Big Buts of the Bible

Letters To The Church /11

Read 1 Corinthians 6:1-11.  Chapter five argued that there should be differences evident in the conduct of believers compared to those in the world; there are different values; there are standards to which believers should hold one another accountable.  As we enter chapter six, Paul continues that theme--but approaches it from a slightly different angle.

Disputes between believers were landing them in litigation before unbelieving judges.  Notice the words that Paul uses to set this scene, "Dare he take it before the ungodly?"  Twice repeating, "Do you not know... ?"  Leaving no doubt, Paul admits, "I say this to shame you!"  By verse 5 Paul has moved to a rhetorical question, no doubt with a hint of sarcasm, "Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge?"  If you recall the beginnings of this letter, the church at Corinth was a tremendously gifted body of believers, and wisdom was something they boasted.  Of course there were people in their midst who could have served in this capacity!  But...

But instead, one brother goes to law against another--and this in front of unbelievers.

You can feel the weight of that statement.  This shouldn't be happening!

In the next couple of verses (7-8) Paul points to this behavior as evidence that the people in the church are defeated--given to their own selfishness and conceit.  He asks them, "Wouldn't it have been better... ?"  There's a greater cause than your own wants and desires.  You're a part of a new economy now--a Kingdom economy.

Verses 9 - 11 contrast the behavior of the world with that of the church.  These things are expected of those who are not followers of Christ--and notice it's a very similar list to that in chapter five.  Here, however, Paul puts those behaviors in proper perspective: this is what some of you were.  That sets up a huge but.

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

This but should put believers in a place of great humility--and thankfulness.  Believer, you are different because Christ has done something in you.  You are not an unbeliever anymore.  You don't walk to the standards and ideals of this world anymore.  You should have a higher regard for the name of the Lord.

Letters To The Church /10

Read 1 Corinthians 5:9-13.  The body of Christ is a living organism. The word body provides a great metaphor--where a body is concerned, health is critical.  That first but in the chapter revealed that radical action should be taken to protect the health and vitality of the body.  Just as an amputation might be necessary to safeguard the body from the spread of infection, so also steps need be taken to protect and preserve the body of Christ.

The next two buts point out a specific distinction to make:

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people--not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy or swindlers or idolaters.  In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slandered, a drunkard or a swindler.  With such a man do not even eat.

This is the heart of the matter.  There should be a difference between those who profess to be followers of Christ and those who do not.  There should also be a different expectation and accountability.

Letters To The Church /9

Read 1 Corinthians 5:1-8.  There are only three buts to be found in chapter five, just one in this first section.  You get the feeling Paul's subject matter in this section is weighty enough.  He begins incredulously, "It is actually reported..." as if to beg 'Can you believe this?'

The things that Paul has been made aware of are the kind of things that are so scandalous that even the world would be shocked and disapproving.  How is it that the church could not only allow these things to go on, but also be proud of such licencious behavior?

The buts of the chapter speak to clarify the impropriety and to commend purity: Therefore let us keep the festival, not with the old yeast, yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread made without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

Paul was illustrating this point: A little yeast will work through a whole batch of dough.  Just a little tolerated sin will spread like a cancer.

Letters To The Church /8

Read 1 Corinthians 4:1-7. In chapter three Paul spoke of God as the one orchestrating his perfect work--putting people in just the right places and at just the right times--to further his work.  Paul spoke of God's having revealed to his people the mystery of the gospel so that each could take his part in the process, some planting, some watering, but God himself giving the increase to the work.

Chapter four begins with telling words: So then... In other words, 'in light of what we've just learned, consider this.'  Consider what?  Men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.  Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Paul clarifies that in this role God has called us, indeed prepared us, to play, we have responsibility.  He then turns to give a practical insight from his own life--utilizing the first but of the chapter.

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.  It is the Lord who judges me.

What is Paul saying?  Keep in mind the greater context of the letter so far.  You recall that the wise of the day thought this message (and certainly those who proclaimed it) foolish.  Paul wasn't going to be discouraged in his role because the smartest people in town thought him a fool.  They weren't qualified to judge him--he wasn't even competent to judge these things himself--it is God who has this master plan at work who is able to discern just what is coming together and how.  What's crucial is that he and ministers like him proclaim the message faithfully (verse 2).  God takes care of the rest.

Verse 5 completes the thought: Judge nothing prematurely.  God will reveal all that we don't see clearly now, and then it will be a complete picture.  At that time the hearts of men (and the motives of those who have been a part of God's process) will be known.  At that time we'll see the fruits of our faithfulness, more importantly, the fruits of his faithfulness in and through us.

But as you look forward into the rest of chapter four, it looks as if Paul feels the need to state his point a little more... pointedly.  Look ahead for next time.

Letters To The Church /7

Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-23.  If the first three big buts of this chapter cut to the heart of the matter of divisiveness in the church at Corinth, the next couple provide warnings.

By the grace of God given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.

Materials and the manner in which one builds are called to question.  Reading this passage this week has caused me to think of the horrors in Haiti, result of the recent earthquake and aftershocks there.  One of the certain contributors to the huge loss of life is the fact that there are no building regulations there--materials and manner of building left to chance.  Paul, here, contrasts temporal versus eternal; perishable versus imperishable.

Notice Paul's choice of phrase: Do you not know?  Do not deceive yourselves!

The second but in this passage is rather curious.  If (what a man has built) is burned up, he will suffer loss, he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through flames.

What do you suppose Paul meant by that?  Some scholars have determined this to mean that the believer who has foolishly (or otherwise wrongly) built into the lives of others will be saved, but lose out on some precious rewards.  Others have argued over whether this is a statement on eternal security.  I've been wondering in a very different direction this week.

Over the years I've had a few friends who have, quite literally, escaped through flames--their homes being destroyed by fire.  One of the most painful consequences is having "lost everything."  Pictures. Memories. Heirlooms. Prized possessions. Gone.

I wonder if Paul has painted a picture for us of what it would be like to wake up in the Lord's presence and realize that the things you had poured your energy into and that you were so passionate about during your life were reduced to ashes, and worse--they were not meaningful to the Lord.  Because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire. 

Don't you know?  Do not be deceived!  Now those words seem very fitting, don't they?

 

Letters To The Church /6

Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. Division in the church. Imagine that.

Paul had mentioned this matter at the start of his letter--a report had reached him from Chloe's household that folks in the church were aligning themselves behind different leaders.  Some were calling themselves followers of Paul, others followers of Apollos, others followers of Cephas, and still others followers of Jesus.  Paul asked, "Is Christ divided?"

Here in chapter three he uses a big but to cut to the heart of the matter: Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly--mere infants in Christ.

There is a maturation that takes place in relationship to Jesus Christ.  Don't miss for a moment that while this body at Corinth is a very gifted and prosperous collection of believers, they are not mature.  Also take note that spiritual immaturity looks like... the world.

By verse three he is describing the behavior--jealousy and quarreling--they're acting like mere men.  These things, he states in verse four, are at the root of the divisions.  These things give one cause to follow after one teacher or another in a divided manner.  This isn't the way things were intended to be.

Think back to the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians.  What had Paul stressed as the basis for our unity?  That gospel message--foolishness to the world, but the very power of God to those who believed.  A stumbling block, literally a rock of offense, to the proud.  Salvation to the faithful.  If we've all come to salvation in Christ, and we've all come the same way--where is the room for jealousy?  Quarreling?  Division?

Paul explains: What are Apollos and Paul anyway?  They're only servants of the Lord, working as each was assigned by God.  He then tosses a couple of buts into his explanation: I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.

If you want to recognize somebody--if you want to give credit--get it right.  This is God's field.  We are God's building.

Buts In Bunches

From the 'Chock-full-o'-buts' file:

One passage teemed with buts is 1 Peter 2:4-10.  There you find five buts in seven verses, all focused on making one point: Jesus is the Living Stone. 

Jesus is: the living Stone--rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to Him.

Having called upon the readers of his letter to grow in their faith, Peter now uses a metaphor to illustrate what God is doing--He's erecting a temple and a priesthood, peculiar unto Him.  Jesus is the cornerstone.  Another but about it: To those who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not...

Faith is necessary.  Jesus is the cornerstone of this spiritual house.  Apart from accepting that truth in faith, he is a stumbling stone--a rock that makes men fall.

Peter continues by allowing that we would have been just like those who reject the message were it not for God's intervention.  And another big but: But you are a chosen people, a holy priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. Because, once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.  And, once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

This is a truth worthy of our praise and thankfulness--indeed, our lives given in offering to Him.  No ifs, ands--but a bunch of buts about it.

Letters To The Church /5

Read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Bring on more buts.

Having made the case clearly in 1:18 thru 2:5 that the world's wisdom finds the gospel foolish, and that this was by God's design, Paul now explains, We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

Not wisdom that is futile.  Not wisdom that is fleeting.  Wisdom that is spiritually discerned.  He identifies this as God's secret wisdom, hidden in the past but destined for glory since before time began.  It's spoken of as a mystery, but very certain as God's plan for his people.  This, too, is by design.  Paul recalls Isaiah's teachings to confirm that this message was hidden to accomplish God's purposes. But...

But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

With the help of this big but and its greater context, we're able to put some of the pieces together.

Even more significant, we couldn't put these pieces together were it not for God's Spirit enabling us.  He revels it to us by his Spirit; the Spirit searches the deep things; knows the thoughts of God; and dwells in us.  As such: We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

I don't know about you, but this is shedding a whole new light on the altar-calls-in-the-stadiums picture we painted in the previous post.  Were it not for God sending his Spirit to open my eyes and ears...

And this is the foundation of Paul's preaching and teaching.  In verse 13 he makes it known: This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual things in spiritual words.

There seems to be a deliverance from folly, an ability to discern, and salvation--in God's ministry to us.  Two more buts at the end of the chapter sew it up--thanks be to God for this wonderful, salvific gift.

Letters To The Church /4

Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.  There are many places in the Bible where editors interrupted the flow of a thought with a chapter division.  The first five verses of chapter two, for instance, really seem to belong with the last section of chapter one--the matter of contrasting God's wisdom with that of the world.

Paul stressed that he came in weakness; his words were not so persuasive and eloquent as to have swayed them.  Rather, it was God who made the difference as the first couple of big buts in chapter two demonstrate:

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

When I was rather young in my Christian faith, I signed on to be a volunteer at a Billy Graham Crusade.  I was given the job of being a lay-counselor.  Our job was to be in prayer during Billy's sermon, and then at moment his altar call began, to be mindful of people who were responding--to fall in behind people making their way down to the front, and to be ready to encourage them and pray with them as they received Jesus.

Night after night I watched throngs of people rise out of their seats.  If I had to guess, there may have been twenty thousand people in the stadium each night, and maybe a thousand of them made their way to the field in response to the message Billy Graham preached.  I wondered, what made those who responded come?  If twenty thousand heard the same sermon, what was it that clicked for roughly a thousand of them?  Was it that those thousand were listening more attentively?  Was it that they were the wisest among the crowd and capable of putting it all together?  Was it that Billy Graham was a persuasive speaker--and like a good salesman he had "closed the deal" with those who came forward?

These two buts, and the argument of 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, demonstrate that Paul believed this was a God thing and not a human thing.  Look back at chapter one, verses 27, 28 and 30: He chose... God chose... it is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus.

Here at the outset of chapter two Paul is emphasizing, 'I didn't persuade you.'  He came with nothing more than the message of the cross--and as he covered in chapter one, that's a message thought folly by the world.  It's a stumbling block. But somehow, God did something magnificent with it in the lives and hearts of these people at Corinth.

But Gives Grace

It's all over the place in the Bible--condemnation of pride and arrogance and commendation of humility.  It usually reads like this:

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Whether it's in James 4:6 (which is quoting Psalm 138:6), or among Jesus' teachings like an example in Matthew 23:12, or in any number of proverbs like this one from Proverbs 29:23, it's everywhere:

A man's pride brings him low, but a man's lowly spirit gains honor.

God's word uses some very strong language where this topic is concerned.  The Lord detests the proud, Proverbs 16 declares.  Older versions render that 'everyone that is proud in their heart is an abomination to the Lord'.  He elsewhere promises, pride goes before destruction.  And in still another section of Proverbs, God says this: I hate pride and arrogance.  Abomination? Hate? Destruction?

Why is this such an important issue with God?

Pride and arrogance are an afront to God in His very nature--as God. They demonstrate a shift from God to self in the area of our confidence. Here's a but about it from Romans:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

This is part of the reason the gospel is spoken of as a stumbling block.  Coming to the place of admitting need--I cannot accomplish my own salvation--is a humbling step.  The wonder of the gospel is not "look what I've done", but rather "look what God has done for me." 

But gives grace...

Jesus came in humility.  Jesus demonstrated humility.  Jesus taught humility.  Jesus calls us to humility.