Finding a good church…

After moving many times and attending many churches, humanly speaking I liked best the congregations that made me feel welcome. All about me. Yet in deeper reflection, those that increased my knowledge and love for God were those that glorified Him the most. 

Feel good churches can be all about me. Glorifying God is far more important. Reading 1 Corinthians clarifies why this is important. A church that puts the emphasis on God will praise Him for a good message instead of boasting they have a pastor who is a good speaker. They will not compete with one another, nor will they boast.

Paul wrote to this church at Corinth to admonish them for their fleshy behavior. They were gifted by God yet boasted in themselves as if they were the source of these gifts. They argued about who was the best leader and teacher. Their focus was on human qualities rather than the glory of God. His words to them through Paul were sharp, yet given to put their focus where it should be;

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

When I hear someone critical of the church they attend, I want to say “Find a better one” because they do exist. Yet I hear of those who quit attending any church thinking they are all the same. How sad. Is it better to leave? Or to do what Paul did and remind them of the One that has given them new life and wants them to live accordingly?

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. . . . 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. (1 Corinthians 2:1–16)

These words are both humbling and uplifting. They kick my pride and restore my thinking to the One who saved me from wanting to be “the best” to being glad that He is merciful. Our granddaughter, broken from a fall and covered in bruises, said, “I’m the dumbest smart person that I know” and that reflects a biblical truth. The Christians at Corinth had Christ and His mind, but they put the wisdom of God aside to boast about themselves. To this, Paul adds:

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Corinthians 3:18–23)

PRAY: Just because I figured this out does not make me wise — instead it shows that You are my wisdom. I cannot know truth from You unless You reveal it to me. Pride in myself is a huge barricade to living for You and glorifying You. And it is one thing to know this — but the challenge is doing it — giving You the glory for all that You are and do. Rebuke me whenever I take credit instead of putting it where it belongs.

Spiritual battles

Writing a devotional for publication is a challenge. Each publisher has a word limit and the writer must keep his thoughts to that limit. Usually that means reference to one verse, making one point, and using one illustration.

With Oswald Chambers, it seems he had much more to say but an editor cut up his thoughts to fit the word count. So I checked and found that most of his devotionals originated in lectures where he taught. They probably were pieced together and certainly were edited.

Today’s devotional seems to have missing lines and missing words that would explain Chambers’ thoughts more clearly. Some of what I’m writing is an attempt to figure out what he was trying to say, and some is an attempt to say it. The rest uses his thoughts as a catalyst to hear the Lord speak to me.

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? (1 Corinthians 3:1–3)

Chambers refers to verse 3 only, but the context is helpful in defining what Paul means by “carnal” people. Some say it can only be those who are not saved, but Paul puts new Christians in this ‘category’ and describes them as not yet walking in the Spirit.  Instead they are “fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.”

This battle between flesh and Spirit happens in the life of all Christians. Those not saved can battle with the Spirit if He is convicting them of sin and their need for salvation. Otherwise, their battle is more about ‘me against what others want or expect of me.’ As Chambers says, no natural or unsaved person knows anything about carnality, just as they are unaware of spirituality in relation to Jesus Christ.

A carnal life includes many things. Paul points to one of them in that the Corinthian Christians were jealous and fighting. This showed in their boasting about which church leader they followed. “For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human?” (1 Corinthians 3:4) He is saying they are ‘fleshy’ or ‘carnal’ rather than behaving as spiritual believers.

In today’s world, ‘carnal’ Christians boast about their church, their denomination, and their pastor as if they are superior and have an edge over others. Because such boasting comes from personal insecurity, it will pop up in other areas too. Carnality is highly competitive and boasts instead of realizing that all we have and are is of God, and not at all a reflection on us. We do not deserve even the least of His blessings.

As God works in my life, I’ve noticed how He builds and balances my sense of identity. I am a sinner, yet a child of God saved by grace. I am less competitive and have nothing to prove to myself or anyone else. He has made me to be more objective as I evaluate the value of what I do, who I know, which church I attend, and many other things. If I see weakness in myself or others, instead of trying to establish ‘bigger, better, more’ so I can boast, I’m more apt to make these things a matter of prayer.

Chambers adds that carnality is being contentious, easily troubled about trifles, and bragging. The entire book of 1 Corinthians is filled with more examples. But what is the answer to all of this? Paul gives it in his opening words:

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:4–9)

My carnality fades as I realize the grace of God and how He enriches my life. He humbles me with gifts so undeserved. He is coming back for me and will sustain me until then. He covers my sins and is faithful to His promises. He cured the problem of my ‘mere humanness’ by making me, a sinner, into a new creature and then shedding light on the old stuff so I can agree with Him in confession and let Him do the cleansing.

Chambers ends with this: “When carnality is gone it is the most real thing imaginable.” That is, when God provides practical tests, I am amazed that events which once made me feel weak, defensive and full of a desire to prove myself are no longer issues. For that, I praise His marvelous grace!