From 1 Corinthians 15: Most Important

“For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures….” (vv. 3-4)

Just go ahead and bookmark the whole chapter.

(Yes, even the esoteric discourse on seeds and bodies.)

This chapter—1 Corinthians 15—is a foundational Gospel exposition. We are given, through inspired Paul, a clear defense of the Resurrection, of Christ’s victory over death, and of our hope. We confess it on Sundays. We read it at funerals. We sing its words in so many hymns. It is a big-deal chapter.

And, over it all, there is the one thing that is most important:

The very heart of the Gospel is in vv. 3-4. I’ve preached hundreds of messages, and almost every one of them looks here, at some point. We have in these few words a pure formulation of our proclamation, our passion, and our promise:

Christ died for our sins. He was buried. And He was raised. All of it according to the Scriptures.

Jesus in our place. Jesus over death. Jesus—just as promised.

Bookmark the whole chapter—and maybe underline those verses.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 14: Gifts

“So also you — since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.” (v. 12)

Let’s stay out of the weeds today.

I know we’d love one more debate about spiritual gifts—really, about “speaking in tongues.”

Paul says he’s pleased to do it! The Word says God will use it! But…what in the worlds does it mean?

Like I said, the weeds.

Instead, let’s get to the point:

What is the “why” for all of our spiritual gifts?

Build up the church!

Everything we get to do by grace—speak truth, share in song, pray with faith—is meant to be stewarded for just one purpose. We should be strengthening the church by it. The church’s witness, worship, and welcome are all driven by its people’s gifts. The Holy Spirit lives and moves through us—and He does so to magnify Christ and benefit His body.

Maybe you have a confident understanding of spiritual gifts. Maybe you still have questions. But, whatever He has given to you, please remember:

He gave it to you so that you could give it for the church.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 13: The Better Way

“Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love — but the greatest of these is love.” (v. 13)

Did you catch that?

In the previous chapter ( 1Cor. 12), the apostle Paul was led to explicate a whole spectrum of spiritual gifts. There was prophecy and wisdom and healing and—yes—speaking in unlearned languages. And he was led to tell the church to desire the greater gifts, meaning the prophetic teaching gifts, which he will get into later. He lays all of this out for the body of many members, so that the many members can see the many ways the Spirit might work through them, for the good of the church and the glory of Christ.

And then he said, at the end of the chapter, “There’s an even better way.”

Which is what we find in 1 Cor. 13. The better way for the church.

Love.

The gifts matter. The church needs them. But they do not matter and are not needed to the extent that love becomes irrelevant. Love is our first, highest, and best calling. And it comprises so much: patience and grace and humility and forgiveness and generosity and compassion. You can long for all the other gifts—and you can every other kind of churchy activity—but love pervades it all.

This is the better way. Imagine if you and your church followed it!

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 12: Easy & Not Easy

“So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” (v. 26)

Such is the reality of being the body together:

The Lord, by grace, has knitted us together. We, in Christ, are no longer mere individuals. We are a body—His body—and all of the members of that body belong to each other. This is, biblically speaking, the central metaphor for what it means to be a church.

Sometimes that’s easy. When the members of the body are well, whole, strong, and functioning, the body feels that. It walks in strength.

Then there are other times—when a member hurts, or when a member causes injury, or when a member needs rehabilitation—that the whole body limps because one part is limping. That’s not easy.

Whichever season your church’s body is in, you remain a vital part of it. Let your gifts shine when we are in stride. Use your gifts to hold onto those who are hurting. Whether it’s easy or not easy, you are needed.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 11: Imitation

“Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” (v. 1)

I’ve lived long enough to recognize a few things. Key among them is this:

Some people are good role models, and some aren’t. Some people are worth imitating, and some shouldn’t be imitated at all. I want my life to resemble some of the lives of others—and I want it to resist the rest.

What’s the difference-making distinction?

The lives worth imitating are the ones imitating Jesus.

Paul, who lived one of the most remarkable pastoral and missional biographies ever, was right to invite his readers to imitate him—but only because he was imitating Christ! His was a repentant life, a life of purity and proclamation, all for Jesus’ glory. He devoted himself solely to the cause of Christ, and he encouraged others to follow him, so long as following him meant following Jesus.

Can you tell the difference in your own relationships? And are you living a life worth imitating?

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 10: A Better Question

”’Everything is permissible,’ but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything builds up.” (v. 23)

Christians are asking the wrong question.

Too often, we come to the Word or to the church or to a pastor, and we ask, “What am I allowed to do?” What things are in-bounds, under Christian freedom? Can I eat this or drink that or enjoy those things? What am I allowed to do?

But that’s the wrong question.

Instead of asking what you’re allowed to do, the better question is, “What ought I be doing?”

If you will focus your freedom rightly—if you will see the grace and the mercy of Christ as freedom FROM legalism—you will also see that He frees you FOR purity. You are no longer simply a moral performer. You are one whose moral preference is to honor God in what you eat, drink, and enjoy. If that stuff doesn’t build you up in Him, then it fails the “ought” test, even if it passes as permissible.

Before you do whatever you do, ask the better question. “Is this what I ought to be doing?” You will know a new freedom—the freedom from moral compromise—when you do.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 9: Awkwardly Talking about Paying our Pastors

“In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.” (v. 14)

It’s a touchy subject, and it’s suuuper awkward for me to bring it up…but we ought to pay our pastors.

Most of these men are exactly who you hoped they would be. They are selfless and devoted. They are willing to shoulder the shepherding burden with joy and with gratitude—and they’re willing to do it while making do with a little less.

The Bible tells us what to do:

Pay them.

Paul is sometimes held up as a contrasting ideal: “See? Paul wasn’t paid! He served the church under Christ’s compulsion, and he didn’t want to burden the church! He did secular work while planting and pastoring!” And Paul’s is a remarkable example.

But…how did he teach the church through it? Paul, inspired by the Spirit, said that his own example isn’t the pattern. He opened the Word, and the Word has revealed from the start that Gospel ministers ought to be provided for by the church.

Not paying a pastor isn’t “keeping him humble.” It isn’t teaching him to rely on the Lord—because, believe me, he is doing that for everything every day. It’s simply a church behaving unbiblically, in a way we’d never permit anywhere else.

So pay him. Bless him. And strengthen him for ministry, with grace and freedom.

(Suuuper awkward to hear from a pastor.)

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 8: Puffed Up

“Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that ‘we all have knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (v. 1)

Have you ever heard the phrase, “I know just enough about that to be dangerous”?

Why is knowledge dangerous? Because, with a little bit of it, we can make some messes. We can be strident, over-confident, and self-assured. Ultimately, we can be unloving.

That’s what’s at stake in 1 Corinthians 8: The young church is feeling pretty confident in its approach to Christian freedom. Who cares if the meat on the plate was part of a pagan ritual? All of that is a not-true nothing. And, because of that knowledge, Christians should be free to partake without guilt.

But the problem isn’t about what we know. It’s about the person sitting next to us.

If all we have is knowledge, we’ll keep on insisting on freedom, while forgetting the ones we’re supposed to love. We’ll compromise their hearts as they wrestle old sins and lingering lures. We’ll be puffed up in our preferences, but the church won’t be built up.

So maybe let’s listen to Paul (inspired). Let’s love enough to reexamine our freedoms. Let’s put a check in knowledge, so far as knowledge creates controversy. Instead of being puffed up, let’s build each other up.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 7: Possessed

“A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.” (v. 4)

Here is where an overarching Christian principle intersects your marriage:

You are not your own.

That’s hard for our individualistic culture to swallow, but it is enduringly true. In Christ, we are utterly possessed, bought by Him at His cross and secured for heaven in His Spirit. That means our lived lives are subject to Him.

And—brace yourselves—marriage operates pretty much the same way.

Because you are given—to him, or to her—you no longer live and move and relate autonomously. You belong to someone. What you do with your words, with your body, and with your heart has to be done with the other in view.

And, yes, that means you are subject to the other’s needs. You will be asked to give, love, and serve your spouse in ways that are counter to self-will, counter to comfort, and counter to autonomy. And not just you—both of you! It’s a door that has to swing both ways, if you are to remain hinged.

In Christ, you are not your own. In marriage, you are not your own. May we live and love as a people possessed, for His glory.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 6: Mastered

”’Everything is permissible for me,’ but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me,’ but I will not be mastered by anything. ‘Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,’ and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (vv. 12-13)

Let’s talk a bit about Christian freedom:

Are you, in fact, freed from many of the strictures and presuppositions of legalistic religion? Yes. There are more than a few good biblical boundaries in place—for instance, prohibiting drunkenness—but extrabiblical absolutism is rendered irrelevant under grace.

In other words, Christians are free. We, so long as the Bible doesn’t clearly prohibit a thing, may partake of it under the New Covenant.

But! Always remember that the Corinthian church—a church that fell into every kind of division, immorality, and shame—leaned on those same arguments on the way. They claimed a permissive freedom—and they strayed. They embraced things that became their masters, and they got what you get when you are governed by your wants.

Is that who you want to be? How you want your church to be known?

Everything might be permissible for the believer, but it might not be good. Don’t let the thing you felt free to do into the driver’s seat. If Christ is your Master, then the pursuit of purity will prove more freeing than anything else. And your church’s witness will endure strongly because of it.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 5: The Passover People

”Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (v. 8)

How do we live as the Passover people? As the people under the blood of the Lamb? As the people who are forgiven and saved, by His grace and His sacrifice?

Get the “leaven” out.

Just as our ancient ancestors fled before their bread could rise, we, too, flee from sin. Just as they departed with haste from their captors, we, too, hurry our hearts away from anger and hatred. Just as they were freed by God’s Spirit, we, too, walk with freedom toward the Promise.

You cannot hope to do that while keeping the “old leaven” around. If you leave just a little bit in, it will spread.

So be the Passover people, in Christ and under Christ. And leave this other stuff out.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 4: All Talk

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” (v. 20)

Too many so-called Christians are all talk.

They can tell you where they were baptized way back when. They can tell you which church still has their membership on file. They can tell you about their general moralism and conservatism, and they can tell you about their occasional generosity.

But there is little evidence of the transformative grace of Christ. There is little evidence of their submission to His lordship. There is little evidence of dependent prayers and deliberate mission and dedicated worship.

Too many so-called Christians live a life that is totally absent of His power, which comes by grace through faith.

And, where there is no power, it’s all talk.

Which kind of Christian are you?

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 3: Coworkers

“So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (v. 7)

What does it mean to be God’s coworkers?

Well, for starters, it means recognizing your role as it relates to Him—and He (not you) is the Savior. No matter what you are called into (ministry, mission, day-in day-out faithfulness in your life) you cannot save those you would reach. Salvation always belongs to the Lord.

So how are His coworkers, then?

Our part in His Kingdom work is our faithfulness to His bigger picture. Your task is to speak, share, give, and invite as He opens opportunities to you—regardless of the outcome. You may be planting a seed. You may be watering among those who have already heard. You may even be there when the Holy Spirit beings life from their soil. But He is always the one who saves; you are, by grace, a co-laborer on the way.

Does that take the pressure off you? Yes. But does it take the responsibility away. No.

Go, then, and serve with joy in the field. God is there, too. Who knows how He will use your work alongside?

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 2: Overcomplicated

“I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (v. 2)

Don’t overcomplicate the message.

We tend to do that. We tend to make all kinds of religious invitations. We urge our neighbors toward morality and generosity and general “good personhood.” We debate the finer points of polity and interpretation.

Maybe some of that is the fruit that grows as we mature under the message. But none of that IS the message!

So don’t overcomplicate it.

The message is just this: Christ crucified. Jesus, given for us. His cross, borne in our place.

The substitutionary, sacrificial, sufficient death of Jesus, the Son of God, is our testimony. His resurrection secures life for us, forever. Yet His crucifixion remains as the heart of the Gospel.

So it is that we proclaim His death until He comes again.

Don’t overcomplicate the message.

— Tyler

From 1 Corinthians 1: Unity

“Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.” (v. 10)

I gotta tell you:

I get real nervous about church membership.

It’s not that I am nervous about the concept: as a metaphor for how we belong to one another in Christ—how we fit together as a body under His “head”—church membership is perfectly biblically suitable.

What makes me nervous is the way a lot of churches go about it: “If you want to join our church today, just raise your hand and come on down….”

That right there is a recipe for disunity.

Disunity has nagged Jesus’ church from the beginning. We claim Christ as Lord, but we also follow subordinate teachers and teachings, hanging them as the banners under which we huddle. We factionalize and fracture—and we lose sight of the essentials in pursuit of the tertiary.

Churches, please lead would-be members toward unity is Christ. Teach and train them. Seek agreement under Jesus’ lordship—and, if mutual submission under Him isn’t for them, then welcome them as friends without affirming them as members.

Nothing less than our witness of Christ is at stake here.

— Tyler

From Acts 19: Another Kind of Evangelism

”In this way the word of the Lord spread and prevailed.” (v. 20)

How did the Word of the Lord spread in Ephesus way back when?

Certainly we look to Paul, to his faithful preaching in the synagogue and in the municipal center, because faith comes by hearing what is preached.

But that’s not the only testimony we’re told about in Acts 19.

We’re told that droves of people repented of the stuff of earth. They laid down their pagan practices. They sold their ungodly things—even if they were highly valuable. In response to the Word of God, the people shifted their values away from cultural norms and preoccupations, and they shifted them toward obedience to Christ.

Remember, then, that every time you opt out of what the world worships—every time you sell off their stuff to draw nearer to Christ—it’s a testimony.

Your repentance is part of the evangelism.

— Tyler

From 2 Thess. 3: Our Peace

“May the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” (v. 16)

I don’t know how your day has started.

I don’t know your stresses. I don’t know your pains. I don’t know your questions or your challenges or your fears.

I do, however, know my own.

And, if yours are like mine, then you have found yourself needing what I have needed, too.

Peace.

Thank God for His gospel promises! For He has told us: Jesus is our peace. He is the Lord of Peace. And He gives peace in every way!

That’s peace, even though you feel inadequate. That’s peace, even though you know your sin and shame and guilt. That’s peace, even though the pace of life sets these fleeting years ablaze. Because of the grace-gift of everlasting life, there is peace.

Today and tomorrow and every day, in every way, Jesus is our peace.

Rest in that.

— Tyler

From 2 Thess. 2: Firmly Held

”So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, whether by what we said or what we wrote.” (v. 15)

I am all for effective innovation in the church.

I am all for novel resources, nimble ministries, and new ways to engage our neighbors and the nations.

Jesus’ church, as He tarries, should be continually fresh.

But, however fresh those expressions may be, we ought to only ever freshly express those things that are enduring, unchanging, and immutably true.

This is why we are told to stand firm, to hold to what we have been taught, and to steward it in our own season. People are perishing—not because they are missing the innovative things the church is doing, but because they have missed the truth and failed to love it. The Word is our ground. The Gospel is our refuge. The Lord Himself is our home. So we hold Him and His revelation firmly—and we communicate those convictions in our communities as we do.

So stand firm. Hold to what you were taught. And, as you innovate in church, invite them home.

— Tyler

From 2 Thess. 1: Celebrate What’s Right

“We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing.” (v. 3)

I had a pastor who, for a season, led the church through a special emphasis.

Here was the headline: “Celebrate What’s Right.” I think it was a response to that (very churchy) tendency to complain. Whether folks were lamenting declines in attendance or giving, or if they were criticizing leaders, or if they were gossiping, this pastor hit PAUSE and redirected.

The church needed to learn to celebrate what was right!

Paul (inspired) gave us a good framework for that. When he wrote to his friends in Thessalonica, he told them why he was grateful for them, what he was celebrating about them: their faith was flourishing, they were increasing in love for one another, and they were persevering in their purpose, even when times were tough.

Flourishing faith. Increasing love. Perseverance.

If you want to be a church worth celebrating—if you want to be part of what makes the church that—then learn to celebrate these things. Do the devotional, relational, missional work. And don’t fall into the complaining trap!

Let’s live right, together, and let’s celebrate what’s right as we do it.

— Tyler

From 1 Thess. 5: The Operative Word

”Stay away from every kind of evil.” (v. 22)

The word is not “most.”

The word is not “only the worst kinds.”

The word is not “everything except what you think you can handle in your Christian freedom.”

The word is EVERY.

“Stay away from every kind of evil.”

If you’ve ever wondered how far you ought to run in repentance, how diligent you ought to be in purity, and how cautious you ought to be in the world, this sums it up: “Stay away from every kind of evil.” The extent to which you permit darkness in your moral life is the extent to which you have denied the day light He has shone on your life.

So stop permitting it! And stop playing around with it! Instead, put it away and turn around, in repentance.

That’s our only right response to every kind of evil.

— Tyler