If worship has a place for us all (ch 12) and love gives us a good map for how (13), chapter 14 tells us that worship is best done in an orderly manner. We do it together in love in away that gives God glory. He brings order to chaos, so too our worship should be orderly and not chaotic.

Apparently the people of Corinth were doing some crazy things and Paul sets them straight! I wonder what would be said about ours today?

There is a better way. An excellent way. That is how Paul concludes one thought and moved to another.

A passage that has become synonymous with weddings is intended for a different purpose. Love is an act of worship. Yes, this passage can speak to our marriage and can define true love to us, but Paul intends it for the church! Our gifts are worthless without love! We are nothing without love!

You are intended to love the church, to suffer with her, to endure with her, to come to your end with her. This is an amazing thing to consider. When Paul is talking this way, it is not an encouragement to a young couple, but a call to the church to do this for one another. I hope this changes your perspective. It changed mine over the years. I love His church (the bride of Christ) and am here to serve it by enduring all, loving all and going through everything with her. Will you join me?

What does worship look like in your mind?

Some see big stages, lights and smoke. In this is typically an emotional response and musical abilities that give us goosebumps. Perhaps we pay for a ticket and wish our church services were like this every week.

Others see reverence, pomp and circumstance: high ceilings, language we don’t understand, ritual and silence. We desire ancient things and connecting to something beyond us.

Paul paints a full picture of worship here. It is not that the two descriptions above are necessarily lacking, but for sure they are a little suspect. Paul has been building what worship is to this beloved church for chapters now. Here he shows what he means. If love is a key element to properly surrender our wills to others, worship is seen in serving the Body of Christ with your gifts.

God made you and saved you. If and when you accept His gift, He gives gifts (remember Rom 12) that are intended to build the church. You have a role in worship. You are intended to help me and the Body grow! We all have a part! There is no insignificant role! It is your act of worship to help me worship by using your gift. Is this your understanding of what worship is? It should be!!

Fresh off discussing freedom and how it can properly be utilized in the church, Paul shows how outward local customs need to be heeded in worship. So much of what he is saying does not apply to our culture (binding and loosing that Jesus allows us to do) yet it is important to consider what we are saying with our clothing and ways in which we worship. Do you think of worship as being about Him or do you get what you want out of it?

Then he goes into the ordinance of communion. We eat together because Jesus told us to. Our eating together should be an act of worship. Is that how you see it?

There is a way out of any temptation!

Paul uses meat at dinner that had been provided at an idol ceremony. He says eat freely and without guilt (the idol isn’t a real god, remember?). If someone informs you that it is “idol meat” than avoid it for that person’s sake. See how freedom and rights are laid down in Christ?

How does this apply to us?

First, there is always a way out! Temptation is never as bad as we think! Run! Flee! Escape!

Second, be aware in matters of liberty to be wise and careful. I am careful with what I drink and “where I am seen.” I could drink at a bar in a reasonable fashion. Me being a pastor does not preclude me from doing so. However, I am careful for the sake of many. If I do consume alcohol, it is very limited and rarely occurs. I am free, but it is not beneficial for me to fully exercise my freedom. That is one case as an example.

Third, I stop doing something if confronted and consider my actions before continuing. I use this grid that Paul lays out and choose love over freedom. I teach the Bible when I can in these matters, but never want to be seen as argumentative or defensive. Still working on that! May Christ reign in my life and yours!

Paul is a man of integrity. Are you? Am I?

Sometimes I question whether we’re more American than Christian. Would you be willing to lay down your rights for the betterment of others?

This is what Paul is doing. While he has the right to ask the Corinthians for money, he won’t. He wants to be so far above any question of his motives and intentions that he avoids what he deserves to maintain a better standing. Would we be willing or able to do this?

Ironically, Christians are so “in power” in the US that we can’t even see at times how or why others would feel differently. We use our rights to stand tall and claim persecution. What if our goal was evangelism rather than freedom? What if our goals saved lives rather than wasted resources? We spend billions annually to attempt ending a perceived war on Christmas when we could be using that money to translate Gospel-centered materials into Arabic or sending missionaries to Syria. Just think about it. Or are we spending money on a building that could go towards loving our neighbor well?

Paul wants to run the race well. He’s willing to forgo what he is DUE in order to reach more. I wish I had an attitude more like this.

Here’s the key to a part of Paul’s theology – we have freedom in Christ because He is real and this place is not. At least that’s one way to put it in the language of today.

Chapter 8 lays it out this way:

An idol isn’t real.

Food sacrificed to an unreal idol is ultimately just barbecued (or boiled or …)

Because the food is only barbecued – eat up.

Unclean food doesn’t exist because Jesus made all things clean.

We can eat what we want without guilt.

We mustn’t take our freedom as a badge of honor to shove into a new believer’s face.

We must be gentle with those just starting out.

We wise then with what you eat and when and where you eat it from.

We are to do all things in love. We have the right to teach and explain and lead them in the ways of the Lord, but we do things out of love. All is permissible – not everything is beneficial.

Marriage is an amazing picture of what God does for us and in us. Two lives, separate but striving to live together, is a picture that our society does not uphold in the way they should. God reached all the way for us in the person Jesus. We now live linked to Him and attempting to walk in a way that pleases and honors Him. So it is with our lives in marriage. We strive to be one despite all the forces trying to pull us apart.

Some do not get married to accomplish this goal.

Some get married for the wrong reasons and then have to strive to work towards this goal.

Paul spends some time building a great case for marriage and what to do in different circumstances. Remember, this was written to the church that called Corinth home.

Marriage is meant to be a covenantal union of two lives that allows both to honor God instead of dishonoring Him with their choices. If one finds sexual immorality too strong a pull, marriage is the space that proper sexual relationships are formed. In this, neither party are meant to be in this relationship alone. They are to share their lives, bodies, etc.

If you are unmarried, consider staying that way.

If you are a widow, the same is true. Unless you must get married, then do so (see the freedom he explained in chapter 6).

If you are married, share it all.

If you are married to an unbeliever, show them Christ in how you conduct yourself in your marriage. This can be hard, but is crucial!

The rest of the chapter spells this out over and over. It is marvelous. Is your marriage stacking up? Perhaps you two need to talk this chapter out and consider what Paul is saying. If marriage is meant to be a picture of God’s relationship to us, how does your marriage stack up?

We should be able to work things out. As followers of Jesus, there is much at stake in our day-to-day interactions. This is not to say that we can’t mess up, confess it to one another and move on in redemption. We always have the option to do that with one another – and I hope that we are gracious with each other and willing to move on!

Our day-to-day interactions with one another is huge! If we are yelling and cursing out another person (follower or not), this is not the way of Christ. Our decision to settle matters should be done in the same way, and should bring glory to Christ, not stain our reputation publicly. There should be a wise person or two in the church that would help you settle a matter before you take it to court. Consider Christ!

Paul reminds us why it is so important – we were once _______, but are now Christ’s! Heaven is not full of the vile and sinful, but of the redeemed – saved by Christ. So now we live like that – giving grace and helping people understand that they are able to be redeemed. We must play a part in that – are you?

Paul then ends the thought by reminding us that in Christ, freedom reigns. However, that freedom does not mean we can do whatever we want. Things aren’t always good for us to do. My children ultimately may have the “freedom” to disobey me and play in the street, but that would not be right or prudent of them. So it is with so much in this life. Let’s choose the things that lead us to live and walk God’s way. After all, when we are in Christ, the Spirit dwells within us, making us a temple. That’s huge stuff!

Sexual immorality is no laughing matter. I know many guys think that “locker room” talk is okay, or not that big of a deal. However, the follower of Jesus has much to uphold and every word we say is incredibly important.

I had a colleague push me this summer to be better with my speech with one particular line I often said as a “joke.” Truth is, it wasn’t a good joke and needed to leave my bag of oft used phrases. Do you let someone call you on your language? As you follow Jesus, do you sense He is overcoming this area of your life?

The sin described in 1 Corinthians 5 is stunning. Yet today, one might joke in this manner and see nothing wrong. One might even make a strange search on-line to witness this type of sin acted out by another. Brothers – let’s serve Jesus and trust His ways to be better. Instead of indulging, let’s call on Him and choose relationship with Him and our wives over the things of this world.

Finally, we must consider the fact that Paul is charging a church to do the work of casting a member out – with the intention of redeeming them! It is the church’s job to “police” itself. It is not the church’s job to police those outside the walls. We can’t expect people that do not claim Christ to follow His ways. We can call people to consider Him and tell them that the things they are doing are not life-giving or good, but it must lead to us sharing Christ. We must proclaim there is a better way. A better sacrifice, once and for all, that paid for you and I to be redeemed. That is our role, not to police them hoping it will draw them near.