All right, we're going to have our Bible reading now, so if you want to grab out your Bibles and open up to 1 Corinthians.
We'll be reading from chapter 2, starting at verse 1 through 2.16.
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling.
And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Yet among the mature, we do impart wisdom.
Although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
None of the rulers of this age understood this.
For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written,
What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him.
These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
For who knows a person's thoughts except the Spirit of that person, which is in him?
So also, no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,
that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit,
interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?
But we have the mind of Christ.
Is it possible?
Is it possible to make our church family division-proof?
We think of all the differences that will have already arisen or will inevitably arise in the future,
and wouldn't it be wonderful, given the history of churches,
if we could say, yep, we can make our church division-proof?
Is it possible to repair already broken relationships,
dysfunctional relationships with fellow believers,
which are an ongoing source of tension, a barrier to fellowship?
Wouldn't that be wonderful?
But it sounds unlikely, doesn't it?
Especially when we examine our own hearts.
And when we examine our own hearts, we find that our fears,
our insecurities, our determination to win an argument,
so often drives us to make self-protection,
self-promotion dominant.
And in turn, that blinds us to what we have in common in Christ.
Last week, I picked up the idea that you may have a genuine desire
to be a useful disciple of Jesus in this church family.
To be Jesus-focused, to be gospel-shaped,
to be wise, to make a significant impact for good as a believer in this church family.
But then, I said last week,
well, how does that happen?
Do I actually have the skills and abilities to make that real,
to deliver on that?
Yes, I would love that to be the case.
But can I actually be that person
in this church family?
What does it look like in practice?
And all that's very hard,
because we know how easily we become rusted on to personalities, don't we?
It's just a plain fact that some people,
we find it much easier to engage with some people over others.
We're more attracted to one type of personality than another.
So how can we have a church family that's not driven by that
as we look into the future?
Well, Paul says in his letter to the church at Corinth,
and remember, it was a pretty dysfunctional church.
All these issues were big issues in the church in Corinth.
But Paul is saying to the church in Corinth,
yes, it is possible.
It's possible that all those things would be true.
It is possible to be division-proof as a church family.
Yes, you do have all the wisdom and power
to be really useful in your interactions with people.
Staying rusted on to Jesus
while getting deeply and generously involved in the lives of others.
Yes, it is possible.
If only you remember who you are in Jesus,
that you have it all in Jesus, chapter 1, verses 1 to 9.
And if you live in the light of that, chapter 1, verses 10 to 31.
Paul said to the church,
look, you're defined individually and as a church family
by relationship with Jesus,
not by people around you.
Your blessing and security is in Jesus,
not in people or how they respond to you.
And then we looked at verse 10, two weeks ago.
Practically, in Jesus we're already,
chapter 1, verse 10, that is,
in Jesus we're already knitted together in unity,
deep unity of status, mind and purpose.
Just like a broken bone has been knit together.
So we're stronger than the original bones.
And Paul says again,
that unity will flourish
in a church family like this.
That unity will flourish when we live,
we build Jesus' empire,
not our own.
It sounds so easy, doesn't it?
Yet so often we find ourselves building our own empire
and being distracted from the core business
of building Jesus' empire.
Paul says it is possible when daily
your old pre-Christian idea of being wise
is replaced with God's wisdom,
God's new way of thinking,
God's new way of evaluating people.
Jesus-shaped attitudes
as you interact with people in this congregation,
this church family.
It's all there for us.
And today, chapter 2, verses 1 to 16,
Paul's saying that sort of deep unity
will flourish as we operate in God's power
rather than the world's power categories.
Paul's point is very simple.
Thinking and actions are inseparably tied.
When hearts are shaped by God's wisdom,
which is a new Jesus-shaped way of thinking
about themselves and about others,
that will overflow,
those hearts will overflow
in a new Jesus-shaped way of behaving
and treating people
and interacting with people in the church family.
And that makes for useful and powerful
involvement in this church family.
Paul pivots from wisdom to power
in chapter 1, verses 30 and 31.
Let me read it to you again.
From last week, we looked at this,
but we'll read it again.
Chapter 1, verse 31.
Talking about Jesus,
God is the source of your life
in Christ Jesus,
whom God made our wisdom
and our righteousness
and sanctification and redemption.
Therefore, as it was written,
let the one who boasts
boast in the Lord.
I think what those verses are saying
is that the gospel shows us
what really matters to the Lord.
It shows us the categories
that are first-order categories.
And those first-order categories
are righteousness.
That is, right standing
and acceptance before God
and relationship with Him.
Sanctification or holiness.
That is about renewing us
from inclination to rebel against God
and giving us increased desire
to live to please God.
Redemption.
Being forgiven.
Being renewed.
Freed from the power of sin
at incredible cost to Jesus
and the Father.
Those are God's first-order categories.
Those are the things that really matter.
The gospel tells us
those are the things
that really matter to God.
And Paul's point is this.
When the believers at Corinth,
as he was writing them to Corinth,
and when we fully understand that,
then actions will passionately overflow
with those very things.
that will be our shape.
That will be our shape.
That will be our shape
individually.
That will be our shape
as a church family.
And that's what we'll boast in
rather than promoting self
and seeking dominance or preeminence.
And Paul presses his point
from two angles in chapter 2.
Verses 1 to 5, first of all,
believers are already equipped
with God's power.
We saw two weeks ago
that word is dynamite.
Believers are already equipped
with God's power
in and through Jesus.
Now, again,
Paul's argument is linked back
into chapter 1, verses 18 to 31.
So if you look back to verse 18,
for the word of the cross
is folly to those who are perishing.
That's the word there
was folly, was moronic.
The word of the cross
is moronic to those
who are perishing.
But to us who are being saved,
it is the power of God.
The wisdom of God.
The message of Christ crucified
displays all of God's wisdom
and power.
That's a pretty incredible statement,
isn't it?
In other words,
there's no more power,
no more wisdom to be revealed.
Verse 23 and 24,
same sort of idea.
For Jews demand signs
and Greeks seek wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews,
folly to Gentiles,
but to those who are called
both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God.
The spoken word of the gospel
of Jesus crucified
is God's power
to save and renew.
a power that each believer
in Corinth
had already experienced.
A power that each believer here
has already experienced.
When you are converted,
God's power
is now within them,
now within us.
If only they would realize that.
If only they would harness that.
Paul then details
what operating in God's power
means for him
in these first verses
of chapter 2.
Verse 1,
operating in God's power
actually determined
his method.
When I came to you,
brothers,
I did not come
proclaiming to you
the testimony of God
with lofty speech
or wisdom.
In the days of,
Paul was writing to you
in Corinth,
the way to get ahead
as a clever speaker
was to manipulate,
to intimidate,
to use spin or hype.
Paul says,
I refuse to use
any of those things.
I don't need to.
I don't need to use
those things
to get the desired
response to Jesus.
For I decided
to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ
and him crucified.
And I was with you
in weakness
and in fear
and much trembling.
And my speech
and my message
were not in plausible
words of wisdom
but in the demonstration
of the spirit
and power.
It's not that Paul
didn't try to persuade people.
If we read the back story
of the church
implanted in Corinth,
Acts chapter 18,
Paul tells us there
that he did work as hard
as to persuade people.
The point is here
that he doesn't think
for a moment
that his choice of words,
the clear logic
of his arguments
or the smoothness
of his presentation
would save anybody.
Verse 2 again,
looking back to that.
Determined his content.
The power of God
determined his content.
The life,
death and resurrection
was always the center
and the substance
of his teaching.
Those things
change everything.
Verse 3,
it determined
his attitude.
Paul was constantly
aware of his physical,
emotional,
and intellectual
inability
to make anybody
believe
or get saved.
On the contrary,
verse 4 and 5,
Paul was confident
that when he speaks
the gospel
of Jesus crucified
and sees a person
changed from the inside out,
then the only plausible
possibility
is it was God's power
at work
in that person's life,
not Paul's cleverness.
Understanding
the power
and wisdom
of God
changes the whole
basis
on which Paul
lives and operates.
And second point
then is that
Paul contrasts
wisdom and power
in the spirit
of the world
and the spirit
of God,
verses 6 through 16.
Now,
these verses
can appear
a bit complicated,
but I think
it's quite simple
if we know
a little bit
of cultural
context
that Paul's
writing into.
So,
it runs like this.
Greek culture,
Greek religion
particularly,
and Greek philosophy
are all permeated
with the idea
of a secret
higher wisdom
and knowledge.
So,
in any one
of the plethora
of religions
that was available
in Corinth,
the standard procedure
would be that you
would have an entry
point set of beliefs,
but then to show
maturity and growth
in that religion
or philosophy
or culture,
then you would have
to move on
and discover
these secret
levels of things,
secret wisdom,
secret power.
and that
was the mark
of maturity.
And many
believers at Corinth
had made the same
assumption
about the Christian
life
and concluded
that to mature
or grow as Christians,
they needed to move
on from the beginning
focus on Christ
and Him crucified
and discover
better,
more exciting,
hidden,
secret,
mysterious
expressions
of wisdom
and power.
Paul's response
in summary,
verse 16,
you have the mind
of Christ,
which is really
a summary
of chapter 1
verses 1 to 9
10 again.
There is no more
to be discovered.
You already have
the mind of Christ.
What more
wisdom and power
can be found?
There is no higher
wisdom,
knowledge,
or power
to discover
or attain.
Verses 6 through 9,
each believer
has already experienced
both the sacred
wisdom of God
and God's secret
power source
in His Holy Spirit.
In the end,
says Paul,
that's the only
explanation
why you believe
and others
still disbelieve.
Others think
the gospel
is moronic.
And says Paul,
verse 10 through
to 16,
it's God's
powerful spirit
working in them
daily,
which enables
them to evaluate
themselves,
to evaluate others,
to form judgments
about what's right
and wrong
and defend those
conclusions before others
and which empowers
them to impart
gospel truth
to others.
You have the mind
of Christ,
says Paul.
So here's the rub
for these Christians
and Corinth.
The daily struggle
is not to discover
some new wisdom,
new source of power,
new aspect
of those things.
the struggle
is to live
increasingly
in the light
of what you
already have,
the mind
of Christ.
The struggle
is to increasingly
express the mind
of Christ
in every relationship,
in every interaction,
in every aspect
of church family life.
And make no mistake,
unless you're
different from me,
I find it
a seriously
hard struggle
to keep
the mind
of Christ,
to be convinced
that the mind
of Christ
is all I need.
Unless you're
very different
from me,
then we so
easily find
ourselves chasing
after the new
next best thing,
new things
to explore.
We get to feel
that ordinary life,
daily life,
is humdrum.
And we certainly
look for new
exciting things,
new spectacular
things.
And we see it
right across
the Christian church.
We tire
of what we have
and we chase
new exciting things
concluding they're
better.
or more
personally,
we're asking
the question,
yes,
I know I'm
a Christian,
yes,
I'm so thankful
that Christ
died for me,
I've been
made new,
but
what new
thing can I
discover to
make me feel
better about
myself?
What is there
I can tap
into that will
make me feel
more whole
as a person,
that will make
me more
attractive to
others around
me,
to make me
more useful
in this church
family?
Those sorts
of thoughts
tell us that
to have the
mind of Christ
as we're
thinking about it,
to have the
mind of Christ
isn't everything,
or it doesn't
seem exciting
or spectacular
enough.
we think
there's
something
just beyond
us,
if only we
can get it
then everything
else will be
right.
Paul pushes
the Corinthian
believers to
say that the
truly useful
disciple is
one who
displays God's
wisdom and
power.
Jesus
shaped,
Jesus
focused,
and that's
in sharp
contrast to
what the
world offers
or considers
wise and
powerful.
Let's just
circle around
then back to
my opening
challenges about
division,
dysfunctional
relationships,
and having the
ability to be
wise, useful
disciples of
Jesus in this
church family.
They're the
takeaway points
for today.
So the first
one is this,
on repeat,
from the past
two weeks.
The gospel
really is a
radical new
worldview, a
new way of
seeing the
world, a
new way of
operating in
the world.
And it's
totally at
odds with
our old
pre-Christian
framework of
thinking about
who and what
is important
in Christ's
church.
And that
new worldview,
that new way
of thinking,
ought to
overflow into
Jesus-shaped
ways of
relating,
engaging in
this church
family.
Now,
Paul repeats
it and repeats
it because
he finds it so
hard to learn
that lesson.
we constantly
think we can
blend what
the world
tells us
and what
the gospel
tells us.
And we
wonder why
we end up
in a total
mess in our
minds.
We're trying
to mix
things that
don't mix.
Trying to
have food in
both camps,
as the old
saying goes.
second thing
is this.
We need to
call out
most division
and factions
in a church
family as
inherently
being about
power struggles.
Now,
that might
sound pretty
negative,
and it is
pretty negative,
but let me
try and defend
it.
If I can't
defend it,
just write me
off as Eeyore,
as you would
normally do.
We recognize
the process,
don't we?
An individual
latches on to
some issue
from the
Bible,
which they
believe is a
really crucial,
fundamental
expression of
what it is to
be a believer,
or what it is
to be a
mature believer.
Then it
easily becomes
a lobby group
where that
person
convinces
others
that
maturity
in Christ
is to
share their
view on
this particular
issue.
Then that
easily becomes
behind the
scenes,
or even
in frontal
assault,
they start
to take
down anybody
else in the
congregation
who don't
share their
views,
or who push
back against
that particular
view.
And finally,
a particular
person who
started it all
makes themselves
and their
view dominant
and preeminent
in the church
family.
Now,
some of you
might think
that's negative,
but I can tell
you now that
people who've
been around
churches for
long enough
will recognize
that only too
well.
people who
have a
view of
the church
and sometimes
those trip
points will
be,
or oftentimes
will be
presented as
a wide
variety of
theological
issues.
But again,
while there may
well be genuine
theological
differences,
behind those
sorts of
things can
just be raw
power struggles.
And the
point I want
to make
here is that
that process
is common
and oftentimes
even convincing
in churches.
But it's not
God's wisdom
or power
if it's driving
a person's
dominance,
if it's not
Jesus-shaped
and gospel-focused,
but person-shaped
and focused
through clever
manipulation.
Brothers and
sisters,
two weeks out
from my
formal ministry
here,
I beg you,
don't fall
into that
trap.
It has
destroyed too
many church
families
throughout
history.
And especially
when you see
things in this
church family
that you wish
were different
and even
perhaps need
to be
different.
By all
means,
speak up.
By all
means,
challenge.
But make
sure that
when you
speak up,
when you
challenge,
you do
so in
the context
of God's
wisdom and
power.
Jesus-shaped
and gospel-focused.
Not self-promotion.
That's a hard
one to do
because inevitably
passions and
emotions get
involved in
those things.
things.
I think,
just wearing that
application myself,
I think Christian
leaders are often
guilty of
exerting this
sort of worldly
power.
It's easy for a
leader like myself
to use
personality or
perhaps a formal
position in the
church.
I'm the
pastor.
And I can use
that or could
use that.
To bulldoze
folk in the
church.
To bulldoze
them into
conformity.
Or again,
it's a real
temptation for
church leaders
like myself to
use a position
to hide behind,
to avoid what
is a right and
proper accountability
to the church
family.
Don't you
challenge me.
I'm the
pastor.
What would you
know?
And again,
I've seen it
all.
And it's
always ugly
and destructive
to God's
people.
Leaders need
to challenge
people and
motivate people,
motivate change
rather, using
the power of
true doctrine,
accurate teaching,
prayer.
In other words,
God's wisdom,
God's power.
The final thing
then is we
need to act
confidently to
repair dysfunctional
relationships,
knowing we have
the wisdom and
power necessary.
See, the
gospel tells us
in Ephesians,
we're told in
Ephesians, that
the gospel was
about creating
one new
humanity in
Christ.
It's about
unity.
All the
dividing categories
in our world
are dismantled
in the gospel.
If that's the
case then,
division and
strife,
which are just
new dividing
categories,
must be the
very opposite
of what God
wants for his
people, and
the opposite of
spirit-controlled
Christians, what
they ought to be
like.
therefore, my
friends, I
say this to
you, to
live with
dysfunctional
relationships
within this
church family
is to live
in denial
of God's
powerful,
renewing spirit
within us.
God's
not serious.
Now, how
could we
possibly settle
for that
when God
has enriched
us with both
wisdom and
power in the
gospel of
reconciliation,
equipping us
therefore to be
reconcilers with
one another?
how could we
possibly settle
for that when
we can, each
of us, both
sides of the
dispute, can
bring to the
table the
mind of
Christ?
Because that's
what we have to
bring to the
table.
We have the
mind of
Christ.
An
extraordinary
equipping,
is it not?
Very simple
final question,
but it's a
profound final
question.
Will we
function in
the reality
of the
mind of
Christ?
Will this
congregation
as a whole,
this church
family as a
whole, will
you individually
and as the
whole congregation,
will you
determine to
be known as
a group and
as an
individual who
operates with
the mind of
Christ?
I'll tell you,
it'll be
powerful stuff
as you guys
step into the
next chapter of
this church
family life,
and I step
out.
Powerful stuff
indeed.
Pray with me.
Lord, it's
such an
indictment on
us that
for us
who are
new in
you in
the Lord
Jesus Christ,
who have
the mind
of Christ,
so often
continue to
act with
a mind of
selfishness
and self
promotion.
Help us
to see the
awfulness of
it, Lord.
Help us to
see that in
Christ it
doesn't have
to be that
way.
And help
us, Lord,
to take
action,
to repair
relationships
that are
strained and
broken,
perhaps some
for years,
to be
confident in
stepping forward
and thrown
our involvement
and commitment
into this
church
practically,
knowing that
we have the
wisdom and
power of
God to
make us the
most useful,
wise,
powerful
disciples possible
in this
place.
Help us to
see that,
help us to
long for it,
and help us to
delight in it.
In Jesus' name
I pray.
Amen.