Plymothian

I am too often discontented.  I think of the old Talking Heads song “Once in a Lifetime”, David Byrne sings in a discontented shock about his house, his car, his wife (ironically his wife is tallied with possessions).  We need to consciously engage with the world around us and also be content with the circumstances that we are in.  Have you managed to maintain the balance?  Of course, look to make positive changes (if you are a slave get freedom).  However, don’t wait for more time to pass before you learn to be happy.

1 Corinthians 7: 17-24

 ¹⁷Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. ¹⁸Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. ¹⁹Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. ²⁰Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. ²¹Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. ²²For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave. ²³You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

Questions

1. What should each person retain?
2. What is the person who is a free man when he is called?
3. What is the drive of Paul’s argument?
4. What does your life lack?  How does that strip you of peace?
5. How can you iimprove your life AND accept your circumstances?

Going Deeper

Try to understand what Talking Heads are singing about:

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1867

It is sad that a believer has no control over whether their spouse will believe.  My mother is one who became a Christian after she was married.  When she found Christ, my father did not.  Fortunately the transformation in my mother worked in my Dad’s favour and so he was supportive of her faith.  Some spouse’s find their partner’s conversion infuriating.  If an unbeliever walks away, there is nothing that can be done.  In a marriage, although two become one, each one does not control the other.  We only have control over the changes we make in ourselves and we can not coerce change in another.  Are you at peace with the identity of your spouse?

1 Corinthians 7: 15, 16

¹⁵But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. ¹⁶How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Question

1. What is a spouse to do if their unbelieving partner leaves?
2. In what has God called us to live?
3. What can a husband or wife not know?
4. How does this passage talk to those who are certain they will convert their spouse?
5. How should a believer in today’s society act toward an unbelieving spouse?

If the whole Bible is inspired, why would Paul make a point of him saying something and not the Lord?  In this context the Lord did not give any direct instruction about the scenario Paul is dealing with.  Paul’s insight in this case is inspired by God, but it is not a retelling of what the Lord said when he walked on the earth.  The problem of believers being married to unbelievers didn’t come up at the time of Jesus’ ministry because he walked among Jewish people and Christians were not a seperate group.  It is hard for someone to give their life to God through Jesus and then live with someone whose life is built on a different foundation.  I have actually had a conversation with someone who was confused because they had such a beautiful relationship with a fellow believer and such a poor relationship with their unbelieving spouse.  They logically concluded that God would not want them to be unhappy, and that they would be able to serve God better with their new friend as their spouse.  This paragraph speaks against that reasoning.

1 Corinthians 7: 12-14

¹²To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

Questions

1. Who says the things in this paragraph?
2. How has an unbelieving husband been sanctified?
3. Are a mixed faith couple’s children holy?
4. What does this passage say to wives who are disappointed with their husband’s spiritual initiative?
5. How does the exercising of your faith affect your children?

Once married, always married.  We see in the New Testament that unity in a marriage is always the goal.  Jesus has quite harsh words for those who would leave their spouse (Luke 16:18).  Of course, if someone is abused they need to remove themselves from the abusive situation.  This does not mean that they should dissolve the marriage.  If someone is deserted, they need to let their spouse go (v. 15).  The difficult rule is that if a marriage breaks down, it seems from these verses that no new marriage should result.  The Christian couple should always look to be reconciled ’til death do them part.

I think the greatest force working against marriage is the modern concept of ‘love as emotion’ rather than ‘love as sacrifice.’  I learned a great deal about marriage from watching the mindset work out in countries where the marriages are arranged.  Of course many of the marriages are loveless and cruel, but the ideals that arranged marriages are based on are worth considering.  A foreign notion to westerners is that you can choose to love.  We are taught repeatedly that you fall in love.  However, what we fall into is a strong lust or infatuation.  This wears off after a couple of years at the most and then we see what the couple is really made of.  A man or a woman of God denies themselves takes up a cross and stays married.  However, we have redefined Christianity into something self-serving and vain, so people feel that God has failed when they cease to get from the marriage what they believe they deserve.  I don’t think they have understood the gravity of the Lord and Paul’s command about marriage.

1 Corinthians 7: 10, 11

¹⁰To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. ¹¹But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

Questions

1. Who gave the command in this passage?
2. What is the command?
3. Why might this command be difficult in a metropolis like Corinth?
4. Why is divorce in the church at least as high as divorce outside the church?
5. Why is the Christian fight against gay marriage laughable considering the state of Christian marriages?

We often think that men burn with passion while women are quite proper and controlled.  Paul explicitly states that he is unmarried in this passage, maybe he is a widower, and as such he has no ties to another human being in that way.  However, he allows for the fact that passions can burn hot and lead toa life of sin that makes the single life serving Christ one of hypocrisy.  It is, therefore, essential to be honest with yourself.  Do you need to be married so that forbidden passions do not inhibit you?

1 Corinthians 7: 8,9

⁸Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. ⁹But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Questions

1. Who is Paul addressing?
2. What does he say to these women?
3. What is better than burning with passion?
4. If your spouse passed away, would you need to marry to have an outlet for your passions?
5. How do you encourage a high view of being single?

If you don’t have much of a libido, there is a strong case for not getting married.  It is not that getting married is bad, but you can focus on serving God in ways that are quite special.  Jesus even said that there would be eunuchs for the kingdom of God.  I raised this at a prayer meeting once and got roasted by an elder (who was married).  I still hold to the basic principle. However, there are those that say that the Corinthians were in particular hardship, so to get married would have been an added stress.  Because of Jesus’ commentary on the same issue I don’t think that the context of time or place changes the point.  There are those who think more about having a good cup of tea and a slice of cake than about sex.  However, for most of us we have a desire for sex or at least its fruit (children).  For a healthy marriage there should be frequent sex.  It guards against the pull of pornography or affairs.  It actually releases chemicals that bind a couple together.  Men who get overinvolved in work or the potting shed (hobbies), should not be surprised when their desperate housewife runs off with the gardener.  Women who spend all their time on taking care of the home and children and have little appetite or imagination in the bedroom may wonder why their husband comes home later and later until he doesn’t come home at all.  Although life-long celebacy is a gift, the norm is that a man and woman will get married. Sex is a healthy part of that marriage.  Here we see that Paul counts sex as an important part.

1 Corinthians 7: 1-7

¹Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.^{[a] 2}But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. ³The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. ⁵Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Questions

1. What is a good reason for each man to have a wife?
2. Who does the husband’s body belong to?
3. What do people lack that Satan will use?
4. Why do you think Catholic priests do not marry?
5. What does a healthy sex life that keeps both parties interested look like?

Going Deeper

Observation

1. What is it good for a man not to do?
2. What descriptor is used to describe a man’s wife?
3. How many times does Paul state that the case is the same for each gender?
4. What kind of consent leads to abstention?
5. Who is the focus when fasting from sex?

Interpretation

1. How would Corinthian society have tempted men and women to have immoral sex lives?
2. How would it change a person’s perspective if they understand that they are joint owner of their own body?
3. What other passages in the Bible outline a healthy sex life?
4. Why do you think that some people in Corinthian society would think that it was holy to abstain from sex completely?
5. What does it seem Paul’s sex life is like at this time?

Application

1. Why do you think more and more women are viewing pornography?
2. How does a couple keep it fresh and frequent?
3. Why do couples stop having sex when they have children?  How is this to be avoided?
4. How do you overcome the reality that one partner is often more eager for sex than the other?
5. Why do some people ‘let themselves go’?  Why might staying physically fit and taking care of your appearance be a selfless act that helps your marriage?

1 Corinthians seems to worry about what others think of us.  This seems strange because we hear so often that it doesn’t matter what others think of you.  The aim of good beaviour, though, is not that we would have a good reputation ourselves.  The aim for good behaviour is that the church, and ultimately Christ develop a good reputation.  In our lone-ranger, maverick society, we tend to see the church as somewhere we might go rather than something of which I am an arganic part.  The way we behave as individuals is the way the church behaves.  It is not someone else, it is you.  When you drive like a maniac, the Jesus sticker on your car is an embarassment to the rest of us.  When I make an inappropriate joke, the church makes an inappropriate joke.  As far as others are concerned, Jesus makes an inappropriate joke because the church is his body.  So, chapter six reminds us, don’t take each other to court and don’t sleep around.  It doesn’t make Jesus look good.

1 Corinthians 6

¹If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? ²Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? ³Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! ⁴Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!^{[a] 5}I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? ⁶But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers!

 ⁷The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.

 ⁹Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders ¹⁰nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Sexual Immorality

 ¹²“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”^{[b] 17}But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

 ¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Questions

1. What two examples of misconduct in the passage?
2. What is the fate of those who give themselves over to immorality?
3. What should be our approach to immorality?
4. When might others have seen your behaviour and thought, “I don’t want anything to do with his/her faith”?
5. When might others have seen your behaviour and thought, “I want what they have”?

Am I free to see any movie that I want?  Yes.  Should I?  No.  Am I free to see any woman I want?  Yes.  Should I?  No.  Am I free to eat whatever I choose?  Yes.  Should I?  No.  All things are lawful for me, but not everything is beneficial.  All things are permissable for me, but it doesn’t mean that they will do any good.  Some people excuse bad behaviour by just saying that it is natural.  Others excuse it by saying that they couldn’t help themselves.  For a Christian we do not lose our relationship with God because of an innocent mistake.  Our salvation isn’t lost because of a moral decision.  Truly I can do anything.  However, choices still have repercussions.  With God’s wisdom I need to understand where each choice takes me.  It is permissible, but is it beneficial?

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

 ¹²“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”^{[b] 17}But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

 ¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Questions

1. What is the body of the Christian to be used for?
2. What are the repercussions of sleeping with a prostitute?
3. What compels you to glorify God with your body?
4. What are the negative effects of sex outside marriage?
5. How do people excuse porn or ‘window shopping’?  What are the effects?

In one of my classes that I teach, I told my students that I love gay men.  I said it to provoke a reaction.  It is not that I am homosexual myself, it is just that we can be such homophobes in the church that we hold gay men at arm’s length.  Our attitude is revealed by how uncomfortable we are with following through on our love.  Some of us think that we are being soft if we don’t point out our stance on homosexuality when interacting with GLTV people.  The Bible is already clear to most homosexuals.  The response of those who find their identity in their sexuality is to prioritize or reinterpret biblical truth.  For example in this passage some people say that the homosexuality is specifically that of temple prostitutes.  That means that it is the idolatry behind the homosexuality that is the real offence.  Some say that Paul had ‘feet of clay’.  This is a way of saying that Paul was just a human living in his times and we have moved on from there.  I think that more foundationally we have to see that sexually immorality is a self-oriented movement against God’s design principles.  In the broader sense all sexual immorality moves against God’s design.  His design is that men and women come together one-to-one in a marriage environment.  Their bits are designed to go together.  Marriage, however, is much more than sex.  Marriage is a lifetime of self-sacrificing commitment.  Although in our post-modern society we become egocentric and hold the individual’s rights to self-define in whatever way they choose, ultimately the Spirit of God lets us know that we are playing games with words.  It is those who have seared their conscience and no longer know that immoral or deviant sexual behaviour is immoral or deviant that find themselves outside the kingdom of God.  They need to be treated with all the love and respect that Paul has already told the Church of Corinth to treat those who are outside the church.  Remember he told the congregation not to judge non-church members.

However, notice in the list that there are those who are defined by a variety of sinful acts, not just homosexual ones, who find themselves on the outside.  If you are not tempted to have sex with someone of your gender, perhaps you have fallen with someone of the opposite gender.  Perhaps you pilfer from your workplace.  Perhaps you gossip about people.  Perhaps you cut corners to get ahead.  Any person who has a defining sin characteristic needs to question whether they are in God’s kingdom.  Members of God’s kingdom fight sin.  They do not redefine it as good.

Specifically then, how do we deal with homosexuality?  We combat it in our own lives.  We do not redefine it as a healthy lifestyle when statistics show that (for men in particular) it is not.  We find some GLTV people to love unconditionally.  We avoid getting on a moral high horse and telling them about their sin at every opportunity.  It would be more helpful if we just communicated our own weakness with sin and God’s amazing strength.

1 Corinthians 6: 9-11

⁹Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders ¹⁰nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Questions

1. Who will not inherit the kingdom of God?
2. What actions removed the Corinthians from being defined by sin?
3. How would Corinthian culture have led to an easy acceptance of sin?
4. Do you know anyone who has an habitual sin that defines them (e.g. a gossip, a liar, a glutton)?
5. How should you be compassionate and non-judgemental to those who are defined by sin outside the church whilst being careful that sin does not become socially acceptable within the church?

There is a form of Christianity that is out for self-gain – it is popular but false.  We are called to be witnesses for God.  The first command is not to look out for ourselves, but to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Paul mocks the self-aggrandisement of those who count themselves spiritual because of the status and material benefits they have gained from the world.  It is like a Chinese Christian who has survived torture for the cause of Christ sarcastically acknowledging that the American pastor must be more spiritual because he has a swimming pool.  What things cause you to count yourself as blessed?

1 Corinthians 4:8-13

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! ⁹For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹²We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

Questions

1. What do the Corinthians seem to think they have become?
2. Where are the apostles in the procession?
3. How does this paragraph reinforce the theme of unity through humility?
4. Do you know anyone whom you respect who seems particularly humble?  What do they contribute?
5. How can you be humble and at the same time bring more unity to a group?

Going Deeper

Observation

1. How many exclamatory sentences does this paragraph contain?
2. Who is watching the procession?
3. What opposites are used by way of contrast?
4. What do the apostles do when they are cursed?
5. What two things does Paul end the paragraph by saying the apostles have become?

Interpretation

1. Why would Paul be writing in ways that are exclamatory?
2. How does the description by Paul compare to a Roman triumph (look up triumph)?
3. How does Paul’s lowly condition prove his argument?
4. Are Christians meant to live in self-sacrificing poverty?
5. Is there something to be said for missionaries paying their own way?

Application