A Word to the Wise (1 Corinthians 2:6-10a)

We like to receive good news. When the Christmas letter is delivered, we want to hear about our friend’s Alaskan vacation cruise or how the children joined the community theatre. When you open the picture attachment in Outlook Express, you like to see the dad, mom, kids, dog, together, smiling and looking the part of the ideal family. When the phone rings, the caller I.D. has the name of someone you’ve not spoken to in 10 years; the voice on the other end says, “I was thinking of you and just wanted to call.” Yes, we like to hear good news.

But not all news is good, and we don’t like to hear bad news. Our hearts break when the Christmas letter doesn’t contain vacation news but an undercurrent of disappointment from a year of unemployment and from another rejected résumé. The e-mail enters our inbox, and the excitement turns to emptiness when we open the attachment to find a family without their father who ran out on them. Or the phone rings, and the loved one on the other ends weeps as she tells you about her cancer returning—again. No, we don’t like bad news.

Paul had received news from/about the church in Corinth. Word had reached him while he was living in Ephesus through Chloe’s home. Without the advent of e-mail, or any real reliable carrier express, some who lived with Chloe traveled to Ephesus to bring their report to Paul. After enjoying their chance to “catch-up,” their happy reunion faded. The news wasn’t good. No, the news was bad and very disturbing. 

The church in Corinth thought they had spiritually arrived, calling themselves “wise” and “mature.” It’s easy to understand their pride since their cups were overflowing with the spiritual gifts of tongues, healing and prophecy. Surely God gives such gifts only to the mature? Wouldn’t we think that with the spiritual gift of prophecy comes God’s endorsement of that person’s life? Sure. However, their actions betrayed their “wisdom” and “maturity”; they were filled with “foolishness” and “childishness.”

The news was disheartening as the church was fragmented and fractured. Members had turned on each other; they were arguing and quarreling because jealousy and envy partnered in driving distance between brothers and sisters. Harmony and peace were nowhere to be found. Loyalties to a particular preacher were more important than loyalty to each other. Paul could almost hear the echoes of their boasting as he wrote from Ephesus.

• One might have said, “I don’t like Paul’s preaching—he doesn’t hold a commanding presence—but I’d listen to Apollos anytime; his words are eloquent. Besides, you know, he baptized me!”

• Another responded, “Well, Apollos’ preaching is too sophisticated. He just needs to ‘preach the Word.’ Peter, on the other hand, knows how to ‘prick people to the heart.’ Did you know he stayed with me when he came through Corinth?”