But It Won’t Strengthen the People Who Hear You

Meditations in First Corinthians

June 17, 2022

But It Won’t Strengthen the People Who Hear You

But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.

1 Corinthians 14:19

Read: 1 Corinthians 14:13-19

Two things caught my attention in today’s passage.

First, Paul taught in his letter to the Galatians, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.” (Galatians 6:7 NRSV) The church in Corinth had sought to accommodate their church gatherings to the mores and norms of the secular culture. In so doing, their church was being torn apart; they were reaping what they had sown. Jesus has proclaimed that he will remove his anointing from a church that stops loving and obeying God by seeking to go along to get along with the world’s culture. Paul spent a great portion of this letter drawing the church back to God.

Secondly, as we have already seen repeatedly in this chapter, Paul is calling us to let love be our highest goal as we seek to strengthen the whole church. Whenever I read these words of Paul, I am reminded of his teaching in Philippians 2:4 (NRSV),

Let each of you look not to your own interests

but to the interests of others.

When love is my highest ambition, when seeking to strengthen the whole church is my mission, I will look not to my own interests, but to the interest of others.

My Takeaway: We are not left to our strength to accomplish this mission. As we seek to “Let (our) bearings towards one another arise out of (our) life in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5, NEB 1961), we are being empowered by God to seek the life in Christ as our way of life.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.