This Sunday we begin our new series, preaching through 1 Corinthians.
The real messy Church is my tongue in cheek title for the series, as it highlights the fact that Church life, though creative, is seldom straight forward. The path to Christian maturity for individuals and Churches is never without challenge – things get messy.
The situation at Corinth meant that a gradual breakdown between Paul who founded the Church, and those who went on to lead it began. This threatened not only the relationship, but key aspects of the Christian message which were increasingly at stake. Paul writes to reassert his authority – but how to do that without throwing his weight about and ruining his credentials as their servant, rather than master?
1 Corinthians perhaps among Paul’s letters, most closely reflects the modern western situation. The people are suspicious of authority and resist orthodoxy as being boring in their culturally permissive and diverse age where the personality is king.
