Background

This verse is a part of a larger discussion about the influence of other teachers on the church at Corinth who have followed Paul’s initial work there.  Paul starts this section by reminding the Corinthians that just as the new teachers claim to be under the leadership of Christ, so also is he.  But he includes the verse above to make a key point- anytime we get into the habit of comparing ourselves to others, we reveal a grave misunderstanding.  In the context of being under the Lord’s authority and leadership, Paul is pointing out that it is foolish to compare his ministry to anothers, since both are under Christ. 

Reflection

The reminder for me is this- because Christ is Lord over my ministry, when I look to others as a way of either making myself feel better or worse, I undermine his leadership.  As Lord over everything I do, my idea of success of failure comes from Christ and His Word alone- not comparison of others.  And this is what we need to see- when I get into the habit of comparison, I begin to replace Christ’s authority, with a false standard derived from my own interpretation of other’s achievements.

I have to admit, this is tough for me.  I read this passage in my quiet time this morning, and I found myself just a few hours later comparing my ministry to someone else about my age.  “Why am I not doing what he’s doing?”  “I’m a better teacher than him- why did God give him that opportunity and not me?”  These are the types of questions that begin to plague me when I compare.

But this danger of comparison is not just for those in minsitry- it can seep into every area of our lives.  When I begin to compare my job performance, year of my car or size of my house, I will begin to create false standards for myself.  These false standards become the source of my idenity and sense of worth (or lack thereof).  And, because the standards are false, I end up completely decieved about who I really am.

So here’s the challenge: Let Christ be the one we look to for identity and value.  His substitutionary work on the cross is the complete motivation for everything we do.  The minute I begin to compare, I walk down a dangerous road of subtely replacing my identity in Christ for an identity in an idol of my own creation.

Are there areas of your life that you find yourself comparing to others?  If we constantly find ourselves in “comparison mode,” we may have placed our identity in the accomplishments and status of this world.  In so doing, we find ourselves slaves not to Christ, but to idols of our own creation.

One issue that I was unable to deal with during the sermon is the origin of evil.  Where did evil come from?  This question can create a great deal of confusion.  Many people can mistakenly think that God has somehow authored evil while others may think that things just went beyond God’s control.  Both of these errors are unhelpful.  So, where did evil actually come from?

Foundational Issue- Method

How we do theology is often the most important issue we face when dealing with difficult questions.  There are at least two options that we must be aware of when approaching these difficult questions.

1. Biblical/Logic Approach- this type of method looks to the Bible first and then logic or reason second.  Logic and reason are used to help explain certain tensions that come up in Scripture.  No one denies the use of reason and logic in any type of method, but this approach utilizes a good deal of philosophy and reason to fill in gaps.  The key assumption in this approach is that we have the ability to deal with many of the tensions Scripture raises.

 An example of this approach would be the logical responses to divine soveringty (God’s oversight of the universe) and human freedom such as compatabilism.

2. Biblical/Limited Logic- this type of method focuses on the Bible first and then allows for a limited use of logic.  Reason is used to deal with the Bible, but once certain tensions are created from this enterprise, there is a guarded attempt to resolve said tensions.  The key assumption here is that human beings do not have the capacity to go beyond the clarity of Scripture.

Using the same example above, this approach would affirm God’s oversight and control of the world and simultaneously affirm human freedom, both being defined in a biblical way.  However, this approach would also fight the tendency to reconcile this apparent “contradiction.”

 The Answer: The Garden of Eden and the Origin of Evil

I prefer the second model referenced above because of my agreement with the key assumption mentioned- as humans, we do not have the capacity to deal with certain tensions in Scripture.   Because of this, I take this approach to the question of the origin of evil- sin began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve freely chose to rebel against God.  It is true that God is overall and in control, but the clarity of God’s Word is that man willfully chose to disobey God:

 Genesis 3:6  “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (ESV)

Every act of evil, every atrocity ever committed can trace its origin back to this moment in time.  Man fell from a state of innocence, to a state that has every human being on the planet naturally inclined to reject God and his authority in our lives for their own authority.  The beautiful part about God’s plan materializes in the next few verses when the Lord lays out his plan for the destruction of evil:

 Genesis 3:15   “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

 Jesus, as the coming offspring of the woman, has already defeated evil through his work on the cross and will ultimately destroy evil in his victorious return.  Praise God for destruction of evil through the victory of the Cross.

This past week I explained that the Bible is the Word of God.  For that sermon click here.  Today, I will be moving from that starting point to deal with the important issue of interpreting the Bible.  I will attempt to answer the challenge of interpretation before us in the following ways:

1. Unpack the Challenges of Interpretation
2. Employ a Biblical Answer to the Problem
3. Provide a Process for Interpretation

Challenges of Interpretation

The main problem in interpretation is our sin.  The two primary functions of sin is to decieve and destroy.  Colossians 1:13-14 describes sin as a “power of darkness” that holds humanity in bondage.  The darkness of sin makes it impossible for us to accurately, on our own, understand God and His Word as Romans 3:11 reminds us that no one understands.

Theological post-modernity has also raised a problem- we are all biased.  I grew up in Germantown, TN- a middle class community outside of Memphis.  My parents loved the Lord and had me in church every Sunday.  Can I really interpret the Scripture “objectively” so that I could tell someone in the Dominican Republic that has not grown up in church what God has said to them?  Hasn’t my faith just been the result of the conditioning of my environment growing up?

These limitations make it impossible to say that we really can interpret God’s Word.  We desperately need help from the Lord.

Answer: the Work of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 (ESV)

12 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.  13 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 role of the Holy Spirit in interpretation is the key to truly understanding how we as sinful, biased human beings can rightly understand the Bible.  In verse twelve, we are shown one of the key roles of the Spirit- helping us understand the grace that God has given to us.  Paul also says that the Spirit works in us to help us understand “spiritual truths.”

The key here is that without the Spirit, we are left to human wisdom which is deficient to help us understand the grace of God and His Word.  Ephesians 1 teaches that the Spirit is the “guarantee” of our salvation.  Because only believers have this Spirit, is important to see that non-believers may be able to read the Bible and understand the stories or words on the page, but they will never be able to truly understand and grasp the meaning of the Scripture.  Plainly, non-believers will understand certain concepts, but never accept them as true and live them out without the Spirit.

So, given all this, how do we rightly interpret the Scripture?

Process for Interpretation

Here are a few practical steps for interpretation.  Interpretation should be done…

1.  With a Focus on Scripture- the Bible should always be our starting place for interpretation.  Taking the Scritpures, word by word, phrase by phrase, section by section in the context of the book being read is essential.

2.  In Reliance upon the Spirit- coming to the Scripture seeking the guidance of the Spirit can be seen in an attitude of  humility and habit of prayer.

3.  In conversation with the Church- interpretation should happen in fellowship and conversation with not only with your local church but also with the church of the past.

Much more could be said about interpretation and this will be a subject of posts to come.  My encouragement to everyone this week- read your Bibles!

My conviction is that the New Testament not only gives the church content for what it should be saying, but also how it should function.  This is fleshed out in at least two ways.  First, restoration speaks to the active followship of Christ every believer is to embrace.  The verse above and other passages make Jesus both the content and the model of the Christiatn life.  Second, restoration also focuses on the church’s continual pursuance to embrace the New Testament church as its model.  By saying this I agree with the Anabaptists of the Reformation era who sought to continually challenge the church to look to the New Testament alone as its criteria for Ecclesiology.

My hope is that in some small way that this blog will bring the agenda of restoration in the lives of indivdual believers and the church to the forefront.  I will try to accomplish this in the following ways:

1. Reflection on Key Biblical Passages
2. Interaction with Cultural Challenges to Restoration
3. Highlighting Biographical Examples in Church History
4. Reviews of Significant Books
5. Discussion of Practical Ecclesiological Issues
6. General Theological Reflection

Over time, these categories will grow.  But, my prayer is that this blog will not only challenge others to long for a continual pursuance of biblical Christianity, but also that it will challenge me as well.