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Category: 1 Corinthians (Page 1 of 21)

The Transforming Church

January 14, 2026 / / 0 Comments

“The closer we draw to the Church, the closer Christ draws to us.” ~ Kenneth B

I’m still posting some excerpts from this past Sunday’s sermon on how we are transformed more into the image of Jesus in and through the local church. I am also sharing some lines from the excellent article I found Monday–a few days too late!–written by Kenneth B on Substack about the same topic. You can read his outstanding piece here.

The main point of Sunday’s sermon is that the differences we have with one another in our churches are precisely the areas where our Father shapes us into his image. It’s in those differences and disappointments that the Spirit changes us to more consistently think like God and more regularly and predictably act like Jesus. We have different ideas, different preferences, different buttons and triggers–there’s never going to be anything we all agree on together within our churches.

And that’s okay.

If we had to agree with everybody in our churches on everything, Carrie-Anne and I would be at two different churches.

If unity means uniformity, a bunch of us are going to have stop thinking. Nobody wants that.

God’s people are messy in community. But I think that’s the point.

“You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people, and members of God’s household… In him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” ~ Ephesians 2:19-22

“In fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” ~ 1 Corinthians 12:18

I believe that every man, woman, and child in your church is there because God placed them there. You are a part of your congregation for a reason: God’s reason. We need each other if God’s going to work in us and through us the way he intends. Our mindset must be: We are together in this church because of what God is doing in Christ. If that’s the mindset, then we commit to one another. We vow to make it work.

We were watching a TV show a couple of weeks ago in which two of the characters work together, and they’re dating. They’re in a relationship. He did something at work she didn’t like, something that messed up what she was trying to accomplish, and it made her angry. So she broke up with him. It’s over. And he said, “So, that’s how it is? You don’t get your way and you sever the relationship? You’re going to be a sad and lonely woman.”

Some people leave their church when they don’t get their way. They just leave because something’s not going the way they want.

No! That misses the whole point of Christian community! It’s a family, it’s like a marriage. You work it out. You don’t leave. You work through it. And it’s hard and it’s painful and sometimes it’s disappointing and sometimes it hurts. But this is precisely what leads to spiritual growth. This is what facilitates increased Christ-likeness. You don’t treat your church like you treat your car or your shampoo. Your mindset is: I am all in with these people in this place because God has put me here and he’s doing something.

“In Christ, we, who are many, form one body. And each member belongs to all the others.” ~ Romans 12:5

We belong together in our church communities. And it’s in your church community where God’s grace transforms you. Being together all the time with people you don’t necessarily agree with, worshiping and serving together, living and dying together with people you didn’t choose, forces us to grow in Christ-likeness.

Love one another. Build one another up. Encourage one another. Honor one another. Be in harmony with one another. Pray for one another. Be devoted to one another. Instruct one another. Greet one another. Accept one another. Serve one another. Be patient with one another. Be kind and compassionate to one another. Submit to one another. Forgive one another. These biblical commands can only be obeyed in community. We can only follow our Lord’s instructions if we’re together, if we really belong to each other. And when we do these things, by God’s grace, when we commit to this way of being together in Christian community, we’ll find that we are more consistently thinking like God and more regularly and predictably acting like Jesus.

This is how God works. And where.

I’ll end today with this paragraph from the Kenneth B article. Again, I urge you to read the whole thing here.

“A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is real, but it is not solitary. It is lived through the Church. You do not discover Christ by escaping the community, but by joining it. You do not grow closer to God by seeking exceptional moments, but by entering the ordinary pattern of worship, repentance, fasting, and love that has formed saints for two thousand years… We meet him as members of his Body. We are saved together, healed together, shaped together, and restored together. Even our most personal experiences of grace arise from the shared life of the Church, it’s sacraments, its Scriptures, its prayers, its elders, its martyrs, and its saints… In the ancient world, to speak of knowing Christ personally was to speak of being united to his Body, standing shoulder to shoulder with the community he founded, and learning from the people who had already learned to pray, to repent, to love, and to die with hope.”

Peace,
Allan

Church is God’s Work

January 13, 2026 / / 0 Comments

I paid off a Cowboys debt today. I bet Myles back in August that the Cowboys would not get seven wins this year. Myles is a squirrely 13-year-old kid in our youth group and the son of the wonderful Brandon and Ashlee. He and I share a love for Whataburger, the Texas Longhorns, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and our Lord Jesus. But that’s about the extent of what we have in common. He loves the Cowboys. Poor kid.

Our wagers are always for lunch at Whataburger. Loser buys. Including the vanilla and strawberry shakes. So, I picked up Myles from school today. And his friend, Nolan. I’m not sure how I got roped into buying his lunch, too. I don’t know this kid. Why am I buying his lunch?

When’s the last time you shared a meal with a teenager from your church? I’d suggest doing it soon. It’s awesome.

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A lot of people have this idea that the church is a volunteer organization; that every person in the church makes his or her own decision to belong or not; like we each experience a personal relationship with Christ, and then we join a church that promotes my individual spiritual health. This way, people join the church or leave the church based on whether they feel like their needs are being met or not.

No. Our knowledge of God–understanding who God is and what he is doing–re-shapes the way we think about Christian community, the way we view church. Church is God’s work, not ours. Not yours and not mine.

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light… Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” ~ 1 Peter 2:9-10

Earlier in 1 Peter 2, the apostle writes that you–this is the plural form of the word, you all, or, as I like to say, y’all–are chosen by God and precious. You (y’all) are being built into a spiritual house. You are not building it; you are being built by God. Belonging to a community of faith is not your choice, it is God’s decision. It’s God’s work.

“God has called you (y’all) into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” ~1 Corinthians 1:9
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you (y’all) were when you were called.” ~1 Corinthians 1:26
“It is because of God that you (y’all) are in Christ Jesus.” ~1 Corinthians 1:30

In the Bible, whenever the Gospel is preached, wherever the power of what God has done and is doing in Christ Jesus is proclaimed, these communities of faith just pop up. The churches in the Bible are defined ONLY by their acceptance of the Good News and their commitment to Christ and to one another. Jews and Gentiles together. Rich and poor together. Free people and slaves together. Men and women, tax collectors and Zealots, national citizens and foreigners together. Young and old, fugitives and business leaders together.

You and I don’t CHOOSE to belong to group like that. We would NEVER choose that. Putting a church together is what God does.

Peace,
Allan

Where “All” Becomes “One”

July 31, 2025 / / 0 Comments

“You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” ~Galatians 3:26-28

I believe we are blessed to live in the country we live in, but the systems and structures and mottos and politics of this world will never unite anybody. The only place where the “all” becomes “one” is in Christ alone. In Christ is the only place where all people become one people. Our Lord Jesus is creating one global eternal community, not a bunch of them. So, in Christ, all the barriers are gone. There’s no more separation, no more distinctions or differences–everybody’s totally equal in Christ. The walls are down, the doors are open, the bridges are built! Now that Christ Jesus has come, all people have become one people!

To treat anyone differently, to deny anyone equal standing or equal freedom in God’s Church based on their nationality or their social standing or their gender is to, as Paul writes, proclaim “a different Gospel, which is really no Gospel at all” (Galatians 1:6-7). That kind of discrimination or distinction contradicts not just how we’re saved, but also why we’re saved. When we discriminate or make those distinctions in the Church, our actions contradict our message.

For illustration and application purposes, Paul gives us three pairings. All in the same context. All in the same breath.

In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek. This is about ethnicity. He’s talking about nationality and culture, this is about color and race and language, anything ethnically that the world divides over. No one has to become a Jew to be a Christian. When we give equal honor and equal freedom and equal standing to Christians of all colors and from all nations and who speak all languages, then we’re proclaiming the Word of the Lord.

The worshipers in Revelation are singing to Christ Jesus in heaven. Listen to their song:
“You were slain, and with your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation!” ~Revelation 5:9

The saints of God come from all over and they’re singing the same song. If we treat Christians differently or show them less honor or give them less freedom because they’re a different color or come from a different country or speak a different language, we are proclaiming something different than God’s Word.

In Christ, there is neither slave nor free. This is about social standing and economic status. How a person is educated, what kind of job she has, or how much money he makes has nothing to do with how a person is accepted as righteous by God or how that person serves and worships in God’s Church. It’s totally irrelevant. If anybody’s getting preferential treatment at church, it should be the poor and the marginalized and the people on the outside. Listen to our Lord:

“Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed… Bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame… Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in so that my house will be full!” ~Luke 14:13, 21, 23

Our Lord’s brother says it straight up in James 2, that if you show favoritism for a rich man over a poor man, you are sinning against God who has chosen the poor to be rich in faith and to inherit his Kingdom. If you only talk to Christians who have jobs, if you only eat with Christians who live in your zip code, if you only show honor to Christians who can pay you back, you’re proclaiming a different Gospel, which is really no Gospel at all.

In Christ, there is neither male nor female. This is about gender and all the different dynamics that surround gender. This is about bestowing or not bestowing status or freedom in the Church based on a Christian’s sex.

It’s interesting to me that in a lot of our churches, in our Bible classes and small groups and in almost all our church settings, our Christian sisters are encouraged to express their full freedom in Christ and asked to exercise their spiritual gifts. But it’s different in the Worship Center. Generally speaking, women lead prayers and read Scripture and exhort the church at 9:30 all over the campus, but they’re not allowed to do those exact same things in front of the exact same people and the same God in the Worship Center at 10:30.

It seems like we should interpret and apply this third pairing just like we do the other two.

In 1 Corinthians 11, where the apostle Paul instructs women on how to pray and how to teach in the Sunday assembly, it’s in the context of we are all one together in Christ and how we need each other and each other’s spiritual gifts.

“In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.” ~1 Corinthians 11:11-12

In Christ, men and women are the same. No gender is better than the other, no gender is more honored or more gifted or more free to exercise those gifts than the other. Males and females are equal in Christ. Again, it seems to me we should interpret and practice this third couplet like we do the other two. We wouldn’t tell some Christians they can’t lead a prayer in the assembly because they’re Black. We wouldn’t tell some Christians they can’t lead the communion time because they don’t have a job. So why do we tell some Christians they can’t do those things because they are women? Paul sees these categories as the same.

Now, there are two verses in the Bible that are used to restrict Christian women in exercising their spiritual gifts, two lines addressing two particular concerns in two very specific settings. But we have this central passage in Galatians 3 and many others that call for and demonstrate this equal standing between men and women in Christ. It seems that if we restrict our Christian sisters where the Bible doesn’t, we’re proclaiming a different Gospel, which is really no Gospel at all.

Peace,

Allan

Good News > Bad News

April 21, 2025 / / 0 Comments

“By his power, God raised the Lord from the dead! And he will raise us also!” ~ 1 Corinthians 6:14

The world demonstrates power by taking life. Our God demonstrates his eternal power by giving life. It takes divine power to raise the dead–the kind of power that produces deep faith and hope and joy.

The power that raised Jesus from the grave and gave him final authority over all things belongs to us. This power that defeats sin and death and Satan forever–we experience that power when we hear the Good News. Because it means there is nothing — NOTHING! — nothing bad, nothing wrong, nothing evil, nothing dark in your life that hasn’t already been overcome by God in Christ!

The Bible says our God “gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” (Romans 4:17).

So, maybe the odds are stacked against you. Maybe you feel like an outsider. Maybe all the bad news in our world is driving you to despair. Maybe the bad news at work or at the doctor’s office is overwhelming. Maybe the bad news in our marriage or with your kids or your parents really is too much. Maybe the bad news of your past sins or the bad news of your current sins has you paralyzed. The odds might be against you.

Okay, let’s talk about bad news.

The bad news is that Pharaoh’s army is going to win at the Red Sea. The Egyptians were huge favorites that day; the over/under was three-million dead Hebrews. The bad news is that the little shepherd boy and his sling is no match for a trained warrior giant. The bad news is Peter cannot walk on water. The bad news is nobody’s ever escaped from a Philippian jail. The bad news is the world’s authorities crucified our Savior. The bad news is all dead people stay dead.

Thank God for the Good News of the resurrection of Jesus!

The declaration of the angels and the testimony of the witnesses is true: Jesus is alive! Jesus lives! That stone was rolled away, not so Jesus could get out, but so we could look in and see for ourselves, so the truth could be seen and proclaimed.

Our God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were! He calls things that are wrong in your life right. He calls things that are broken in your family fixed. He calls things that are missing in your soul, the things that are lacking and lost, he calls them found and saved and overflowing with goodness and life!

“The one who belongs to God has no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” ~Psalm 112:7

Peace,

Allan

The Kingdom is Coming

December 30, 2024 / / 0 Comments

“Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is near!” ~John the Baptist

The prayer of the early church was “Marana tha.” “Lord, come quickly.” That is not a prayer for Jesus to come again as a helpless infant, it’s the longing of God’s people for Christ to return to earth in the fullness of his divine power and glory. It’s the desperate cry of God’s people for the coming of that day when every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. When Jesus comes again to finally put an end to all sin and wickedness forever, when Jesus makes right all the things that are wrong, and he fixes everything that’s broken.

That’s not so scary to the poor and oppressed of our world. That’s not scary to the marginalized and mistreated. But for those of us with a lot to lose? It’s maybe a little scary.

John the Baptist is proclaiming a reality that’s coming, a reality that’s going to expose what you and I sometimes think is reality. This coming eternal reality is going to reveal what we think nobody knows about. It’s going to show just how false our earthly conditions and our human endeavors really are. The Holy One of Israel is going to expose all our pretensions for what they really are. In him is life, and that life is the light of all people. And that light is going to shine in the darkness.

“Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait til the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of human hearts.” ~1 Corinthians 4:5

There is nothing hidden that won’t be exposed. Everything that’s concealed is going to be known and brought out into the open. All things are going to be revealed for what they really are. What’s in the dark will be brought out into the light. What’s kept in secret will be announced out loud for all to hear.

So.

Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is near!

John sees right through the selfish charades of the world and the games we play and the lines we say and the hypocritical loopholes we construct and how precious all of it is to us. He sees right through all of it to the sheer power and holiness of our coming Christ. John is pointing to the future, not the past. He’s orienting us away from our religious rituals and our rights and privileges toward the person of Jesus. He’s turning us away from our present systems and structures and all our values and positions to the utterly brand new authority and dominion of our coming Lord and his Kingdom.

It’s happening.

John the Baptist is standing out in the desert, right there in the Jordan River, where the world’s resistance to God is meeting the irresistible force of his certain coming. The ax is already at the foot of the trees. This thing’s already in motion. It’s happening. And you’d better get ready. You’d better re-think your priorities. You’d better re-order your life.

Nuts and Bolts

November 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Alright, let’s get down to it. Christian unity. Accepting all Christians, all baptized followers of Jesus, for the sake of the world. Being one with all disciples of all denominations. Worshiping and serving together with all Christians and churches.

Well, what about the Christian who disagrees with me on divorce and remarriage? Or weekly communion? Or church leadership structures or church names?

Yes, let’s go there.

In Romans 14-15, the divisive issues of the day are eating meat versus vegetables and the observance of holy days. The apostle Paul certainly has his opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong. He has his convictions on these divisive topics. But in Christ Jesus, he says, those things don’t matter.

“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters… Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand… We all belong to the Lord.” ~Romans 14:1-8

Do you believe you are perfect? Do you think you’ve got everything figured out perfectly? Do you believe everything in the Bible exactly right, do you worship God perfectly, do you live God’s will righteously and without fault, do you practice your faith perfectly? Do you have all of God’s will perfectly interpreted and figured out? No?

Then how are you saved? What covers you in your honest shortcomings?

The grace of God. His matchless grace.

Do you believe the Churches of Christ have every single thing perfectly interpreted and figured out? Are the Churches of Christ doing everything exactly right? No?

Well, what covers us in our innocent misunderstandings? How can we be saved? God’s grace. His wonderful grace.

You think there’s any chance at all the Methodists might be doing something right according to to the will of God that we’re not? You think the Presbyterians might possibly have something figured out that we don’t? What if First Baptist’s understanding of something is fuller and richer and more in line with God’s will than ours is?

What covers us in our sincere misunderstandings? What saves us when we don’t have everything perfectly right?

God’s grace. His limitless grace.

Okay, let’s flip it around. Let’s assume that we have it right on the Lord’s Supper and the Methodists have it wrong. Let’s pretend that we’re right about baptism and the plurality of elders, and the Presbyterians and Baptists are wrong. Does God’s grace not cover them completely? Are they any less saved?

Yeah, but they’re wrong! We’re right!

So, you get God’s grace where we’re messing it up, but they don’t? We get God’s grace to cover us, but nobody else does? Why?

Because we’re trying harder. We’re more honest with the Bible. We’re more sincere.

That might be the most arrogant thing a disciple of Jesus could ever say.

The grace of God applies to both conduct and doctrine. We are all saved by grace through faith in Jesus. We’re all in the same fellowship, the same boat. So, why do we have such divisions among us Christians? Because we confuse doctrinal issues we feel strongly about with “faith.” Because we refuse to consider our own positions or opinions as disputable. Because our distorted theology of grace sometimes depends on the hot church topic of the moment or which preacher is writing what book or what church is doing something differently. We define ourselves by our differences from others instead of by the relationship we all have with God in Christ.

1 Corinthians 3 says you’re still worldly. You’re acting like mere people. You’re being worldly.

Yeah, that’s right. That is how the world acts, maybe more so now than ever. If I disagree with one politician or one celebrity on any one point, I’ll vilify that whole person. I’ll write him off. Everything that person says now is wrong. Everything he does, everything about him is wrong. So, I don’t see anything redeemable about his party or his movie or his team. A politician could say the sky is blue, 2+2=4, and Blue Bell ice cream tastes great and some of us would disagree with him because he’s not in our party.

We can do the same thing in Christ’s Church. If I disagree on one point with any Christian or congregation or denomination, I vilify that Christian or congregation or denomination. Everything about that Christian or their church is wrong. So, I can’t fellowship or worship with them.

And the unbelieving world looks at that and says, “No, thanks.”

A religion as visibly divided as ours can hardly reflect the truth. It reflects the fallen world, not the glory of our God. Our Christian unity will have an eternal impact on the world. But the world has to see it. It can’t just reside in our hearts and minds. Christian unity must be lived out loud and seen in public. It has to be visible. And when it is, the world will believe.

Peace,

Allan

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