As we’ve talked about our culture and the culture of Corinth this week, we’ve hit some hard topics. Something sinister sits at the root of each worldly issue, and Paul addresses it directly in the final paragraph of chapter 4.
Take a look at 1 Corinthians 4:18.
What does Paul call some of the Christians in Corinth? Why have they earned that label?
18Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again.
Paul calls the Corinthians arrogant. They’re arrogant because they’re acting without accountability like Paul won’t be coming any time soon to straighten out the church. They’ve achieved a kind of social status by advocating for certain leaders and wielding their so-called wisdom like a weapon. It’s gone to their heads.
Like so many of the problems in our own lives and the world itself, it all comes down to power. The Corinthians had tasted power through their favorite teacher. They felt the rush of using knowledge to speak over other people in their church.
But Paul sees their power for what it is because he knows it’s not sourced in God. Read through verses 19 and 20.
19But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power. 20For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.
Paul says he’ll come against whatever power the Corinthians think they have. And he knows they’ll lose. Why? Because the kingdom of God is about a different kind of power. Compared to the scraps the Corinthians had scrounged up, God’s power is like a tank next to a paper clip. The paper clip doesn’t stand a chance.
If we take an honest look at ourselves, we’ll see our own love of power. Celebrities have authority, so we flock to them. The more we consume, the more we feel like we have control over our lives. We voice our opinions about Sunday worship services to feel like we have a say. We evaluate others as if we have the authority to measure them.
We might not realize it, but we can be power-hungry.
What we need to realize is that being a Christian means our loyalties have changed. We’re no longer about bumping up our power—or even another person’s power. God’s power should be our sole concern.
His power created the world. His power defeated death. His power saved us.
It saved you. It shapes you.
Take several minutes to think about God’s power. If you’re artistic, try writing a poem or drawing a picture that reflects how powerful God is.
What do you think about the ways you might be pursuing your own power (or the power the world offers you) instead of God’s power?
Text your response to the above prompting questions to your group and/or share it as a comment below
God’s strength is made apparent through our weakness. Jesus-followers who are humbled by and empowered by God’s love are what the world around us needs. It is our mission to use His power to inspire others around us for the betterment of the world we live in and to spread the gospel to non-Christians. Sometimes we might hunger for power and want to express our own point of view by using our own voice over other people such as complaining about the sermon that is being delivered, etc. However, it is that we have obtained His faith, His perfections, and His power, or, in other words, the fullness of His priesthood, which gives us the authority to rule and control all things, both temporal and spiritual, to perform miracles and live perfect lives, to stand before God and be like Him.
This reading reminded me of at the very beginning of the humanity, after Adam took a bite of the forbidden fruit. He was hiding when God came looking for him. And the Lord was angry at Adam because he ate the fruit and he was trying to hide. Making sinful mistakes is not the most terrible thing, hiding your sin before God is not only useless, but it is worse than the sin you made. There were a time I try to hide my sin away from my friends and my family. But I only find that the sin I hidden only gets worse and worse. I was afraid because I didn’t trust God to take whole control over my life. Which means, I’m still trying to gain authority to control my life. But no power is comparable to God’s power. There are nothing we can do to make our lives different but only He can. Therefore, I shall surrender my life to You, Lord, The powerful creator of all things and the savior of my life which is already yours.
Getting exposed to construction politics, I learned that a lot of the rabble rabble between contractors comes from not wanting to be held accountable for when a costly mistake gets made. People are constantly pointing fingers and passing accountability and it’s a power struggle of sorts because if you have even an inch of leverage over someone, you will use it to climb the work ladder or keep your own status safe. We had a kerfuffle today at work where an inspector said he found some work that wasn’t according to the plan. Our superintendent tried appealing to the inspector by talking about how the plans were different than the site condition and that if this gets written up in the report then it’ll delay the job even more because we would need to wait and get the plan change approved. The inspector on the other hand wouldn’t let up and explained that he’s only there to make sure things are according to the plan or as instructed by code requirements. This back and forth was a struggle to gain leverage because neither person wanted to be held responsible for any forthcoming issue. My superintendent didn’t want to be responsible for delaying the job because of a plan deviation and the inspector didn’t want to be responsible if this work was suddenly found to be uninspected. I think all this fighting for leverage is pretty tiring stuff and adds nothing to the actual work progress. So, in the difference between seeking the world’s power and God’s power, I feel that God’s is more liberating as I wouldn’t be bogged down with trying to gain leverage or keeping my own position safe.
I think the ways that I pursue my own power instead of God are in things that are neither good nor bad. One of these would be my job pursuits. There was a time that I would pursue a new job on my own power cause I don’t necessarily equate any sort of moral decision regarding this so I tend to not depend on God. Later, I came to realize that God can place us in certain places for certain reasons so it is best to consult God on all matters but even then I still tend to rely on my own power in instances such as this. I do pray that I would be more God dependent in all aspects of my life no matter how big or small or whether there is a moral component or not.