By informing this
body of believers that they should not be glad about injustice (1 Corinthians13:6), Paul not
only comments on what was possibly a pervasive mindset, but he also reveals to
them the fact of their unjust behavior. By tagging his mention of
injustice with “but rejoices in the truth” (13:6) he also appears to remind
them that they should be glad that he is correcting them in a way that is
designed to lead them into the truth that will come to be exercised in both
word and deed, so that (again, considering his words within the flow of the
letter) they will not be judged (11:31,34).
In the light of
Corinth’s receipt of truth, so that they might understand the way that love
will actually look when it is put in practice, which was contrary to what was
on display at what they also may have been referring to as their “love feast”
(a fact which also helps to explain why Paul takes the time to make this
explanation about love), Paul then adds that love “bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends”
(13:7-8a).
Throughout the whole
of this letter, Paul builds and builds and never wavers from the subject at
hand, never ceasing his offerings of correction while expressing his desire
that this church over which he has so dutifully labored. With their location in an important and
somewhat influential city, they were to be a shining light of the kingdom of
heaven, but were falling short of that call. However, while he is being
critical, one should not imagine that the problems to be observed here in this
church at Corinth were somehow unique to them---when the eye and ear are properly
attuned, these issues can be found throughout the New Testament letters
When Paul’s letters
are read (along with the rest of the New Testament) while keeping in mind that
the Gospel of Jesus as Lord and ruler of all and the kingdom of the Creator God
was being preached in a world that was ruled by the Caesar as the Lord of all
and the glory of the empire of Rome was paramount, which was shaped by glaring
and pronounced social divisions (by no means is this reducing the message of
the Gospel to merely a social gospel) in which the lines of demarcation
(ethnic, religious, economic, etc…) between peoples were carefully drawn and
tacitly enforced, it should not be surprising to find Paul and others hitting
on this problematic theme of divisiveness in the church on more than one
occasion (the letter to Laodicea in the book of Revelation springs to mind).
Chances are, however,
because most that are reading this study find themselves in a western world that
is so far removed from a societal context that would allow this to be easily
recognized (which means that many are terribly handicapped, with this made even
more problematic because so many believe themselves to be in a position of
superiority in Scripture interpretation), Paul’s treatment of similar
situations has been read dozens and hundreds of time without ever considering
the social and cultural realities of the world into which it was
delivered. Just like has so often been done with the Corinthian letter, many
believers have heard Paul’s words in the context of the cultivation of an
individual spirituality and focused pursuit of personal holiness that will
result in achieving heaven (and avoiding hell) at death, rather than hearing
Paul in the context of a responsibility to cause the Creator God’s will to be
done on earth, which is the call of those that confess Jesus as Lord.
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