Meditating on 1 Corinthians 5:11

As a staff, we are focused on practicing the spiritual discipline of meditation over the next month. I thought this would be a great place to lay out what that looked like for me this morning if any of you are interested in practicing meditation yourselves.And let me tell you something…when I am talking about meditation here, I’m not talking about crossing your legs and chanting “Ommmmm” while holding your thumb and forefinger together. Just cuz’ I have long hair does not mean I am some kind of new age meditation guru. There is a huge difference between Eastern meditation and Christian meditation. Eastern meditation is about emptying the mind and Christian meditation is about filling the mind and heart with God. Very different. When Christian theologian Dietrich Bonheoffer was asked why he meditated, he said, “Because I am Christian.” Give it a shot…I think you will see the benefits.

I started out by sitting back in my chair. Feet flat on the ground. Hands on my knees. Eyes closed. Quiet.

I have the door closed in my office. The lights are off. The droning sound of my fan is cancelling out most of the ambient noise around me. I focus for a time on relaxing. I breathe deeply in and out. I quiet my mind when it starts to wander. I begin to slowly open myself up to God. I know that sounds strange, but that is exactly what I am doing. I am using my imagination to imagine my heart opening inside of me, like a giant conduit ready to be filled with the Spirit of God. I ask God to fill me with His presence…with His love…with His wisdom. I imagine myself being filled with God.

Next, I start to think about the things inside me that need to be released. Worries. Anxieties. Guilt. I realize that I have been a little whiny about the extra work I have had to do since my wife had ACL surgery. I release my selfish frustration and ask God to remove this burden from me. I literally lift my hands as I release this issue and ask God to help me humbly serve my wife. I see myself flippantly joking with Dave as he approaches a tough sermon topic this week and I feel guilty about it. I release that guilt and pray for his sermon preparation…asking God to guide him through a difficult subject (You’ll see on Sunday). I continue to work through any other issues I need to deal with to wholly commit to seeking God’s face.

When this process is completed, I sit quietly for a few minutes “listening” to God. Allowing time for God to work in my heart and mind. Allowing Him time to shape me as I sit quietly, because the majority of my interactions with God involve my endlessly yapping without any thought to allowing God space to respond.

Then I open up my eyes and open my Bible to today’s reading – I Corinthians 5:11.

To meditate on scripture, I don’t want to come to the text with any agenda. I just want to read it. Chew on it. Mull it over. Drink it in. I want to allow it to roll around in my brain. I want to allow God to speak freely to me through this verse, without allowing my own bias or somebody else’s to enter into the equation (I know this is almost impossible because the brain that is “mulling” this passage over is my flawed human brain with all my hang-ups and biases…but I do my best to approach the text with a clean slate).

I read the verse several times. I read it slowly in my mind…allowing myself to concentrate on each word. I read it out loud, to make sure that I am not inadvertently skipping over any words in my mind. I go back and focus in on particular words that jumped out at me from the text. I meditate on God’s Word. I ask God to speak to me. I ask Him to show me why I am reading this verse today and what He wants to do in my life through this verse.

Here is what I received from my time of meditation on I Corinthians 5:11…

This verse by itself seems so harsh and unmerciful, that I instantly want to push back against it. Have nothing to do with people? Broken sinful people? Don’t they need to be in relationships with people who know the truth? How does this verse line up with the merciful heart of God that we see lived out in the person of Jesus Christ?

Yet, I know that Jesus came to offer hope to the hopeless. I know that he died once for all…offering himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. These truths come through to me loud and clear in my time of meditation and so I push deeper. Why does Paul write these words?

I am drawn to the words, “not to associate.” Why is Paul instructing the Corinthian Christians to disassociate with people? For starters, what does it mean to “associate?” To associate means to be interconnected…it means to have a relationship…if you associate with someone; you are giving them your stamp of approval. Things start to become a littleclearer. Paul is not telling the Corinthians to be angry or bitter or hateful towards anyone…he is instructing them to safeguard their faith by refusing to associate with people who are living anti-Christian lives.

And these are not just people are they…these are people that consider themselves to be Christians. I am drawn next to the words, “anyone who bears the name brother.” Paul is telling the followers of Christ in Corinth to disassociate with people who call themselves Christians while living lives in opposition to Christ. This still sounds harsh…why is he calling for this kind of action? Immediately Hebrews 10:26 jumped into my mind. “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” Verse 29 continues, “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of race?” Paul is not telling Christians to reject sinners…he is telling Christians to refuse to associate with other Christians who claim to believe in Christ, yet who spit on his sacrifice and deny the Spirit within them by living in unrepentant sin. That is a big deal…a big deal that negatively impacts the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this world!

One final thing really stuck in my mind from the meditation on this verse…“IS!” Yes, the word “is”…anyone who IS an idolater, reviler, drunkard, swindler, etc. Paul is talking about people who do not simply have struggles. These are not people who are dealing with temptation and are trying to live in repentance and turn towards Christ. These are people who call themselves Christians, but who are really only focused on serving their sinful desires. They are not Christians. They are idol worshippers…they have given themselves over to these things and are doing nothing to change their sinful behaviors. Paul is not giving us harsh words here…he is giving us words of wisdom. If you go back to I Corinthians 5:1-5 you will see that he has already instructed the church to confront sin in their congregation. They are supposed to call people to repentance…call people to change…call people to Christ likeness. But when those people refuse to change…when they refuse to honor God with their lives and believe they can live however they want…you make the choice to disassociate with them. Not out of anger or bitterness, but out of respect for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.And the hope is that when you refuse to give them your stamp of approval, they will miss the community of the Body of Christ and they will change their ways and turn back to God. That is the hope, and that is the reason why Paul is so adamant that Christians confront the issues in their congregations.

That is what God spoke to me through this passage. What is He speaking to you?      

 - Brandon Forsythe

Getting Rid of the Yeast

When the Israelites were being rescued from Egyptian slavery there was no time for their bread to rise.  God had led Pharaoh to give them the green light out of town and they needed to get out quick.  (It only took 10 plagues and the last one took the life of Pharaoh’s first born son… So they needed to get while the gettin’ was good!)

So God said, “No yeast.  Get rid of every last bit of it that is in your house.”  (Even today, before Passover every year, the Jews still practice a search for any crumb of yeast in a ceremony called Bedikat Chametz.  It’s pretty cool to read about this fun little search by candlelight.)

God was pretty serious about this “no yeast” thing. “For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born.  Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.” Exodus 12:19-20 (NIV)

In Judaism yeast represented sin, the bent toward sin, the awful effects of sin… how it seems to blow up everything in your life, the decay of sin, with the eventual outcome of sin being death. 

 

We touched on this during the sermon on Sunday but yeast is a fermenting agent.  It causes things to decay.  Sounds kind of gross but the reason dough rises is actually because the yeast is causing it to decay.  It’s rotting before your very eyes and then you’re going to eat it?  Yummy.  

Sin causes things to decay.  It will rot relationships.  I’ve seen it wreak havoc on marriages, families, friendships and churches.  

Sin puffs things up.  The sin of arrogance and pride has bloated my ego at times and caused me to say words I still regret and led me into some really stupid behavior, all while putting a serious dent in my credibility and witness to others.  

Thank God for the Passover Lamb; The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  The grace of Jesus reverses the rotting, the bloating, and the decay.  In Christ we are new creatures.  (Yes, we are still subject to the temporary effects of our sin, but no more are we victims of the long-term sentence of death.)

Now, we still need to work on that yeast thing… we need to practice Bedikat Chametz.  And we do that in tandem with God’s Spirit working within us, searching us, cleansing us, reshaping us.  So… We should often pray this ancient prayer written by King David:

Look deep into my heart, God, and find out everything I am thinking.  Don't let me follow evil ways, but lead me in the way that time has proven true.    Psalm 139:23-24 (CEV)

- David

Are You Too Big For Your Britches? (I'm Not Talking About A Diet Plan)

Would you believe me if I told you that when I was a youngster, I may have been a bit of a smart alec? I hate to say it, but my mom and dad on more than one occasion accused me of ‘thinking’ I was too big for my britches! It primarily had to do with my attitude and a faulty thought process that assumed I was smarter and wiser than my parents.

Today if you google the phrase “too big for your britches” you’ll find a number of definitions that are similar in nature. They illustrate this phrase to mean someone who thinks too highly of themselves or is a bit conceited. Historically, if we did further research we’d find that the earliest known use of this phrase was by the real Davey Crockett, in the early 1800's. He coined the phrase based on the observation of a fellow frontiersman, Andrew Jackson. The soon to be President was known to be easily angered, impulsive, and cantankerous.

However, let’s go back even further in history. Let’s visit Paul during his 3^rd missionary journey and see what he has to say to the church in Corinth. It has a familiar ring to it…

I Corinthians 4:8-13.

Can you say sarcasm? Paul wastes no time in getting their attention about their current attitude about themselves and the apostles. “You think you already have everything you need…You think you are already rich…You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us...We are weak, but you are so powerful…You are honored, but we are ridiculed…” (New Living Translation excerpts) As we read the account of this one sided conversation, one might ask…what was going on here?

As we dive into the circumstances and surroundings of Paul’s day and time we find that the Christians in Corinth were struggling. Corinth was a trade city. It is located about 2 miles south of a 4 mile wide isthmus (a land bridge between to bodies of water). Corinth controlled two major trade regions for Asia and Rome. Therefore due to all the regional influences of their day the First Christian Church of Corinth was spiritually immature. Here in Chapter 4 Paul is dealing with a faulty belief and attitude system that had infiltrated the church. Somehow the church had begun to ‘belittle’ those in ministry, particularly Paul and the apostles of the day. They had become hostile and critical of those God had appointed to preach the Gospel.

Now with our brief history lesson, let’s go back and reread Paul’s dialogue…do you get the sarcasm now? Paul’s approach or defense is not meant to be disrespectful or appear cruel, but yet it is a stern reminder to the church that God himself appoints, examines and judges those he has called to be stewards of the his Word. It’s as if the Corinthian Christians, in arrogance, had elevated themselves above Paul and the other ministers…in other words…they had gotten ‘too big for their britches!’

You know I have to ask…’Do we ever get like that?” Do we ever start thinking too highly of ourselves and our own ‘understanding’ of things and reject the men and women God has placed in leadership? Do we disregard the teachings from our Pastors and Ministers because “we think we know better?” Do we dishonor or slander the church and/or the leadership because they’ve instructed us in Biblical truths that are contrary to our lifestyles, choices or viewpoints? Do we hold back our tithes and offerings because the leadership ‘offends’ us? Do we ever belittle or judge harshly those God has anointed and called into ministry?

Tough questions for sure, but ones that we need to constantly check. Bottom line is…we need to extend humility and respect to everyone and that includes those called into ministry and service by God. Our Pastors, Ministers and Elders have a hard, heavy responsibility. They are accountable for accurately teaching, preaching and living the Gospel message daily, hourly and minute to minute. James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” Those in Christian leadership and ministry have a higher code of conduct you might say. Their influence can encourage others or cause someone to stumble. So, instead of judging our Pastors and Ministers let’s yield humbly to their authority and honor them.

Here is a link to our church website. This link will take you directly to the Northside Staff page. Scroll down and look over it. Pick a couple of staff members and pray over them. Pray for their walk with Christ, pray for their ministry. Pray for their health and pray for their families. You can also send them a note or email of encouragement, express your appreciation for their service and ministry here at Northside.

Let’s never take on the attitude that we are ‘too big for our britches’ unless of course we’ve gained a few pounds…and well, let’s hope that’s not the case! : )

-Christy Garison, Serve Minister

Dealing with Judgment

Do you have small children? Have you ever been out in public when your toddler threw a tantrum? Did you feel the judgmental glances of the people around you as you tried to gain control of the situation?

Does one of your children struggle to make the grade?  Was there a time you found yourself dreading parent/teacher conferences because the previous 5 left you feeling inadequate?

What about when you’ve started a new job? Have you lived in fear, holding yourself to a superhuman standard, because you were afraid people would judge you harshly if you made a mistake because they didn’t know you? 

Often we judge people based on a moment in their life without knowing “their story” or understanding the circumstances that surround them.  We have all been judged and have all judged others.  Sadly, I think it has become so common we don’t realize we are doing it or the effects it has on other people.   Even in the church we can be quick to judge our leaders, our volunteers, and other Christians based on the small glimpses we see of their lives.  Why is that?  Is it because we feel better about ourselves after?  Or we think we have a better way?  Is the judgment based on selfish motives, emotions, or is it grounded in the truth?   

In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul has to address the church of Corinth because they are involved in quarreling, division, and strife.  They are judging their leaders, and discrediting Paul.  But Paul states as a minister, a humble messenger of God, he is to be regarded as a servant, to be a steward of God’s truth.  He continues to say that,

“I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.  It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes.  He will bring light to what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of men’s hearts.  At that time each will receive his praise from God”                                                                                                                  1 Corinthians 4:3-5

Paul finds his identify in Christ.  He cares more about what His Lord thinks of him, than any man or court.  Can you say that?   Do you make decisions based on how you will appear to others, or how you will appear to God?  Do you view yourself through their eyes, your own eyes, or how God sees you? 

So often our actions are a reaction to the culture around us.  We crave a relationship with God, we know He loves us, and in Him we are made anew, but it is hard to go against the current.  We don’t want to be judged by our family, friends, or colleagues so we give in to the status quo.  Unlike Paul, I do get caught up with what other people think and at times have let that paralyze me.  I have to continually ask myself, “Am I more concerned with the evaluation of others, or God’s evaluation of my life?”  In order for each of us to TRULY seek a Christ-centered life, to be a faithful servant, we must be obedient to God and support others doing the same.

None of us want to receive judgment, but we can often be quick to place it.  Paul makes it clear that the Lord will judge his leadership, his ministry, his motives, not man.  We must stop judging each other.  We tear apart the church, the community of believers, with each little judgmental comment.  It is not our responsibility to evaluate others.  Romans 14:10 makes it clear that God will judge us, “But you, why do you judge your brother?  Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”  God is the only one with that right, and He is the only one who can see the whole picture, bringing “light to what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of men’s hearts.”  God can see both outward service and inward devotion, and only he can give praise accordingly.

We must seek God, follow His course and not be deviated by others, our perceptions of others, or the insecurities within, for it is His judgment that matters.  We are only accountable to one, and when we can grasp firmly a hold of that truth we are free to be who God created us to be and focus all of our resources on serving Him.   

Praying for you,

Julie Eastman

NCC Family Minister

God's Temple

Today's reading is very short. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. Being that it is so short, I read it over and over and over. I didn't really get hung up on "Do you not know" because Paul really thinks they should understand this by now. I didn't get hung up on "If anyone destroys Gods temple, God will destroy him" because that seems like a no-brainer. What did I get hung up on, you may ask. I got hung up on "you (y'all if you are a Texan) are God's temple."

You see, in the Old Testament, David decided that he wanted to build a permanent structure for God to live in, since up to that point, God was still dwelling with his people in the tabernacle, a portable tent structure. So God tells David he cannot be the one to build the permanent temple because he shed too much blood. But David's son, Solomon, would be the one to build the temple. And he did, and it was called Solomon's temple. Then it was destroyed when the Babylonians wiped out Judah. And when the people returned, they built another, less-impressive temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel. It was called Zerubbabel's temple. Later, Herod the great would dismantle Zerubbabel's temple and construct his own, and it was very impressive. It was called Herod's temple.

But Paul says that you (the Church in Corinth, as a cross-section of the entire Church, including you and me) are God's temple. God doesn't dwell in buildings anymore; there is no need for a temple anymore. God's Spirit dwells in people, and because of that, God is building his own temple to live in, and it consists of people. Those who are looking for another temple to be built in Jerusalem should only look as far as those who have surrendered their lives to God through Christ. The temple is being built, alright, but not of bricks and stone, and not in some particular geographical location. It is being built everywhere people are responding to the gospel.

The other thing that got me hung up is simply that the Spirit of God dwells in us. It doesn't say you and me as individuals, but us as a collective whole group of people. I think Paul describes this concept better in Ephesians 2 - "So then you (gentiles) are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." The Spirit is dwelling in us, and crafting us together to make one grand temple for God to reside in. That is amazing!

This is really cool stuff, but there are a couple of questions which arise out of such theology. First, Are we being built together with others, or are we trying to become God's temple on our own as individuals? Second, do we allow the Spirit to dwell among us, or do we incarcerate Him, almost as if we are saying, "It's so cool that you are here among us, but we are doing just fine without you"?

There is some cool stuff Paul is bringing to the light in these two short verses. But cool doesn't mean anything unless we take part in what is going on. My encouragement to you, today, is to make sure you are connected to the temple, and that you are allowing the Spirit of God to dwell among you. Let him be in charge because he knows what he is doing a lot better than we do.

- Gary Luedecke

In God, Through God, For God

We as Americans love two things: 1) Freedom 2) Control. The former is engrained into our society’s ethos. “They can take our lives, but they can never take OUR FREEDOM!!!” (That’s from a movie about a Scottish freedom fighter but it is an American ideal, through and through). The latter is probably not so much an American ideal, but we love to know what’s going on, why it’s going on, and the right to say that we do or don’t like it.

In 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 I’m struck by how we put too much weight on ourselves instead of realizing that we are secondary players in the story. We are servants to the one true King. We are not the CEO, we are the employee. We are not the coach, we are the player. We are not the parent, we are the child. If the Kingdom of God is to flourish, it can’t be about me and how awesome I am or my ideas are. It can’t be about secondary facts like how many people I talked to about my faith this year or how much money I put in the offering plate. If the Kingdom of God is to flourish I have to ask myself if I’m obeying God’s commands, to set up the conditions designed by God, to point people to God. In God, through God, for God.

Paul’s rally cry in chapter 1 for believers to put their eyes back on the cross is still ringing in this passage. I won’t be able to impact the spiritual Kingdom of God until my concerns shift from the worldly to the spiritual. The world is the medium for where the spiritual is being acted out. If I become overly concerned with the medium instead of the initiator then I’m worried about the paint coating on my house when I should be worried about the termites eating away the frame.

What makes the gospel “good news” is not the preacher, the Sunday school teacher, the evangelist, the awesome church camp, or any other medium of communication. The good news is still the good news, and the messenger is just the deliverer. We are charged to be the deliverer of the good news of Jesus Christ, dependent on the conditions the Holy Spirit has set for us, in order to bring the glory to the Father. In God, through God, for God.

I can’t convert anyone, God does that, but I can deliver the good news. I can’t be someone’s savior, that’s Jesus’ job, but I can point the way to life. I can’t be the perfect example of love for others, I can only try to imitate God, but I can be Jesus’ hands and feet as a reflection of God. We are not free, we are servants to the King. We are not in control, we can only do what we’re told. “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

- Alex Berger