whittled that number down to 300 men who then defeated the massive opposing force but none could claim the victory belonged to anyone but God.

What a fitting way to end the first chapter of First Corinthians. A reminder of the supremacy of Christ to begin a letter to a church that had forgotten. A church that had turned to listen to the wisdom of men instead of the Word of God and in doing so were emptying the cross of the power it has to save mankind. What a stark reminder and visual for us as we continue to try and discern what is false from what is right. We have seen the Bible refer to false teaching as waterless rain clouds and barren fig trees but now we have one that should hit closer to home -- powerless crosses. Say no to the cult of personality beloved and get back to the only thing that has the power of God unto the salvation of man -- the Gospel.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- November 6, 2017



Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

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