Saturday, March 29, 2025
“But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,…” (Matthew 23:5 KJV).
Should we be in attendance at the “Desperate-for-Attention-and-Relevance Conference?”
The heart of the three-chapter unit of 1 Corinthians dealing with spiritual gifts is chapter 13—charity described, love in action or the labour of love defined. Love is seeking another’s highest good; therefore, “charity… seeketh not her own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). Yet, the only people the Corinthians loved were themselves. They were babes in Christ, mere spiritual kindergarteners. Children are obsessed with getting their way, deriving as much pleasure as possible from whatever achievable means. Similarly, the Corinthians treated spiritual gifts like toys or candy: “I want, I want, I want! Look at what I have, look at what I have, look at what I have! You cannot have, you cannot have, you cannot have!” Pouting, fussing, and fighting divided the Corinthian church.
Chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians is exceptionally shameful. God’s gift of tongues, speaking intelligent human languages without formally learning them, is being counterfeited. The Corinthians have returned to their babbling of heathen idolatry and are trying to pass off gibberish (unintelligible speech) as “the words of God.” “Hastala, shastala, habbala, gabbala!” Instead of legitimate language, it was imitation, and nothing but occasion for arrogance: “I can speak in a private tongue that you cannot!” Of course, like modern charismatics, it drew attention to individuals. In addition to strange sounds uttered, there was loss of bodily control (falling down, rolling on the floor, waving arms, jumping, running, spinning, trembling, fainting, et cetera). Fake spirituality was confused with genuine spirituality (see 1 Corinthians 14:37,38). People were speaking their opinions but pretending God the Holy Spirit was talking. They just aspired to be seen and heard, not worship or glorify God. Paul thus counseled, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).
Frankly, Corinthian living is trashy Christian living. It is a hybrid of the wild, loose conduct of charismatics and the depraved, darkened mind of humanistic intellectuals. Corinthian living is not real Christian living, but simulated: Christians struggling in futility in the energy of the flesh to copy Jesus Christ’s life. It is the “reality television” of Christianity….
333 Words of Grace 