We have the mind of Christ
Richard Pratt, in his commentary on this Sunday’s passage, shares a story from his boyhood. When no one was looking, he sat on a small table in his parents’ bedroom and broke off one of the legs. Afraid of what mom and dad would do, young Richard propped up the table with the broken leg, and when that didn't look quite right, he put several long sticks from his tinker toy set underneath the table to keep it standing. It looked good to Richard, but when his father came in that evening and put his things on the table, it came crashing to the floor. Despite looking good, all of his props ultimately failed him. This Sunday’s passage similarly teaches us that you can't prop up a church with human wisdom, try as we may. We make someone a youth pastor solely because they're popular with the kids. We make prominent businessmen elders because we're confident they'll bring that same success to the church. In a church Lucia and I attended some years back, the church chose a new pastor solely because he came from a mega-church executive pastor position and they were confident he would bring some “big church” magic with him. It didn't work because worldly wisdom never works when faithfulness is a church's aim. In the body of Christ we are to rely solely on Christ’s wisdom as revealed in the gospel and we can do this! In a church that was determined to rely on worldly wisdom, Paul engaged in a lengthy intervention by the truth of the gospel to keep the church at Corinth from tearing itself apart and the heart of Paul’s instruction was the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and its power. What is that power, what benefit does it bring to a local church, and are their alternatives to this power for believers?
We invite you to come join us this Sunday morning for our in-person worship service at Leptondale Bible Church in Newburgh, starting at 10:55 AM. For those unable to attend, our service can be viewed live on the church’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/leptondalebiblechurch. This Sunday, we’ll continue a new sermon series from 1st Corinthians titled “Written for Our Instruction” with a message from 1st Corinthians 2:1-16 titled “We have the mind of Christ.”
God bless!
Pastor Mike