1st Corinthians Chapter 3 “Y’all are God’s temple.” (See verse 16)
Are there factions at your church? Divisions? If so, chapter 3 of 1st Corinthians might seem familiar. Please read the text.
Paul was deeply concerned about factions in the Corinth congregation. “I belong to Paul.” “I belong to Apollos.” (Verse 4) These statements reveal division, pride of place and competition. Paul stressed a message of unity in Christ.
To explain this chapter we need to borrow from the world of professional sports. For any given team, there is a team owner in a posh sky box with a tiny, close knit group of friends and family. A healthy sized bunch of fans have season tickets. A much larger number of fans can’t afford that, but will splurge on a single game ticket. Many, many more fans settle for T-shirts and watching at home on TV. Within this structure, a select few people have lots of money and influence. A lot more people have a lot less of both, but from top to bottom everyone is loyal to that one team, and opposed to every other team. The social structure is shaped like a pyramid.
The opposing team is owned by someone else, and a separate fan base forms a separate pyramid.
Something like that was how society worked in Paul’s day. Naturally, the early church showed signs of following familiar social patterns. People fell into ‘pyramids’ because that was the social habit. They were used to different teams with separate coaches. Competition and separation were assumed.
Paul concentrated his preaching in Corinth on Christ crucified. Now in chapter three, he uses the metaphor of a master builder. Paul laid the foundation- Christ crucified- and upon that foundation rests the whole life of the congregation at Corinth. If there was going to be a pyramid it would be one single pyramid. That one building belongs to Christ. Not one for Paul and another that belonged to Apollos.
Then Paul makes a crucial move: “Y’all are God’s temple.” (Verse 16)
Paul did not have a southern drawl. But in Greek, the word ‘you’ has different forms for singular and plural. Here the ‘you’ is plural: it’s ‘you-all,’ not one particular individual ‘you.’ (Singular ‘you’ and plural ‘you’ look alike in English. It means we miss a few things when reading the Bible in English.)
Most of us reading English would assume an individual interpretation of Paul’s assertion. (“You are God’s temple.” “I am?") Paul’s emphasis is on community.
God calls us into community. In the assembly, in the small group, even if only two or three are gathered- God dwells in that assembly.
Stick with this letter from Paul and you will see how this affects everything.
Pray for unity in God’s church. Remember that we all tend to fall into comfortable groups. Let your prayer for unity be accompanied by conscious decisions to reach out to those members who are outside your usual circles.
Paul concludes this portion with a ringing proclamation that is true for you. (all)
You (all) belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Are there factions at your church? Divisions? If so, chapter 3 of 1st Corinthians might seem familiar. Please read the text.
Paul was deeply concerned about factions in the Corinth congregation. “I belong to Paul.” “I belong to Apollos.” (Verse 4) These statements reveal division, pride of place and competition. Paul stressed a message of unity in Christ.
To explain this chapter we need to borrow from the world of professional sports. For any given team, there is a team owner in a posh sky box with a tiny, close knit group of friends and family. A healthy sized bunch of fans have season tickets. A much larger number of fans can’t afford that, but will splurge on a single game ticket. Many, many more fans settle for T-shirts and watching at home on TV. Within this structure, a select few people have lots of money and influence. A lot more people have a lot less of both, but from top to bottom everyone is loyal to that one team, and opposed to every other team. The social structure is shaped like a pyramid.
The opposing team is owned by someone else, and a separate fan base forms a separate pyramid.
Something like that was how society worked in Paul’s day. Naturally, the early church showed signs of following familiar social patterns. People fell into ‘pyramids’ because that was the social habit. They were used to different teams with separate coaches. Competition and separation were assumed.
Paul concentrated his preaching in Corinth on Christ crucified. Now in chapter three, he uses the metaphor of a master builder. Paul laid the foundation- Christ crucified- and upon that foundation rests the whole life of the congregation at Corinth. If there was going to be a pyramid it would be one single pyramid. That one building belongs to Christ. Not one for Paul and another that belonged to Apollos.
Then Paul makes a crucial move: “Y’all are God’s temple.” (Verse 16)
Paul did not have a southern drawl. But in Greek, the word ‘you’ has different forms for singular and plural. Here the ‘you’ is plural: it’s ‘you-all,’ not one particular individual ‘you.’ (Singular ‘you’ and plural ‘you’ look alike in English. It means we miss a few things when reading the Bible in English.)
Most of us reading English would assume an individual interpretation of Paul’s assertion. (“You are God’s temple.” “I am?") Paul’s emphasis is on community.
God calls us into community. In the assembly, in the small group, even if only two or three are gathered- God dwells in that assembly.
Stick with this letter from Paul and you will see how this affects everything.
Pray for unity in God’s church. Remember that we all tend to fall into comfortable groups. Let your prayer for unity be accompanied by conscious decisions to reach out to those members who are outside your usual circles.
Paul concludes this portion with a ringing proclamation that is true for you. (all)
You (all) belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
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