In the opening of 1 Corinthians Paul writes, "Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.""For it has been reported to me...that there are quarrels among you." Wow, quarrels and division in a congregation. That's a real shocker. I can't begin to recall all the times I've heard someone say, "The worst fights are church fights." I might take some solace in the fact that faith must be very important to people in order to fight about it. But one of the others sayings I've heard frequently is, "The worst church fights are over the color of the carpet." Oh well.
The fights in the Corinthian church weren't about carpet. Some of the folks there like Apollos better than Paul and that had caused a rift. This also seems to have been a very exuberant congregation, and they apparently tried to outdo one another in developing spiritual gifts, with a special emphasis on more exotic gifts such as speaking in tongues. They thought such gifts a sign of their spiritual maturity, but Paul considers their spiritual competitions a sign of their childishness.
If you read Paul's letters, it is clear that he engages in some pretty heated arguments of his own with other Christians. So Paul probably doesn't mean, "Can't we all just get along?" Rather, Paul sees the divisions and quarrels in Corinth arising because of a self-centeredness that fails to keep the needs of one's neighbor always paramount.
I am a very competitive person by nature. I love to win, whether it's sports or a debate. Sometimes this is relatively harmless. But others times it can poison discussions about everything from how to improve worship to what color flooring to use in the chapel renovation. And as a pastor, with more theological training than most people in a congregation, it is all too easy to bludgeon people with impressive sounding rhetoric. I can employ my knowledge less to illuminate and more to win.
I would do well, as perhaps some of you might, to step back a bit when the discussion starts to get a little testy. Who's agenda am I pursuing, that of Jesus or my own? Come to think of it, sometimes I can be in the right from a biblical or theological point of view, and still tarnish the glory of God by my methods. A little help here, God?
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Several years back, I asked my mom if she ever listened to Howard Stern on the radio.
ReplyDelete"I've heard his show on several occasions," she said.
"Do you enjoy the program?" I asked.
"I can't say that I enjoy the program. I think he is very crude and the topics which are discussed on his show often invoke in me an argumentative attitude," she stated.
"Then why do you listen?" I pushed.
"I listen because sometimes I need to be argumentative. When I listen to how another person thinks or hear what they say, I become more aware of my own convictions. For example, after listening to Howard Stern, I believe more firmly in what I consider to be immoral. I think we need people like Howard Stern to help us define who we do or do not want to become or what ideas we choose to accept or reject."
The woman was actually grateful for her shock jock adversary. She may not have agreed with him, but she was not so self centered as to turn off the radio.
I was and continue to be illuminated by her insight, though I still struggle to be as tolerant when challenged.