1 Corinthians 6:8 - More Than Do No Harm

1 Corinthians 6:8

NKJV

No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!

 

NLT

Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.

 

“You yourselves do wrong and cheat: There is no place for dishonest dealing by Christians; how much less place is there for dishonest dealing among Christians! Many have rejected the things of God and the fellowship of the saints because of dishonesty and cheating among Christians.” (Enduring Word)

 

As I continue this path in chapter 6, I think this is where it seems to me Paul hits them with the difference between “winning” and “doing the right thing”. Our whole culture is based upon winning; so was the Corinthians and if we’re being honest…so is the church. Be first and it doesn’t matter who you step on to get there. I get it, I’m a bit competitive myself…who doesn’t like to win? The Corinthians were so far from acting on the given advice, that instead of taking wrong…they were doing wrong. Instead of suffering for the Kingdom, they were causing suffering in the Kingdom. Are we different? Paul was specifically indicting the Corinthian believers on whether they’d lied, cheated, or stepped on fellow believers. But I’d like to expand that. Have we done this to anyone, believers or not?

 

If I examine myself in a bright light, I can look at times where I have been a Corinthian. The low hanging fruit is to say, “I shouldn’t have done that, but it didn’t hurt anyone” Well, if I go a little higher in the tree and get some of that high hanging fruit, the stuff that’s a little harder to get to, that hurts more when I pull at it…it did hurt someone and I repented and sought forgiveness from them. We must repent when we do wrong, we must make an effort to do right. Zacchaeus didn’t just repent; he paid back fourfold (Luke 19:8).

 

Hippocrates wrote in talking about physicians and disease:

 

“The physician must... have two special objects in view with regard to disease, namely, to do good or to do no harm."

 

This is the minimum standard! We have a Savior that came and did more than “no harm.” Jesus didn’t set the bar at neutral; He took our sins and carried them to a horrific sacrifice for you and me. He took our sins on Himself because He loves us. The Corinthians’ real failure wasn’t just harming others; it was refusing to take on harm for their brothers and at times inflicting the harm. Let’s redefine what “doing good” is, because “to do no harm” is lukewarm. Doing good should be us serving sacrificially; It should be us absorbing harm for the sake of others. What harm are you willing to absorb? Name it. That’s where the work is.

 

More than do no harm,

Pastor Cory

1 Corinthians 6:7 - Take the Loss

1 Corinthians 6:7

NKJV

Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 

 

NLT

Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated?

 

Why not accept the loss and move on…Paul is harsh! Should I take that loss rather than fight for what I think is right? Context is important here. Paul is talking about small trivial matters being taken to court (i.e., Believer vs believer). Paul is asking for something here that was hard back then, but harder now because of the stature of the church in the modern world. In the Jewish culture back then it was common for a Jew to carry a dispute against another Jew to a rabbi. This was skewed a bit when the gentiles started getting saved. They were used to taking things to a court, so they continued this practice and it started becoming the norm.

 

So, if I borrowed a shovel from you and returned it with a cracked handle and I denied it…this was going to court. Seems a little silly, doesn’t it? Even more so, was Paul’s concern that these matters were believers going before unbelievers to be judged. There are a couple of reasons we shouldn’t let nonbelievers judge our disputes on small matters (we’re not talking about criminal activity or gross felonies). We are destined to judge angels, we should be able to have discussions to handle petty disagreements, or at least be willing to have a third-party believer be the judge? We need to also consider what this looks like to unbelievers. What do our disagreements do to the name of Christ?

 

If, we as believers, are supposed to have the Holy Spirit in us, the very act of doing battle in a secular court over a minor dispute is already a defeat. Whoever wins, both lose. Both will have demonstrated how little value they place on Christ’s command to love one another and serve each other. The reputation of Christ will be damaged because the world will look at two squabbling believers and say…” they’re no different than us, why would I want what they have?”

 

In this verse Paul is encouraging us to just accept the defeat for the cause of Christ. A “take one for the team” attitude. That goes against our nature. We don’t like to lose, and we don’t like to be taken advantage of. We all have a sense of justice, of what we believe to be right and wrong. But most of the time it is skewed toward what is best for ME. I believe that if we can step back from a situation and look at it though our “God lens;” we can see if it is and injustice we can accept and move on in the name of Christ.

 

Paul was talking about petty lawsuits in courts in this verse, but I also believe this can talk to us about our disagreements and arguments. When talking with people before they get married, I always ask them to step back from the disagreement and look at it from a safe distance then I ask them to decide if “this is the hill you want to die on?” Sometimes it’s better to take the loss.

 

As I talk to myself in writing this, I think…what is the one thing I want to get out of this? I think that one thing is this:

 

Sometimes if taking the defeat benefits the Kingdom, then I’m going swallow my pride and take the defeat.

 

Take the Loss,

Pastor Cory

 

2 Corinthians 6:1-2 - Behold, Get To Work!

 

2 Corinthians 6:1-2

 

NKJV

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

 

NLT

As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

 

According to 1 Corinthians 15:10, if Paul did not work as hard as he did, the grace of God would still be given to him, but in some measure it would have been given in vain. Grace, by definition, is given freely, but how we receive grace will help to determine how effective the gift of grace is. Grace is “frequently used by St. Paul to express the favors and privileges offered to the members of the Church of Christ, not to be limited to grace given at any special moment (such as at salvation) … it is offered, independently of man’s faith and obedience, but it will not profit without these.” (Bernard)

 

 Grace isn’t given because of any works, past, present or promised; yet it is given to encourage work, not to say work is unnecessary. God doesn’t want us to receive His grace and become passive. Paul knew that God gives His grace, we work hard, and the work of God is done. (Enduring Word)

 

I heard, or maybe read, that God loves us where he found us, but loves us too much to leave us there.  I kind of laugh at this statement, because I know God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.  He wasn’t looking to find me…HE knew where I was the whole time! The point of this is that after salvation, I need to grow.  In the NKJV Paul pleads with us (the Corinthians) not to receive the grace of God in vain.  Grace wasn’t given for anything we did (ever…past, present, or future) it’s given to encourage work. God doesn’t want us to receive His grace and become couch potatoes.

Salvation is real and if all we ever did was accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, then Heaven is ours to enter and eternity begins that day. But, if on the day of our Salvation, we accepted Christ and went and hid in a room and did nothing else…we would miss out on so many of the blessings that God has for us in working for Him. Paul knew that God gives grace, we work hard and the work of God is done. We’re to be the hands and feet of Jesus; we’re to work hard in advancing the Kingdom and quite honestly how exciting is it to see someone get saved and know that maybe we planted that seed; that lending a few dollars got somebody to that next step in their walk toward salvation; that holding a hand in a time of grief helped somebody walk through that hard time. Yes, we do get to feel joy when we work for the Lord…because there is joy is serving God.

 

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation…this gives us a sense of urgency. God has an acceptable time for us to work with His grace; God has a day of salvation that will not last forever. This isn’t the time to rest in our ease and comfort; this isn’t the time to be focused on ourselves. Now is the time to get to work!  What does the Lord want you to do?

 

Behold…get to work!

Pastor Cory

1 Corinthians 6:4-6 ~ I Say this to Shame You?

 

1 Corinthians 6:4-6

NKJV

If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!

 

NLT

If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!

 

Paul said “I am saying this to shame you” That’s a statement that will get sideways in a hurry in today’s world. Since we’re not so different the ancient Corinthians, I’d guess that it got sideways with them too. The city of Corinth was a hub of trade, culture and religious significance. It flourished as a center for trade and influence. The temple of Aphrodite was there and brought with it all of the depravity we as a people are capable of, so when I say the “I say it to shame you” statement probably offended folks…it was probably lit them up like a dry Christmas tree and a match!

 

As we saw in the first three verses, we’re called to “Beware that our relationships are fragile and be aware that at times we are the cause of the damage.”  We need to mature as Christians and become capable of making decisions, with our grounding firmly on the roots of Godly wisdom. We also need to be wise, and humble, enough to know that our pursuit of being right will at times override what is right.

 

Verses 4-6, in a nutshell basically (to me) say that we should be capable of having hard conversations about hard things…and still love each other as believers. We should be able to disagree without being disagreeable. The world would tell us that if I don’t like something in your life, then I don’t like you. It’s satans whole premise, to separate us into factions and keep us divided. When believers fall into this trap, we miss out on some great conversations about what is truth and what the Word says about truth.

 

When the “Paul” in our lives says something that shames us, do we get mad and kick back? Do we consider the source, is this a respected person in our lives? Is the reason we kick back because maybe they’re right and we’re embarrassed that we got caught? How humble are we? Can I objectively look at myself and say, “yeah, I’m capable of doing something shaming. I need to address this” Am I willing to have the hard conversations about hard things to help people grow in Christ? And am I willing to accept it in love, or give it in love?

 

Maybe this seems a bit of a ramble, maybe this is out of context with the verses…but here I am and this is where I ended up. These are just some thoughts from a random mind on how much humbleness am I willing to endure and what I’m willing to do with it. God first, above all else!

 

I say this to shame you?

Pastor Cory