1Corinthians Review

As we review 1st Corinthians, we can first say that it was written partially to correct problems that had arisen in the church at Corinth.  When problems do arise in the church, especially a local body of believers, we cannot just ignore them, but we must get to the root of the problem so it can be corrected. The longer a problem is allowed to exist, the more problems it can cause to our witness for God.  Paul said that some of the believers at Corinth were acting superior to others because of who had led them to Christ.  There is no room for any Christian to feel superior to any other Christian in the church, local or universal.  We may each be led to the Lord through the witnessing of different people, but we are equally saved by the same Person, Jesus Christ.  I believe we can also be sure that if Christian leaders have become aware of problems in a local congregation that the lost people of the world will be also, but the lost, the non-believers will exploit the trouble to attempt to discredit the church.  Paul said there were some false teachers in the congregation at Corinth.  These false teachers were more interested in glorifying themselves than they were in glorifying God.  We cannot look at the history of the church as a whole and deny that at times there have been false teachings that have entered the church.  I believe in the United States, for example, that one issue was the teaching on slavery and the issues that still linger on relationships between the races.  I know that some Christians say that slavery existed in Bible times, and that is true, but the Bible does not endorse slavery or the concept of a superior race.  We know that the people of Israel, the Hebrews or Jews as they are referred to in various places, were God's chosen people in the world, but it was not because they were superior to anyone else due to their own goodness.  God chose them to work through to reveal Himself to the world.  At times, it seems that non Christians have to take a stand against moral injustice in the world before Christians do, and even then it is somewhat reluctantly.  The church, God's redeemed people, need to be at the forefront of working against moral injustice, and not just reluctantly standing up against what is wrong.  I believe that as long as we as followers of Christ see the world in terms of any person or group of people being morally superior to any other person or group based on anything other than a relationship with Christ we will never be as effective in witnessing to the world as we should be.  We are all but sinners saved by grace and equal in the eyes of God.