Across the Pastor’s Desk by Todd Walsh

I just finished guiding a Bible study on 1 Corinthians.  I’ve read that book of the Bible before. Part of me figured I would be reviewing and see nothing new.   Well, I underestimated the Bible once again. One of the many wonders of the Bible is that you can see new things again and again.   Life gives us new eyes to see and opens our ears to what God has to say.

One thing that stood out about 1 Corinthians is the people. This was not a community of one mind. There were groups within the church and they were not getting along. They turned the communion service into a drunken party. They argued with one another.  They became exclusive and threw people out.

Some of the factions are named. Some were former Jews who hung onto their old ways. Others came from the Roman pagan world and liked some of those ways. Some believed in speaking in tongues to get one up on everyone else. Others believed that performing  miracles gave you a place in the community. Some were Gnostic and believed in secret wisdom that wasn’t much of a secret. Believe it or not — the list goes on.

So Paul writes to them, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” That sentence holds two pointed reminders for the Corinthians and Christians to follow. The guiding voice and hand of Christians is the words and actions of Jesus. And, yes, Christians are all gifted in many ways but those gifts are shine for the benefits of community.

And Paul goes further.  “But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.”

Then he jumps into what we today call the “love chapter” that is such a favorite at weddings. He finishes that chapter with words so many know well. “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”

The basic theme of 1 Corinthians is a very simple biblical theme:  love one another.

We have a good message for communities today, be they a family, work place, church, city, nation or world.

We are just a few days after our celebration of the 241st anniversary of American independence. The signers of the Declaration of Independence did something remarkable. They made a decision to work together.  They were ready and had the votes to declare independence in early June of 1776. But they decided to wait until all the delegates received instructions from their legislatures to vote for independence. So we celebrate Independence Day on July Fourth. The New York delegates abstained but came on board a week after the vote.

The framers of the Declaration of Independence knew the wisdom of learning to live and work together. It took some extra time, but it made for the start of a remarkable community called the United States of America.

Something of the same thing happened 13 years later when many of the same men came together to revise the failing Articles of Confederation that formed the first American government. They realized America already existed as a diverse nation. They sought “a more perfect union” with the drafting of the Constitution of the United States.

The writers of the U.S. Constitution wrestled with the fear of large states dominating small states. They found a solution in a two-house congress where one chamber favors the large states with proportional representation, the House of Representatives, and another chamber that favors small states with equal representation, the Senate.           

Those who then sought “a more perfect union” botched equal rights and treatment for blacks and women. We have made progress, but we still have far to go to reach that lofty goal for all those who are vulnerable and fear a tyranny of the powerful.

Let me close with a return to 1 Corinthians. There is something else about that book of the Bible that spoke to me. The writer of that letter names the people who are important to the community.

Paul named “Chloe’s people” as being so concerned about the trouble in the church that they seek out the help of Paul. He lifts up Stephanus as the first member of the Corinth church. He also names Fortunatus and Achaicus as other leaders, and Apollos, who is a co-worker with Paul and key to the formation of the Corinthian church.

The people of that church make the difference and make the community go.  Mind you, they mess it up with their fighting with one another.  But they pull it together remembering they live for their Lord Jesus and his word to love one another.

Have times changed all that much from 1776 or 1789, or the distant years of the first century?

I think not. We are still a remarkable people seeking the life of a gracious God eager to bless and help.  We still have a bad habit of thinking of ourselves and turning on those who look, or talk or are different from us. We sell short a diverse world. The simple answer from long ago works today:  love one another.

Todd Walsh is the director of spiritual care services at Thorne Crest Senior Living Community in Albert Lea.