1 Corinthians 3:1-9: Don't All These QBs Play for the Same Team?

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. - 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Name dropping is an old sin--the attempt to gain regard in the sight of the person you are speaking to by impressing them with the high quality of your connections. Or the anti-name-dropping, attempt to get people to ignore your competition by associating them in the minds of those you are speaking with a poor quality connection. 

It must have been really annoying for Paul, Apollos or Peter. They saw themselves as being on the same team. But other people around them promoted them as if they were on competing teams. Like the 49ers: one commentator says, "I'm for Jimmy Garroppolo." Another writer says, "I'm for Trey Lance" A third pipes up, "No, no, Brock Purdy is the best quarterback!" Meanwhile, a blogger writes, "You are all wrong!!!! They should throw all of those away and draft a new QB." Meanwhile, these QBs look at their friends and teammates and say, "Don't we all play for the 49ers? We're all getting paid mega-bucks, but play for the same great head coach." 

Some people try to make their place in life bigger by diving into the tiniest of perceived cracks between two people. Choosing one side or the other creates a new hierarchy where none existed before. Paul says, choose God, do your best and let him decide who rises or falls

Psalm 119:1-8: Extending My Streak

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—they do no wrong but follow his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me. - Psalm 119:1-8

"Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!"

Sunday is not the problem. Nor is Monday. Nor, in fact, are any of the days of the week. However, there is a bonus when I extend my obedience streak beyond a day or a week or a season: Blessing.  The bonuses are cumulative. Sure I can restart back my "save" point, not losing all of the buffs I've gained recently, but it is discouraging to have to re-do what I learned, and some levels are harder and longer than others. To come so close to the next level and then fall short is a rotten feeling. 

I want to extend my streak of "walking according to the law of the Lord" Some buffs only get added when the streak gets long enough. Most of the time, it is already something I know how to do-something where I have learned the lesson, but it is applying that move consistently is the problem. It is one of the biggest problems in my faith--it is not knowing what to do; it is doing those things well over time. Not just today. Today is a victory, but this week is a bigger victory, a year bigger yet and there are bigger milestones. "Well, done, good and faithful servant. "

Deuteronomy 30:15-20: No Blessing Apart from the Blesser

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. - Deuteronomy 30:15-20

There is no blessing without the bless-er. 

Doesn't it seem harsh to "command" someone to love the Lord? How do you order love?

But this passage seems to be predicated on love being a choice rather than a reaction. We tend to think of love as something that happens to us, that we feel as a reaction to someone's positive regard for us. Here, though, it seems to assume the opposite: that love comes through choice. We love whom we decide to love. If we think about it, we know that this is true, because no marriage would last if it was based on a reaction rather than a choice. Think about it, would God love us as a reaction to our paltry actions? No. He chose to love us, long before we ever loved him.

So these aren't verses that command a feeling, but rather they command a choice. "Choose life...that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him." (v.19) Is it easy? No, but the alternative is to be destroyed. The blessing isn't something that get's started and then just continues un-aided. Rather, it continues because of God. You don't get the blessing without holding fast to the bless-er. 

Psalm 15: What Shades of Truth Say About Our Heart

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?

The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on  others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath  even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without  interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things will never be shaken. - Psalm 15

"...who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander."

In the Bible, the will is the confluence of our desires is centered in our heart. So when this psalm praises those who speak from their heart, it is not just recommending passion but integrity. That our hearts would line up with the truth and that this would be reflected in our speech. Our words come in many shades, some of which are designed not to reveal but to conceal--not necessarily false but also not forthcoming. Sometimes not false but not leading to the truth. Maybe it is fear of rejection, maybe it is to support a goal-there are lots of reasons for how we shape our words other than truth. But love is not one of them. The Bible says, "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." (1 Cor. 13:6)