1 Corinthians 13 Study Guide (LOVE Series)

Corinth: The City, The Church, the Letter

THE CITY OF CORINTH

In 44 BC, Julius Caesar refounded Corinth as a Roman colony. Its location on a strategic isthmus made it a financial hub of the ancient world. Much trade passed through Corinth. It became wealthy and cosmopolitan. Corinth's size was about 2.5 square miles. When the gospel was preached there, Corinth's population was ethnically and religiously diverse: cults to ancient deities, mystery religions, and a Jewish community (Acts 18:1-4). As often noted, Corinth had a reputation for immorality in the ancient world.

THE CHURCH OF CORINTH

Paul came to the city around the year AD 50. Opposition forced Paul to leave the synagogue; but several people became believers in Jesus (Acts 18:8). The Christian community met in houses. Many Corinthians (Jews and Gentiles), were baptized into the faith.

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

Paul confronted the problem of sexual immorality within the Christian community; for example, the incest between a man and his stepmother (1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 6:9-20). Paul called for holiness, explaining that a Christian's body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians regarding meat offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8:12; 10:25) 15) and the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). Paul also gave counsel on spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-14:40), especially on the greatest gift—human love grounded in God's love.

               

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Study Guide Questions

Sermon Title: “Nothing without Love”

Sermon Date: February 2, 2014

1 Corinthians 13:1–3

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.      Verse three tells you that neither giving away all you own or being martyred (burned) would produce any real benefit if not done out of love for Christ and his Bride (the church). And the same thing is said about exercising great gifts, such as tongues, prophecy, knowledge and faith.

·         How is the Holy Spirit using this text to shake you up and challenge you?

·         What are you going to do about it?

2.      Throughout this epistle, Paul exposes the root cause for the Corinthians’ abuse of spiritual gifts: their the failure to love like Christ.

·         Why do those of us in Christ still seem to find it so difficult to be loving? What is wrong with us?

·         How can we apply the gospel in our lives to help each other change this sinful tendency?

3.      Recount an example in your own life where you have experienced some kind of failure due to your own personal lack of love …

·         What did the Lord teach you through that?

·         How did that experience change the way you think and act now?

1 Corinthians 13:4-6 Study Guide

Sermon Title: “LOVE IS …”

Sermon Date: February 09, 2014

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 13:4–6

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.      DISCUSS HOW THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS OF LOVE ARE IN LINE WITH THE GOSPEL:

·         PATIENT

·         KIND

·         REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH

·         Are you allowing the Spirit to cultivate these characteristics in your life? Please explain.

·         What about your life currently led you to answer in the way you did? Be honest and specific!

2.      DISCUSS HOW THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS ARE OUT OF STEP WITH THE GOSPEL:

·         ENVIOUS

·         BOASTFUL

·         ARROGANT

·         RUDE

·         INSIST ON OWN WAY

·         IRRITABLE

·         RESENTFUL

·         REJOICE AT WRONGDOING

As you think on these, get at the root reasons these characteristics are contrary to Christ - and sinful.

·         How can you kill these traits in your own heart?

·         How did Jesus display the opposite of these characteristics in his life, death, resurrection and ministry?

1 Corinthians 13:4-6 Study Guide
PART 2

Sermon Title: “LOVE IS NOT …”
Sermon Date: February 16, 2014
Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 13:4–6

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.      Look at these verse very carefully (if in a group setting, take a few minutes of quiet meditation before beginning the discussion). Now, reflect on your understanding of the concept of love … is it a biblical understanding? How do you know?

2.      Is your definition rooted in Scripture or is it more influenced by other factors? If so, what or who? How do you discern this?

3.      How important is love (love as defined by God) to your life? To the life of your church?

4.      Think on what the 1 Corinthians 13 has to say about love. How can we renew our mind to think of love in the same way the Trinity thinks of love? Remember, the Triune God defines and is love!

1 Corinthians 13:7 Study Guide

Sermon Title: “THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY”

Sermon Date: February 23, 2014

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 13:7

7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.      John Calvin commented on 13:7 with these words: “This, then, is the most excellent way, when love is the regulating principle of all our actions.”

·         What do you think Calvin meant by love being the regulating principle of our behavior?

·         Is this truly a habit of your heart? Why or why not?

2.      Please give an example of a real life situation which has happened (or even could happen) in which this principle (the primacy of love) can be illustrated practically?

Speak frankly about the difference between how things have turned out when you have followed this most excellent way of allowing love to dominate your actions versus when you have not done so …

3.      Calvin also said this (in relation to this verse):

“…we are naturally too much devoted to self, this vice renders us morose and peevish. The effect is, that every one wishes that others should carry him upon their shoulders, but refuses for his part to assist others. The remedy for this disease is love, which makes us subject to our brethren, and teaches us to apply our shoulders to their burdens. (Galatians 6:2.)”

How did and does Jesus Christ exemplify this principle of bearing and enduring all things? To put it another way: how does Jesus exemplify the most excellent way found in 1 Corinthians 13:7; that of having all of our attitudes and actions be regulated according to the rule of love?

Why should this truth about Jesus drive us to worship, follow, obey and love him even more?

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 Study Guide

Sermon Title: “Forever Love”

Sermon Date: March 2, 2014

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

1 Corinthians 13:8–13

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.      Survey 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 as a whole. What does this passage have to do with the gospel? With Jesus Christ? How does it point towards Jesus and the good news about him?

GROUPS EXERCISE

2.      1 Corinthians 13:8 reminds us that love outlasts all. Let’s look at a few relevant passages on love’s permanence.

·         If in a small group setting, split into groups of 3-5, with some groups taking 1 Peter 4:8 and others being assigned 1 John 4:16. The groups will then do a brief mini-study (7-9 minutes) on these two passages and then elaborate on the meaning and basic application in their own words.

·         Take 10 minutes or so for the mini-groups to share and discuss with the larger group.

OPTIONAL EXERCISE:

3.      Discuss, as a group, this statement on 1 Corinthians 13:13 by Dr. John MacArthur:

“The objects of faith and hope will be fulfilled and perfectly realized in heaven, but love, the God-like virtue, is everlasting (cf. 1 John 4:8). Heaven will be the place for the expression of nothing but perfect love toward God and each other.”

Especially consider: what does this mean for how we should live right now? How does a passage like this make a difference in your daily life? How does its future relevance relate and matter to us now?

Episode #172: Liberal Christianity | Backpack Radio Reflection

I used to tell people—back in the roaring nineties—that I was a liberal with conservative values. I mainly said this because I was a card-carrying member of a bunch of hippie-esque/pre-vegan (we really weren’t talking gluten or green smoothies just yet)/human rights-promoting/vigil-holding organizations, AND I didn’t want anyone to think I was a racist or uncool. Plus, I lived in New York. Being a Christian? Uncool.  Being a conservative Christian? Really uncool.

Even though it’s painful to say it, I think Pastor Vermon said it right when he noted the cultural trend is to be embarrassed by the Bible. I’ll just be honest: I was embarrassed by the Bible. I’m sure I’d couch it in pretty ways: “It’s not Christianity that I have a problem with; it’s Christians.”

Excuses, excuses. (Though sometimes Christians still freak me out.)

The problem has more to do with the authority of Scripture, something this radio show did a good job of affirming. While I think other shows have dealt with similar themes, it warrants repetition. Much depends on how one views the Bible. Is it the inspired Word of God, or is it of human inspiration? Is it inspiring, but not inspired? Basically, when one is thinking of liberal Christianity versus orthodox Christianity, one is identifying a position on the Bible: it is either a human testament or it is divine revelation.

So what about this embarrassment issue? I guess it has to be identified for what it was: cowardly. In essence, I think, we are ultimately called to define our worldviews, to come clean with our convictions, to take a stand. It might have been Vermon again, but one of the Backpack guys pointed out that Liberal Christianity offers something “culturally palpable” at the expense of something intellectually substantive. Do I have this right? I think that’s true. We choose between the culturally palpable or the intellectually substantive. Say it one more time.

In other words, there comes this time—it’s not always an easy time—when you’ve gotta let your yes be yes, and your no be no. It sounds harsh, but liberal Christianity may allow “embarrassed” types to have their cake and eat it too, so to speak, by allowing for a flimsy or wishy-washy intellectual life. One doesn’t have to think too hard. One doesn’t need to really bother with thinking about creationism or gender roles or other tough subjects. One gets to say things like, “There is a God, but he doesn’t really . . .” Get involved in our day-to-day lives, interfere in our sex lives, etc. Noah’s Ark? How fun was that? What a great idea for decorating our baby nurseries: animals with a little catastrophic flooding that wiped out mankind! Good times! Liberal Christianity is more culturally palpable, indeed. It is not, however, intellectually demanding. It does not require much consistency.

Speaking for myself, it did come down to the rigor thing. Liberal Christianity, it seemed, gave me a flimsy God. He wasn’t really omnipotent or omnipresent. He didn’t really know what was going on. Yet he was called God. The intellectual dissonance was unsettling.  I found it tough to live with the theological dissonance. I had to give up the “I’m a liberal with conservative values” routine. I’d rather have to work on how God views gender, how we should think about origins, etc.

It isn’t easy, I admit it. I struggle with some of this stuff. I’m pretty good on creationism. And I don’t really want the God of Deism. But what’s this headship business? What does the Bible say about gender? Are you kidding me?

The bottom line is that we’re rational beings. We just can’t live any other way.

Jennifer Bell is mostly a writer, but she's also an English teacher. The author of two books of fiction, she lives with her husband and two kids in Phoenix.

Alcohol and Christian Liberty, or What Price Freedom? | Backpack Radio Reflection Episode #146

Episode #146: Alcohol and Christian Liberty, or What Price Freedom?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have much trouble with trying to figure out whether or not I should eat food sacrificed to idols. On the other hand, I’ve been known to “graciously” flip out when alcohol is served. Once I brought a room of people to tears with my broken speech on the plight of the alcoholic.

Let’s get started by looking at this episode of Backpack Radio, which centered around First Corinthians 8. Very basically, there is such a thing as Christian Liberty. In other words, there are certain behaviors—such as drinking alcohol or going to see “R”-rated movies—that aren’t necessarily wrong, and Christians are at liberty to wisely discern whether or not they should participate. How the behavior affects other is one of the determining factors in making a decision. Pastor Bob was careful to note that we’re talking about things about which the Scriptures are indifferent, like drinking alcohol. We are not talking about sin, which is sin no matter how you cut it. This sounds pretty easy, especially since the big Biblical example is the “food sacrificed to idols” business. I haven’t seen any recent steak offerings to Mammon.

But it’s not so easy. First, there’s the intrusion, if you will, of love. Christian liberty is ultimately about how Christians relate to others. For what purpose do you abstain from or participate in certain indifferent activities? Second, we may need to think about specifics. When do you personally say no? I’ll be honest: I like my movies and books.

Taking my cue from the show, let’s look at some specific areas.

Alcohol: I didn’t actually bring the room to tears by myself. They were a weepy bunch anyways, so it was bound to happen. I was at a church women’s retreat, and some of the nice Christian women decided to daintily serve wine (and probably cheese). I was the one who got bent out of shape, I admit it.

Hmm. How to proceed? I’m close with some alcoholics. In a show of solidarity with one of them, I gave up alcohol in 2004. Frankly, it wasn’t tough. But I have some insider-info on the alcoholic’s mighty battle—which is hellish. So, when the nice women folk thought they’d just have a glass while away for the weekend from the kids and men, I freaked—and said it shouldn’t be served at a church retreat. Besides my vested interest, there were recovering alcoholics among us. They piped in. The room lapsed into quiet girly bawling, and there was no more wine among us. Thank you very much?

Did I go too far?  

Not sure. May I get super, super personal? You know the sacrament? You know how most churches tend to serve both wine and grape juice? May I just tell you that I kinda get very uncomfortable and anxious and I lose focus when I see those little, tiny drops of wine coming around, and I’m not even the alcoholic? I don’t know how it is to be an alcoholic in the church setting, but I wonder. Do they try to focus on the meaning of the Lord’s table, but end up thinking about the wine—how they’re going to avoid it, noticing who’s taking it and who’s going for grape juice, counting cups? I know this for sure: in other settings, alcoholics are acutely aware of the presence of alcohol in the room: they do count cups; they do monitor its location; they do think an awful lot about it.

I would imagine that Christian alcoholics are spending at least some of the sacrament time thinking about not thinking about alcohol.

So get rid of it? Is this a matter of Christian liberty? I’m asking you.

Entertainment choices: And as conservative as I am on alcohol, I’m pretty sure I sound like a raging liberal on this one. I see everything (well, everything that’s “good”). Am I a stumbling block? I’m totally into controversial books. Though I’m not a Harry Potter fan, I think it’s okay if you are. It might be easy to draw the line on something like movies, but what about TV and its gospel of secular humanism? What about our latest habit—“30 Rock”? Tina’s a great big secular humanist. What about rock concerts? What about wearing concert t-shirts? I know I’ve really been unwilling to give up my music. Not good?

Attending other worship services: What do you think about joining your Catholic or Mormon friend on a Sunday morning at his or her worship service? I have anecdotes on this too, but I’ll hold back—though we have major Catholics in the family. Are we free here?

Consumer Choices: The guys at Backpack Radio did pose this interesting example. Is it okay to buy goods from countries who are engaged in something like child labor? Is it okay to buy stuff made in China? What do you think?

My husband brought up an example after a recent event. We watched this no-doubt biased documentary called Blackfish—which pretty much slams SeaWorld for having killer whales in captivity. I was totally convinced that we need to immediately boycott SeaWorld. For me, it’s a moral issue. It isn’t a matter of Christian liberty. What do you think? Are Christians free to go to SeaWorld or are we morally obligated to stop?

Then Disneyland came up. How about that one? I freakin’ love Disneyland, just so you know. (Why might this be wrong? Conspicuous consumption? Anthropomorphizing animals? Walt Worship?)

I’m just posing questions here. The issue is pretty complex. What are you willing to give up?

Jennifer Bell is mostly a writer, but she's also an English teacher. The author of two books of fiction, she lives with her husband and two kids in Phoenix.

Reflections on Backpack Radio, Episode #164

Reflections on Backpack Radio, Episode #164: Cults, Heresies, and World Religions with Doug Powell (listen here)

My husband wanted me to start by looking at iWitness World Religions and iWitness Heresies and Cults, apps created by Doug Powell (apologist and musician) and now available for downloading. But I’m, like, apps schnapps—let’s talk about cults. Doug, please develop an app that will allow me to point at someone and my phone will immediately read, “Cult Member” or “Cult-free.” The wisdom-seeking folk will want to listen to this episode. Is now an appropriate time to admit that I got my first smart phone and sent my first text message in June?

But CULTS. To get started, let’s go to the eighties. Here’s Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality.” Tina Fey is also making a new sitcom about a woman leaving a doomsday cult. So cults are hot!

I guess, then, my hope is to whet your appetites for more—which you can get from the show. My guess is that all of us have been touched by cults. Once, I had dinner with the Moonies! An old college friend had drunk the Kool Aid, so to speak (oh, that’s the wrong cult!), and married this complete stranger in a big stadium. This was back in my All-Faiths-Are-Equally-Valid days and so, when my ultra-PC friend urged me not to call them “Moonies” but to kindly refer to them as members of the Unification Church, I did so. Actually, there isn’t much to tell because I asked the wrong questions—but I do remember being spooked and hearing about how much property they owned in Manhattan (tons, friends, tons). The last I heard, she had left the cult and was a single mom in Phoenix. I met her once again at an IHOP, and she looked amazing.

Besides that, there has been the troubling goodness of numerous Mormons in my path. They have been among the best of my students—those Mormon kids have been respectful, and they’ve turned their homework in on time. So what if they’ve got mysterious ideas about owning their own planets? Surely, they’re okay, right?

Then, there’s that Shaker village in Massachusetts we visited. I think they died out because no one had sex, but they made awesome furniture! (Make love, not war? Make a chair, not a baby!)

Finally, I must confess to having seen a lot of Tom Cruise movies, so I’ve also encountered Scientology. These encapsulate my cultic experiences. Or do they?

I’ve already confessed to offering no cohesive apologetic to the Moonies. In the same way that I wouldn’t know what an “app” really was if it hit me in the face, I’m not so sure we’re entirely aware of what a cult really is. Perhaps this is the first step in fighting the good fight—and why this app might be important. Sure, it’s easy to self-righteously identify David Koresh, but what about the subtle heretics who speak gently but authoritatively? I’m personally more interested in the way Christian groups harbor cultic tendencies, as opposed to the obvious nutcases who want us to make friends with aliens or marry our cousins. What dangers lurk among us?

One interesting question has been raised on this topic (by my husband and me, on the couch): Can a group be doctrinally-sound and still be a cult? Of course, this begs another question: what does it mean to be doctrinally-sound? In other words, Can genuine Christians—True Believers—be in a cult? What does it look like when groups begin with the Bible, with Jesus?

It almost seems as if the word cult defies definition. There are sects, heretics, and cults. It’s all very confusing. Basically, you want to be in the historic Christianity camp. Here’s how you can figure out if you’re in a cult. I’ll try to make it fun, by writing my own app-like quiz. These traits are adapted from the International Cultic Studies Association, which I picked out from about a million online resources (http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm). The emphasis is on adapted. I’d encourage you to check out the original source, since I messed with it considerably.

• Do you think your leader knows completely what he’s talking about and you can trust him because he’s so wise and you’re an idiot anyway? Plus, questioning is not a great option. You don’t want to be contentious—especially since your leader is so brilliant and, well, as already mentioned, you’re an idiot?
• Is the whole questioning process equivalent to trying to get off the Island in “Lost” or like finding the wardrobe that will take you to Narnia?
• Have you signed any papers or jumped on a disturbing bandwagon because your friends are doing it (plus, you’re an idiot, so what do you really know?)
• Does your leader have a Napoleonic complex? Does he have an answer for everything? Does he ever just stop and say, “Wow. You’re right. I was wrong. I’m so sorry.”
• Does your group think they’ve got a handle on Truth unlike anyone else?
• Does your group pretty much feel uncomfortable with Other Christians?
• Could someone get rid of the leader, if necessary? Would it be like a coup?
• Is there anything unethical going on? Are you just standing there watching? Seriously?
• Do you feel guilt and shame because you’ve failed, AGAIN, to present your papers to the authorities? Do you find yourself trying harder to be good or getting physically ill because you can’t do it or are you even thinking about suicide?
• Is there an in-group and an out-group? How does your group grow?
• Do you sorta think there is “nothing else out there”? Are you scared to leave, like really scared? How does one leave? Who has left and why?

Once we start talking cults, Christians might move into self-examination. Can the traits of a cult be in place, even if it’s not a cult? What does it look like when a church manifests cult-like traits? What constitutes mind-control or brainwashing? What does a healthy church look like? At what point does a church become unhealthy enough that you just have to get out of there? Can you find the back door? Do you have your running shoes on? Are your kids okay?

More than anything, Christians might want to ask themselves if they’re hearing the full Gospel in their churches, if there’s genuine transparency and accountability in their leadership, and if there really is freedom of expression or is there merely a charade of discussion, a pretense of humility?

Jennifer Bell is mostly a writer, but she’s also an English teacher. The author of two books of fiction, she lives with her husband and two kids in Phoenix.

Is Homeschooling A Necessity? (Episode #123 from February 3, 2013)

Is Homeschooling A Necessity? (Episode #123 from February 3, 2013)

Oh, wow, I’ve got so much to say about this one. I should begin by admitting that I’m a homeschooling failure. There’s a long, ugly story behind this admission, but it’s probably enough to say I married my husband under the pretense that I would cheerfully put aside my unsuccessful career and give our unborn children the best “Classical” education ever—which would amazingly involve Socrates, Shakespeare, and trips to the opera. Then, when the kids started toddling over with those wretched Spot books (Spot Goes To School, Spot Goes To The Circus, Spot Goes To The Farm, Spot Goes To The Holocaust Museum, Spot Suffers An Existentialist Crisis), and when my homeschooling supermom friends trembled with excitement over new curriculum and set up spiffy classrooms in their living rooms or planted pesticide-free gardens, I broke down and announced, “I can’t do it.” I think I added, “This will kill me.” Knowing me, I probably put it this way: “Tim, you’re killing me.” Yeah, that’s what I said.

Though I was met by support from most people in my life (lots of Christians), who affirmed that it’s not a moral issue and homeschooling isn’t for everyone, I got the distinct impression that I was blowing it: as a mom, a wife, a woman, and a Christian.

That said, my kids are in school now.

This episode of Backpack Radio features Joel McDurmon of American Vision, who argues convincingly, albeit maybe a little over-the-topishly, that education must be private in a truly free society. He says that public schools stem from the idea that there is no original sin; therefore, the implication is that we can perfect ourselves by controlling our environments. Such thinking influenced the development of insane asylums, prisons, and public schools. Education literally means “to lead out of . . .” It follows, then, that we might ask ourselves who’s doing the leading and where are we going. Keeping in mind that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, McDurmon argues that homeschooling is mandated for Christians.

Frankly, he’s convincing. I can’t say that I think he’s full of it. Public education is godless. Parents are the ones responsible for their children. The thing he just doesn’t discuss (and, actually, I’m not so sure I’ve really heard anyone discuss) is how this is connected to women, and what it means to be a Christian woman. The “woman issue.” In postmodern parlance, we’re talking the “feminist discourse.”

(Pertinent Side Note: No one would really call me a feminist. “I’m just a girl,” to quote No Doubt, a semi-lackluster band.)

Before my rightwing friends tune me out, give me a chance. I’m only going to raise some questions and drop some comments, and—who knows?—maybe these all stem from personal feelings of inadequacy and my own unwillingness to really give up my self-life by buckling down and homeschooling.

• I really, truly, completely, wholehearted think teaching—teaching children, specifically—is a gift. One is automatically a parent when one gives birth, but giving birth does not automatically turn one into a gifted teacher. I just don’t fully get why we “cheapen,” if you will, this gift. I know kids who have gotten fabulous educations at home. I also know kids who were kinda cheated, kids who don’t know where the Mississippi River is. Am I going too far?

• What about a woman’s vocation? Are moms allowed to have other vocations too? I don’t really have any answers. I still haven’t come to terms with my own role as a writer. I did, at some point, have an acute awareness that it’s something I better do or else. But I’m a mom too.

• If Backpack Radio would like to do another show on this topic, I’d suggest the guys talk to three kinds of Christian women: the Christian women who send their kid(s) to private schools, the Christian women who send their kid(s) to public schools, and the Christian women who homeschool. Let them talk. But get some honest broads. I know some women who have no desire whatsoever to do what they’re doing. I’d like to hear from them—though it’s tough to get them to talk. And then I’d like to know if I’m just trying to couch my selfish ambition in theological backtalk.

• So, like, yeah: it often seems like the homeschooling agenda is imposed on the woman in the name of godliness, and she takes it on quietly—also in the name of godliness. (By the way, I know plenty of women who love it, choose it, and thrive at it.) This all makes me question what is the role of the wife, how is vocation defined, how important is talent, etc.

• On education: I’ll be honest. I hate the idea of sending my kids out there into the arms of the public education system. I’m scared of porn on the Internet. I’m scared of mean girls. I’m scared of pervs. I’m scared of pretty boys. I’m scared of secular humanism. And I’m a little disillusioned with parts of private education (the meanies and pervs don’t go away). In the name of protecting kids, private education might withhold knowledge. Homeschooling has its problems, too. I value a lot about the school experience: learning how to line up at the drinking fountain, going on field trips, having a lunch box, learning classroom etiquette—the whole socialization process. I think a lot of homeschooling moms dismiss these things as insignificant, but I’m not really sure. Obviously, one has to trust in God, accept the sovereignty of God, and know that a child might do well in a variety of circumstances.

• There’s this tension, if you ask me, between living as if the ideal were already in place and between living with the reality of a fallen world. The ideal might be—I’m really not sure—that we homeschool. In an ideal world, marriages would be such that women thrive, men would help in a real way, talent would blossom, kids would be attentive and eager, et al. Do we—not just in this area, but others too—live like the ideal exists? In other words, should single moms homeschool, no matter what? I have to tell you this: there have been other areas of my life in which I’ve tried to live according to an ideal, and I freakin’ fell apart.

That said, it’s very hard for me to remove the discussion from its context: what about the women? Give the show a listen. What do you think?

Jennifer Bell is mostly a writer, but she’s also an English teacher. The author of two books of fiction, she lives with her husband and two kids in Phoenix.

Sermon Notes: 'ALL GOD’S THINGS, ALL GOD’S GLORY'

Intro:
Commentator NT Wright talks about how some birds like sparrows seem to spend all their time on small scale activities: they make nests, grub for food, and squawk. Others seem to spend all day soaring in a grand, wide-ranging and majestic manner. He goes on to say that some Bible teachers may be more like one or the other: some are all nuts and bolts, practical and detail oriented and others are more overarching, big general truths sometimes even vague platitudes. Paul is both and eagle and a sparrow, though. He zooms in on the street level and then zooms back at out the end so you can get the Google Earth view as well. And that’s what I actually want to draw out today. 

As we hear these verses read to us, please keep in the forefront of your mind 1 Corinthians 10:31 – this verse’s theology is really the focus of all the New Testament writings, indeed, the focus of the whole of Scripture. This verse encapsulates the whole of good Reformation theology as well as its theological heirs. This is even the focus of heaven itself: to do all things for the glory of God. Here’s what 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

We’re going to read through our passage and see how Paul applies this key principle. But as we unpack these details, please keep in mind that everything we discuss in these verses today arises directly from the biblical mandate that (in the words of Colossians 3:17) “whatever we do, whether in word or deed, we are do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  This means all of life is to be lived for His name sake, His glory, His purpose, His honor, for God and God alone. With these things in mind, let us go to the Lord in prayer to prepare our hearts for the reading and preaching of his Word from 1 Corinthians 10:23–11:1.

Principle 1 - “ALL THINGS SHOULD BUILD OTHERS”
                                    1 Corinthians 10:23-24 and 10:32
                                                           Application of Principle 1: 1 Corinthians 10:28-29a

BACKGROUND INFO FOR CORINTH
The Corinthian Meat Market seems to have been located along the Lechaeum Road, traveling just north just off the city center. We have found the ruins of the fish market (Fish scales have also been recovered), N of the Roman basilica. Corinth’s meat market was mentioned on a fragment of a Latin inscription on a stone found near the Lechaeum Road. The dedicatory inscription reads: [names of the benefactors] built this macellum...and piscarium (fish house).  In Pompeii, immediately adjacent to the macellum is a storage pen for animals. Had these animals been sacrificed, the priest's portion (the shoulders) would have been missing. 

possible gods w/shrines, sanctuaries or temples being adored in Corinth:
-Demeter (of the field) - Dining rooms in lower half, cult areas (sacrificial pit, etc) upper
-her daughter Kore (ancient Greek fertility cult), on an incline on N slope of Acrocorinth
-maybe Dionysus/Bacchus (to the Romans)
-probably Apollo
- Shrine found to the Egyptian goddess Isis
-Egyptian deity Sarapis. In stories he offered help to followers, mixture of Egyptian and Greek
-the cults of the dead
-the cults of the heroes (eg, Hercules)
-the Roman domestic religion, including the imperial Cult
-offerings (clay models of body parts) to ASCLEPIUS, god of medicine/healing. Spas/temples
-Famous temple to the erotic Aphrodite, w/ temple prostitutes
-Temple to Poseidon, god of the sea

“Place religion at the heart of social life as surely as it must be placed at the heart of cultural activities of every sort. For most people, to have a good time with their friends involved some contact with that God who served as guest of honor, as master of ceremonies, or as host in the porticoes or flowering, shaded grounds of his own dwelling. For most people, meat was a thing never eaten and wine to surfeit never drunk save as some religious setting permitted. There existed – it is no exaggeration to say it of all what the fairly rich – no formal social life… that was entirely secular. Small wonder, then, that Jews and Christians brackets [held] themselves aloof from anything the gods touched… Source: Ramsey MacMullen, Paganism, p40 from B. Witherington III

-Paul does ban taking part in sacrificial feasts in the temple
-He does not ban eating in the restaurant connected to the temple but prefers they not
-He does not ban eating the meat sold in the market
-He does not ban eating at someone’s house however … 1 Cor 8:1-13 and then 10:23-11:1, a non-cultic context but even then, abstain if need be b/c Idols are not real but perceptions of them are and so are the demonic forces which lie behind false religious systems

EXAMPLE PROBLEMS: the wine would almost certainly be offered in the name of Dionysus and the gods were often sung to or honored in other ways – thanks to the god for the food, for example. Maybe a Christian could pronounce a different name over the cup – Jesus?

Ancient invitations - Not from Rome, from Egypt

-“Antonius son of Ptolemaus invites you to dine with him at the banquet of the lord Sarapis in the house of Claudius Sarapion on the 16th from the ninth hour.”                                             -“Appolonius invites you to dine at the table of the lord Serapis on the occasion of the approaching coming of age of his brothers at the temple of Thoeris”
-“The god calls you to a banquet being held in the temple of Thoeris tomorrow from the 9th hour.”         
-“The [city officials] invite you to dine at the temple of Demeter today, which is the 9th, at the 7th hour.”

-Dining invites: birth, adolescence, political advancement, marriage, death and entertainment. withdrawl in a certain situation could present a positive opportunity to talk about the gospel, especially in light of the Greco-roman after dinner table talk. Or it could lead to social isolation.
failure to do so could result in these things:
-compromise their monotheistic confession
-confirm rather than challenge their friend’s idolatrous assumptions
-endorse idolatry and hence, demons

3 principles about the gray areas:
-what is safe for one Christian may not be for another
-discernment takes knowledge AND love
-we shouldn’t demand our right if it hurts others

why? REASON - 10:24 – “do not seek the good of yourself but the good of the other” or
paraphrased as “not my good but your good be done” ... Matthew 22:39

THE GOSPEL
What Jesus has done is why we are free in the first place.
what has he done? How are we free? So what? How can one become free?
Galatians 6:2 and Galatians 5:13

Principle 2: “ALL THINGS are for God’s Glory”                    - 1 Corinthians 10:25-26 and 10:31

• Application of Principle 2
• 1 Corinthians 10:27 (implies we can and may eat with non-believers, sharing social settings with them)

10:26 flows from his doctrine of creation (1 tim 4.4) and God’s sovereignty (1 cor 8.6)

Here cites Psalm 24.1, like Acts 10.15… see Psalm 89:11

1 Timothy 4:3–5 and Colossians 2:16

“Paul is thoroughly Jewish and biblical in his understanding that creation is good and that the food we receive has been provided for us by God and should be received with thanksgiving and with the understanding that food, like everything else in creation, exists to fulfill the purpose God has in mind for it, namely, his glory. As far as the Christian is concerned, whatever food is found in the market is part of God’s gracious provision should be thankfully received as such.”
SOURCE: Roy Ciampa and Brian Rosner, Pillar Commentary, pg. 489.

AND HIS PASSION FOR MISSIONS TO THE WOLRD…
Luke 10:8 and1 Corinthians 9:22

APPLICATIONS:
As a result, "do not judge on the basis of your συνείδησις" means: do not look at all the stuff you can get at the market from your own personal moral code but from God's perspective, because the earth is the Lord's.

We do not need to hold to Kosher food laws as in Judaism. We also do not need to be concerned about the food laws of Islam, 7^th Day Adventism or Roman Catholicism. We also do not want these folks think we are identifying with their beliefs if we do hold to these laws however that does not mean we would throw our Christian freedom in their face.

Now most of this discussion is about not allowing any pagans to think you identify with their false beliefs or causing weaker Christians to have a moral crisis. In the previous section there was much talk about not having a lax attitude towards idolatry because arrogance can lead to spiritual compromise. But I think when we add in the discussions from 1 Corinthians 8 and especially  9, we can perhaps make some application about our behavior towards outsiders in these matters.

For example, I have had some Muslims in my house. My wife and I have served them food. We have went out of our way to serve them things they would find culturally and even religiously acceptable so as to avoid needless offense. I have also eaten at a popular local spot with some of my Middle Eastern friends at a place called Zam Zams. Muslim own and frequent the spot and its name is based on a Koranic legend about a magical well called the ZamZam Well. The Muslims I speak to do not think I believe the legend because I eat at the restaurant, rather they are glad to know that I have been to some of the places they like. Similarly, the Muslims who have come over do not think Islam is right – I make sure they know otherwise – but I have tried to remove needless roadblocks so that I may witness to them better. I also make sure they know I do not do this because I believe it helps me find favor in God’ s sight – it does not. Yet, these acts can show Christian love and give us a chance to speak about Christ’s grace and mercy and how dietary restrictions do not earn merit with the one true and living God.

Also See Romans 14:7; 14:14; 14:15; 14:19; 14:20; 14:23; 15:2; 15:3 

EXAMPLES I. “ALL THINGS SHOULD BUILD OTHERS”
II.                     “ALL THINGS are for God’s Glory”               

            1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1                   (see 1 Corinthians 29b-30)

(10:29-30 – “I have freedom in Christ – and I defend that right to my freedom -
b/c ALL THINGS are God’s for His glory  but I limit it b/c ALL THINGS should build up others”)
or, to put it another way “Christian liberty must be moderated by Christian charity”

PAUL 1 Thessalonians 1:6 ; 2 Thessalonians 3:7–9

The Corinthian slogan 10:23 (and 6:12) vs. Paul’s slogan 10:31

Panta exestin ‘all things are lawful’
 - Ou panta sympherei - not all things are helpful
Panta exestin ‘all things are lawful’
- Ou panta oikodomei - not all things build up
Panta exestin ‘all things are lawful’
Panta eis doxan theou  - ‘all to the glory of god’                                                                        

 “Nothing can make a person like Christ more than caring for one’s neighbors”
– John Chrysostom homilies on Corinthians 25.3

JESUS - Philippians 2:4- Like the suffering servant in Isaiah 53.11-12

Challenging applications for today:    

-Christianity must affect your social life
It should not look identical to the world’s. you may have to sacrifice. Certain club settings, certain bars, certain concerts, certain casinos … And if you are a Christian living in the East, say in India or Hong Kong, this is still a very live issue with almost a one to one correlation. Many weddings would be given in the name and honor of gods … this may affect how some of us here should think about such things as Day of the Dead ceremonies. To some folks, it’s just a time where families get together and eat. In others, maybe they remember their family members who have dies – ok. But in more traditional cultures, especially in Latin america, these times can take on another level of significance in people’s minds that borders directly on the occult – you better think about this! -2 dangers – syncretism and separatism but …

CONSIDER: we shouldn’t ask how far can I go but rather what are my motives?

Challenging Questions for us to ask ourselves today?

-Have we thought long and hard about the places we go and the events we are part of – have we sincerely asked if they can be done as to the glory of God? Remember, sin can not be to the glory of god since God commands against it – this is why in the Corinthian correspondence things like idolatry, sexual immorality, drunkenness and the like are all condemned.

-Do we even consider our brothers and sisters in Christ when we decide what we are going to do
where we are going to go, how we are going to do it, and what we invite them to? This consideration must include the strong and the weak as well as those of differing backgrounds (Paul mentions Jews and Gentiles both). We must consider the affect it has on them.

-Do we consider how what we do appears to the non-believer? What are their thoughts on the matter? What is the common cultural consensus about it and if we act cavalier in this regard, could it potentially look as if we are endorsing pagan notions about reality in any way? Could our actions in these matters end up being an impediment to the non-believer in that it could even hinder them from becoming a Christian? We must imitate the apostle in this matter!

-Is everything we do to the glory of God in a serious way? Not just lip service but for real … are there things we are involved in which we know are not honoring to him – perhaps they do not build up others or present a poor witness – things which maybe lawful but not profitable?

-Have we thought about how our eating and drinking are to be done in a way that does bring glory to God? What about other key areas … how can our vocation bring glory to God – we must execute these actions in a way that does bring him glory!

-Do we even care about bringing God glory in a sincere manner or are we more concerned about our liberty to do what we want to – do we even care about building up others and not needlessly offending them? or are we more interested in demanding our rights and our freedom? If so, we need to change, we need to repent!Are we willing to say this from 1 Corinthians 8:13?

CLOSING -1 Peter 4:11