I Corinthians 2-9
This is one of those days when I've had to scratch my head and say, "Really?" This lesson and my day just collided, or should I say meshed in a way that almost makes me think it was one of those "God-things!"
My day is being spent in with meetings that many consider "outside the domain" of my job, but which after today I again see as very much in line with my job. This morning I had a board meeting with the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. This is one of the great ministries (and I use that term intentionally) in SC that has helped make a difference in the lives of so many families. In a few minutes I am off to a meeting of the Charleston County School District Health Education Advisory Committee--the group that helps determine the health education curriculum (including sexuality education) for our school district.
And Paul spends much of this section talking about sexual ethics! Coincidence??
As this was the topic of my doctoral dissertation, I could write another 257 pages on this topic (but you wouldn't read it!) The real question however is how do we made decisions about sexual ethics today? Paul was rightfully upset about the way in which some members of the Corinthian church had taken the idea of freedom from the law to excess. It leads him to a conversation about marriage and sexual relations--all of which must be read against the backdrop of the expectation of the imminent return of Jesus! You don't change your relational status because Christ will be back soon, and there is too much to be done! Getting married takes a lot of preparation (we know that in our house right now!) and being married will distract you from the "real" job of getting ready for God's kingdom.
But that was nearly 1900 years ago? Does that urgency still hold? Is that the basis for our ethic? If not, then what is? Do we have any sexual ethics, or do we live in an anything goes world?
Oh there is so much more in this section--what do you do when someone is going against the behavioral standards of the church? (Does anyone want to bring back "churching? If not, does that mean that anything goes?) Does God really keep secrets from some people and then hold it against them? What parties are we following--not just preachers, but denominations, political affiliations, family loyalties--other than the Kingdom of God?
All this is in this section, one in which I think Paul really is showing his concern (and a bit of arrogance) for this church. This is the human Paul--one with flaws and attributes--and yet he still got into the Bible! That grace gives me hope. It also reminds me that Paul was human--and might be wrong. So I have to struggle with these issues.
In fact, I have to struggle with them in 30 minutes downtown!
2 comments:
Ooh, great connection between your day and 1 Corinthians! That is very cool.
As I listen to this book, I hear Dr. Goodman again. I remember sitting in his class listening to him talking about the ethics of Paul when he suddenly said in an awed voice, "Listen, class! Do you hear it?" We all leaned in expectantly, wondering what we were supposed to hear. In a hushed tone, he said, "The eschaton is coming down the hallway. It's right outside the door!" He helped us get into Paul's mindset, that literally any day now, Christ would return and life as it had been would be over. So, no, there was no time to plan a wedding or work on your college education or open a 401k. There was literally no future for which to plan. Paul was so certain of that in early writings like 1 Corinthians, and then had to change his theology and his ethics in later writings like Romans.
Who decided the order Paul's letters are in in our Bible anyway? Wouldn't it make more sense to have them chronologically? It would sure help me, at least to be able to see the development of Paul's theology. He was the first one writing from a Christian perspective, way before the gospels. It's interesting to think about that and notice what he puts in and what he leaves out. He was doing theology on the fly, learning as he went. And yes, he was wrong sometimes. You don't have to be omniscient to be inspired. You can be wrong about stuff and still be very much doing God's work, even writing the actual Bible! That absolutely blew my mind in New Testament class!
Is Paul so strict on disciplining those in the church in later writings? I can't remember. I'll have to listen for that in the other letters.
I wish Paul had spelled out exactly what the kingdom of God looked like for him. What was it that he expected Christ to usher in at any moment? It seems pretty clear that whatever it was, it looked a lot different from the way we do things now.
Totally forgot to ask - what's with the two different voices? Who is that other guy? Paul's scribe? Apollos? Who? It just threw me when I heard it and they kept switching back and forth between the two.
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