You have arrived

You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! - 1 Corinthians 4v8

There is so much in this section that I hardly know how to address it. I considered addressing it with humour, and perhaps I should since it is clear that Paul is not above a sense of irony and even sarcasm. After condemning the Christians in Corinth he suddenly seems to change tack.

“But wait! You already have arrived. You are full, you are rich, you are kings, you are wise!” When he turns to describe the apostles his words are very different. “We are a spectacle to the world, we are fools, we are weak, we are dishonoured, we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are beaten, we have to work with our own hands, and we are the filth of the world, its very scrapings.”

I think now of two different churches I have seen. One I saw in person and one on a video. The first can only be described as opulent. Multi-million euro facilities which, to my mind we epitomised by the gold plated fixtures in the public toilets. The one on the video was hidden in the mountains of Vietnam. It was run down, dark, and certainly had no heating or air conditioning. The first church had a couple of hundred people in a massive auditorium, who were dressed to the nines and had a proper service, with beautiful music and a carefully orchestrated order of service. The second church probably had the same number of people packed into a tine shack. Their worship was ecstatic. Poorly glad Christians were singing songs of pure joy as they raised their hands in worship. If I remember correctly the song went something like this – “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.” The first church operated in total freedom, was looked on highly by their community, and even hosted politicians and local officials. The second church met in fear, arrived secretly, and often had to flee when they heard that the police were coming.

I don’t have all this figured out by any means. But I do know this. One of the two churches reminds me of Corinth and one reminds me of the apostles. It makes me wonder about what I see as important in the body of Christ.