Passage: 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 Speaker: Pastor Lukus Counterman Series: 1 Corinthians - Pursue Love
Speaker: Lukus Counterman - The church at Corinth was riddled with factions and plagued by divisions. People were boasting in their spiritual gifts and stratifying themselves. Those with public and spectacular manifestations of the Spirit were supposedly better than others. The prized people of Corinth were those who spoke in tongues or worked miracles, whereas the lower caste Christians were those who were hospitable or merciful. Paul went to great lengths to correct this error. In 1 Corinthians 12 he outlined a theology of spiritual gifts and explained how each member of the body is indispensable. Different gifts are required for the proper functioning of the church, and they should be seen as an advantage not an opportunity for division. Christians should care for one another and find unity in their diversity. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul went on to explain that rather than boasting in a public spiritual gift, believers should pursue a particular spiritual grace, namely love. Genuine spirituality is marked by leveraging gifts for the common good. It’s seen in care for others rather than competition. So, by the time we get to 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is ready to address the case study that was troubling Corinth. The believers were emphasizing the gift of tongues, clamoring for airtime, and creating a disorderly, incomprehensible worship service. Love was absent and edification was a mere afterthought. Into the chaos of that situation, Paul stressed the importance of intelligible worship that both edifies believers and evangelizes the lost. May the Lord teach us those same truths as we gather together this weekend.