II Corinthians 2

In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, it was necessary for him to reprimand a certain member of the congregation. By extension, he was asking the congregation to also reprimand this individual. But the story doesn't stop there. Along with reprimands and discipline, must come forgiveness. In this letter, Paul is asking for the congregation to extend forgiveness to the one that needed discipline.

Just like with our kids, we can't always be telling others about what they are doing wrong. And we certainly can't refuse to give them another chance when they have sought repentance and changed their ways. Of course, we continue to be vigilant against sin in the church, but the situation is rectified, we must forgive and love the believer.

Is there anyone in your life that you are holding a grudge against when you should be forgiving?

II Corinthians 1

God doesn't promise that the Christian life will be free from turmoil and strife. In fact, most times the Christian is full of turmoil and strife. We are going against the grain of the world. God did design the church in such a way that we don't have be alone as we go through the hard times.

As a support network of believers, we are able to share the peace and comfort of God when we have it and we are able to accept it from others when we don't. Amazingly, we aren't all sharing the same experiences at the same time, so there is almost always someone that is having a great day to your bad one. And as believers, we are called to share our good days with those that need them in the hope that someone else will share with us when we are in need.

When is the last time that you shared a good day with someone in need?

I Corinthians 16

We are all called to different tasks within the church, but we are all called to the same church. Paul's closing reminds us that although we meet with a relatively small group of people in our individual churches, we are not alone. There are other believers and other churches out there.

When a fellow believer visits our church or community from outside, we should welcome them and help them on their journey. We should not be standoffish or a clique. The work of the Gospel is not about our small circle of influence, it's about a world that doesn't know Christ. That world cannot be reached for Christ if we that are believers do not get along with one another.

I Corinthians 15

Christianity is not a cafeteria plan. We cannot pick and choose which things we will believe and which we will not. Either we believe completely or we do not believe at all. Just as it was impossible for the Corinthians to say that they believe in Christ but not in a resurrection, it is impossible for us to say that we are Christian and yet to do believe the fundamental truths of the faith.

Too many people in our modern world want to believe that Christianity is just about being moral or good and they refuse to believe in the divinity of Christ. Too many people want to believe that Christianity is just a set of rules to live by and they refuse to believe in the life changing power of the Holy Spirit. Too many people claim to be Christian and yet do not even know what that means.

We cannot have it both ways. We cannot be Christian and yet not believe.

I Corinthians 14

"Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." That's really the point of this passage. Much has been made over speaking in tongues and whether it's valid or not and what this passage is really referring to, and while I have my opinions, I'll not go into that here. The point is valid regardless of what you believe with regard to tongues. The point is that there is a time and place for everything and that the church must recognize this. If there is not order and no consistency then the body cannot be effective.

If we are only talking to God and to other Christians, then there will be no growth. If we are only focusing on the lost, then there will be no discipleship. We have to find the time for both and allow both in the body, and we must do it in an organized fashion. We can't expect new Christians to understand as much or be as mature as those that have been believers longer, so we need a system for discipleship. We can't expect the lost to suddenly darken the doors of the church either, so we need to find a way to relate to them on their level and in their language.

I Corinthians 13

Almost everything that we do can be done in one of two ways: selfishly or selflessly. The outcome depends heavily on which of those you choose. I could teach in front of a crowd of people because I selfishly wanted to hear their praise when I finished, or I could teach the same topic to the same group because I genuinely wanted them to learn. Which do you think would be more successful?

People can see right through your motivations in most cases. It takes a pretty talented liar to fool others into thinking that you are more interested in them than yourself, and it's even more difficult over time. Paul is simply saying here that if your focus is on loving one another and putting other's needs ahead of your own, then you won't have to be misleading and you'll have success.

I Corinthians 12

The beauty of God's creation lies in the diversity. If everyone were the same, this world would be quite a boring place where only a few things ever happened. If we were all poets, who would paint? If we were all writers, who would perform?

Everyone has a different purpose that when put together with others forms a strong team called the church. Some of us are there to invite non-believers, some of us are there to teach believers, some are there to hold us accountable, and some are there to help through hard times. We can't succeed without everyone working together and recognizing that they complement the others.

It's not a competition against each other to see who is the most important or most gifted; it's a team effort where I ask you to help in the areas where I'm not strong and I help you in the places where you are weak.

I Corinthians 11

Jesus asked His disciples and us to remember His sacrifice by remembering the Last Supper. Specifically, He wanted us to recall, through the symbolism of the bread and wine, that He gave His body and blood as atonement for our sins. The point was not to create a ritual. The point was to create a way to remember.

We don't use rituals to tell stories or remember events very much anymore. In our highly literate, internet-based society, we can collect our knowledge on blogs and web pages rather than learning by rote tradition. In the time of Paul and Christ, though, the majority of people may not have been able to read at all, so they needed a way to help everyone remember the history of the church.

The Lord's Supper was just one of those mechanisms, but in Corinth it was twisted into a party. The Corinthians took the event of eating and drinking together and turned into something focused on eating and drinking rather than remembering that the focus should be on Christ. That's what Paul is admonishing them for. If you are looking to eat and drink for entertainment or nourishment do it at home. If you are remembering the sacrifice of Christ through the symbolism of food, then you are in the proper frame of mind for the Lord's Supper.

I Corinthians 10

Do not think that just because you go to church that you are on equal ground with the other members. Attending church is important, but it's not everything. And it doesn't guarantee anything. As a matter of fact, it could just be a false sense of security.

The Israelites in the desert all walked together. They all worshipped together. They all ate together. They all followed God together. Yet the Israelites did not all trust together. Some tested God, some ignored God, some worshipped idols. All of those died.

The same is true in our church family. We all hear the same sermons. We all eat the same spiritual food. We all walk together as a church. But we don't necessarily all have the same commitment to God.

Are you faithful to God or to your church? Are you following the Lord or your friends? Are you a believer or just an attender?

I Corinthians 9

Do you expect your ministers and church staff to earn a living without your help? Do you resent them for expecting your donations to help them survive? Or do you faithfully support their ministry as God has commanded?

Paul was not the first person to seek support from the churches where he preached. God established that precedent ages before with the priests in the temple. The people seek spiritual guidance from priests, preachers, and ministers. God seeks tithe from you to support them. Don't be so naïve as to think that the physical church can sustain itself without your material support. It simply cannot.

I Corinthians 8

We are all in the public eye. Some more than others; some less. But we are all being watched by others. Paul warns us here that while we are free from the law that doesn't mean that we are free to do anything that pleases us. We have a responsibility to build each other up.

In Paul's example, he talks about food sacrificed to idols. The food itself is not any different before or after it is sacrificed. At all times it is good to eat and healthy for you, but once it's been sacrificed, some people have a hard time seeing it just as food. To them eating it would be the same as worshipping that idol, so while it may not be a problem for you, it could be a problem for someone watching you.

Truly, we should each try to help one another grow in spiritual maturity, but we don't have to make any uncomfortable in that process. What are some things in your life that might be causing issues for others that are observing your life?

I Corinthians 7

Even good things can be a distraction and hindrance in your walk with the Lord. Paul recognizes this and tries to lay out for us the pros and cons of marriage.

On the one hand, it is good and ordained by God so that we are not alone in this world. It helps keep us from immorality by providing a release for our physical urges and it is an opportunity for us to have close companionship.

On the other hand, it draws our focus to the physical world and away from God. When you are married one of your primary concerns is your spouse; or at least it should be. If you are focused on pleasing your spouse, you may not be focused on pleasing God. This is a division in your attention that could be damaging to your relationship with God.

The most important thing to recognize here is that we cannot put anything before God. He provides things that make us happy and are good for us, but if we make them more important than God they can become something twisted and wrong.

I Corinthians 6

Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should. Christ has given us freedom from the law through His resurrection, but that doesn't mean that it is good for us to run around doing whatever we like. Of course, we are saved regardless, but we are not effective if we are living with sin.

The things that seem right and feel good in this world are just temporary. Even the things that we need to survive will not last. Paul reminds us that we have to eat every day to fill our stomach and we have a stomach for the purpose of eating. In the end, though, that is just a temporary way of getting us through this life. God is going to take both food and the stomach away and give us something better. So, if the things that are good and necessary in this life are not good enough to last, then why would even want to consider spending any time with the things that are not good or necessary in this life?

I Corinthians 5

Paul explains to the Corinthians the important distinction between immoral people of the world and immoral people in the church. We are called to be light to the world, and we can only share the gospel if we talk with and interact with the immoral people of the world. We are certainly not called to join them or to be like them, but we must interact with them on some level or else they will never know salvation.

The danger is that we must distinguish between that and the person that calls himself a Christian and yet is also completely immoral. The church body is for the saved; it's for believers. We must be careful to distinguish between those that belong and those that do not. And those that call themselves believers and are still living in willful disobedience and sin should not be tolerated in the church body.

Does that mean that we completely ignore them? No. If we are called to share the gospel with the world and to bring believers to Christ, then how much more should we work to reconcile a brother that has lost his way? Of course we do not ignore them. Paul is simply saying that we cannot gloss over it either. We cannot turn a blind eye to the sins within the church unless we want the church to crumble. We are not called to judge the world, only to share with it, but we must judge within our congregation and hold each other accountable for our sins so that we can build each other up.

I Corinthians 4

When you are in a right relationship with God, the judgment of men is far less meaningful. This doesn't mean that you are free to do whatever you want, but it does mean that when you do exactly what God wants in contradiction to the will of men, the judgment of men is nothing to fear.

Paul was continually arrested and accused of preaching the Gospel in contravention of the laws of the time. This was wrong by the judgment of men, but right by God. Paul kept his conscience clear by staying on the path that God had laid, and he didn't fear the judgment of men because it was nothing compared to the judgment of God if he had not done what was commanded.

Can you say the same in your life? Do you follow Christ regardless of the views of man? Or are you more concerned with how men will see your actions?

I Corinthians 3

We all have trouble perceiving things outside the dimensions of this world. We want to attach our ideas to something concrete to help us ground it in reality. As a result, there is a huge danger of us putting our focus more on the men and women that preach Christ than Christ Himself.

None of us have ever actually seen Christ in physical form, but we see other people all of the time. When we connect with another believer or enjoy listening to a particular preacher, that helps us ground our faith in the reality of this world. But we must be careful not to cross the line into actually putting our faith in those men and women. Every Christian is called to plant and water the seeds of faith in others, but only God can actually cause growth.

I Corinthians 2

We've heard it preached a hundred times: humility is the key. But do we really take it to heart? How many of us look at reaching the lost as a competition among friends? We try to notch our belts with converts or teach for the sake of hearing our own voices. How many of us are more concerned with being the most spiritual or the most knowledgeable rather than focusing primarily on sharing the gospel?

Paul gives us an example of what we should be when we approach the lost as he reminds the Corinthians that when he first came to them he was sure to not know anything. That doesn't mean that he literally knew nothing. Of course, we know that Paul was a very educated man in both the law and in secular knowledge. He was, quite possibly, the smartest man in the room at the Corinthian church, but he was resolved to not let that intellect get in the way of the Holy Spirit. The only thing that he wanted to know at that moment; the only wisdom that he wanted to impart was the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Too often we get caught up in trying to solve side issues that don't really matter once you know Christ, but that we feel are important because their resolution hinges on our own knowledge and abilities. Too often we want to "teach" or "share" from our own experience so that we can share our experiences and build our egos rather than for the edification of the body. Paul challenges us to set all of that aside and to humble ourselves to the point of knowing nothing except Christ so that our faith relies solely on Him.