1 Corinthians 1:4-9

have you ever heard someone quote the Bible and thought, ‘I am not sure that means what you think int means.’ One of the challenges for all of us as we read the Bible is to not filter through the lens of our culture and make it say things that it had no intention of saying.

We live in an individualistic, consumeristic society and we read the Bible through that lens. What is it saying to me? What does this mean to me? And while these are not bad questions, they are simply not the emphasis that people were writing with. This leads us to misunderstand what the Bible is intending. For example, we assume that “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) is encouraging us to have quiet times and to recognise the presence of God. In fact, it is telling nations to stop waging war and to recognise God’s authority. Another example is Jeremiah 29:11 which says, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, to give you a hope and a future.” We interpret that as meaning that God promises us success and prosperity but it was written to a nation going into slavery reminding them of God’s promises to their ancestors.

As we read this letter, we must remember that it is not written to us as individuals but to a community. Every ‘you’ in this book is plural. Let’s re-read it:

⁴ I always give thanks to my God for [the church] because of the grace he has given [the church] through Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in union with Christ [the church has] become rich in all things, including all speech and all knowledge. ⁶ The message about Christ has become so firmly established in [the church] ⁷ that you have not failed to receive a single blessing, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸ He will also keep [the church] firm to the end, so that [the church] will be faultless on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is to be trusted, the God who called [the church] to have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The only way that this passage makes sense is when you realise that church is not an event or a service but a community. God has not given you everything you need, he has given our church everything we need. It is when we come together and learn to share, forgive and bless that we discover the blessing God has poured out upon us.

God has given your community everything that it needs to do everything that God has called it to do. He has blessed it with gifts, poured out blessings upon it and given it grace. God’s plan for our lives is to transform the world through local communities, using our gifts for the glory of God. He leaves it to us to use those gifts to encourage and strengthen one another.