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) 

Micah 6:1-8: Getting Leverage on God

Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel. “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.” 

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  - Micah 6

We try to use God for our own ends. We try to find something that God wants--some leverage--with which we can barter to get what we want. What do we want so badly? What infuriates us when someone else receives what we feel we deserve? What longing eats at our hearts and disturbs our sleep? We know that God could give us that, if he wanted. So we make an offer. Does he want prestige? Does he want glory? Does he want public professions of faith and sacrifice? Sure, we can give that as long as we will get what we want.

Micah reports the Lord's words and points them back to a famous spiritual wheeler-dealer: Balaam. Balak wanted to whomp on Israel when they were in the desert after leaving Israel. But he had seen that it had gone badly with the last nation that tried that, so he wants to buy some insurance. He has correctly identified the source of Israel's strength. It is Yahweh, their God. So Balak tries to find a holy man who knows about Yahweh and offers him the deal: you convince Yahweh or you place a curse on Israel, and I'll give you major big bucks. So Balaam, who knows what Yahweh wants, tries to play both sides: he keeps going and asking God again and again  for the 'curse' that Balak wants, getting paid each time for his trouble, He extends hope that there is a way to gain leverage on Yahweh using mega-bucks.  But eventualy God has to talk with Balaam through his donkey when Balaam goes too far.

So it is with Israel. They try to do what they want and have God bless it. They are so desperate to get what they want that they even offer their own children. So God tells them what is required: give up leverage on God and other people. Humble. Merciful. Just. Leverage. Revenge. Leverage. The way to gain leverage with God is to give up leverage. 

1 Corinthians 1:18-31: Passing My God Test

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

"Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom." I guess that the question here is: what does it take to pass my "God" test? How to know if God is real and acting like God? Is it seeing the miraculous and events that go beyond the natural? Is it penetrating insight into the world and the way it works? Each time we ask these questions we are putting God on trial. We are asking that he prove himself genuine deity. There are certain metrics--certain hoops that any one who claims to be God must go through before they start to get my attention. We establish these qualifications because their are many who would like to speak as God--authoritatively--into our lives and a lot of them are quacks spouting gibberish. Unfortunately this has the effect of bolstering our ego--placing us in the center of universe as arbiter of the divine. 

But Paul says that the answer that people are looking for, both in terms of the supernatural and the natural, is Jesus. God says, what you do with Jesus is what you do with me. And when we dismiss Jesus the Messiah as irrelevant, it shows that we are such bad judges of character. We should take a step back and wonder what else fundamental we are missing.  The things that we consider "foolish" or "worthless" or "wrongheaded" deserve another look because they might be overlooked due to our prejudice and actually be concealing the very God we say we are searching for. 

Hebrews 2:10-18: Perfect is Going the Distance

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. - Hebrews 2:10-18

 "...make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered." How could Jesus be made "perfect"? Wasn't he already perfect? Yes. But perfect is only perfect not just for a moment. It must be carried through to the end. This is the sense of "perfect" as "complete"

Baseball pitchers can have a good game. They can throw a shutout: no score. They can throw a no hitter: no hit allows someone to reach a base. They can even hold their opponent scoreless. But in a "perfect game" "no batter from the opposing team reaching any base" for all 9 innings of a baseball game. 

What Jesus did had never been done before: a human who lived holy from beginning to end. Perfect game. By doing it, he proved that "human" was not the problem but rather "sin"-something external to our being human-was the problem. Since it was external, it could be "atoned" for-paid for. 

That doesn't mean it was easy for him. He was tempted like we were. That temptation led to hard choices. Those hard choices were suffering. But it was going through those hard choices and choosing God's way in each one that gives me hope. Sin is not me. It is an ill chosen accessory to the person God made me to be. That gives me hope. And gratitude that he still considers me to be his family, since "the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family."