Mis-Affiliation
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
3:1 And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
3:2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,
3:3 for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?
3:4 For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human?
3:5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.
3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
3:7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
3:8 The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.
3:9 For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.
Sunday night, many, MANY eyes will be on the TV and the annual “big game” that was long ago dubbed “The Super Bowl.” Do you know how it got that name? Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, and principal of the old American Football League (which merged with the National Football League, which was then divided into the National and American Football Conferences) was the one who named it. After it was decided that the NFL and the AFL (before the merger) would play an annual championship game, he was watching one of his children playing with the latest toy, a jumpy, high-bouncing ball, he asked the child what it was called. “A Super Ball,” came the reply. It hit Mr. Hunt—why not call the big game “The Super Bowl”? It made sense, as the big, season-ending games in the college football world were called “bowl” games because most of the stadiums back then looked like bowls. I think this year’s game is the 57th “Super Bowl.” And it IS a “big game,” as well as big business, big media coverage, big partying, and of course, big gambling. While some will tune in to see the advertisements or the halftime show with Rihanna, most Americans will root for their favorite team, either the Philadelphia Eagles or the Kansas City Chiefs (still owned by the Hunt family, by the way). Those two towns will be rooting for their “home” teams, while the rest of us just choose an affiliation for week, or so. Already, the quarterback of the Chiefs—Patrick Mahomes—has been named the “Most Valuable Player” of the NFL this year, so there is that in Kansas City’s favor. On the other hand, the Eagles have very “complete” team with a strong defense, and they also have the best team “fight” song, although you wouldn’t know it by the way their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, sang it after the Eagles won the NFC championship game a couple of weeks ago.
Another notable about Super Bowl XVII is that it will be the first with two Black starting quarterbacks. Every year, it seems like some “new” element makes this year’s Super Bowl an even bigger game than the previous ones. So, what does all of this have to do with my SERMON for this week? I’m glad you asked that question!
In sports, there is nothing at all wrong with having a “favorite” team and rooting for them to win. We may do so because we are from that team’s town (or used to be), because we like the collection of players on the team (or at least their star players), or just because they have a habit of winning pretty regularly. (We Steelers fans still root hard for the Black and Gold, even though our record of winning regularly needs to be viewed through a rearview mirror, at present.) In fact, having a favorite team and rooting for them is what makes a sport popular and prosperous. Not so much, with churches.
Apparently, a competition was raging at the church in Corinth. Paul doesn’t mince words, as he tells the people there that—obviously—they are not ready for “solid” food, but that he must now treat them like the “infants” they are. Not exactly a good come-on line, do you think? Paul says he must address them as “people of the flesh,” which may be a euphemism for his wanting to punch them in the face. As a pastor, I wish I could say that I always treated people with respect and demonstrated compassion, and while I never punched a parishioner, and really don’t remember “yelling” at one, there were times when I wish I could have! And it wasn’t always their fault. Sometimes my frustration was “designed at home”—my anger toward another was occasionally fueled by my own shortcomings, or by something I had really putted up, causing the rift. In psychology, we might diagnose this as “projection,” or blaming another for the very thing YOU are responsible for. Could this have been some of Paul’s problem? While Paul was a well-educated Jewish scholar, he was almost as “new” to this Christian gig as were his parishioners. Remember Obi-wan Kenobi of “Star Wars,” who blamed himself for “failing” to train Anakin Skywalker adequately, and then taking the hit for helping “create” the evil Darth Vader? One wonders if some of Paul’s indignation over what was going on in Corinth wasn’t, at least partly, an “Obi-wan” meltdown. Paul had to feel his way along, and so did the people who were his disciples. We pastors have a clue how hard this is. Of course, there was also that mysterious “thorn in the flesh” with which Paul had to contend, and it, too, could have made him a bit “edgy.” Imagine if it was a really bad case of hemorrhoids, or shingles?
The central issue Paul is losing it over in today’s passage is the “competition” that has broken out among the Corinthian Christians. They had chosen “teams” (“I belong to Paul”…”I belong to Apollos”) and were spiritually duking it out over which “team” was better, and which one got to “bring in the harvest.” It seems their one-upmanship was over who was better to LEAD and which “team” should do the “following,” and therefore, the more menial tasks. Paul tries to defuse this by using one of Jesus’ best arguments—that we are ALL called to a ministry of servanthood, and that we should try to “outdo” one another in SERVING one another. That sure sounds “spiritual,” but as a pastor, I can surely say that it gets a lot of positive head-shaking and righteous-looking facial affirmations, but pretty much the parts of most folk from behind the nose and following just don’t seem to buy it, especially at first. Servanthood, you see, is a REALLY mature concept! Infants and children like to be the center of attention—all the time—so in this regard, Paul’s labeling the Corinthian Christians as “infants” in the faith was right on. Modern parishioners often model this “slow growth” characteristic, as well. Mature, seasoned believers? If they have been an active participant in the life of the congregation, they DO develop a “servant’s heart.” It is important to point out, however, that being a long-term “church member” doesn’t necessarily translate out to having a servant’s heart, which can only develop in community life. Even long-term members can be just as clueless, if they have mostly been ”Lone Rangers.” Less experienced believers/members will more often display the “early childhood development” stage. Some may manifest itself as the kind of competitiveness Paul faced in Corinth, and some of this immaturity may show as “I’m not worthy,” or “I don’t know how” pronouncements. The challenge of pastors and other leaders is to find ways to connect the ”veterans” with the newbies, so they see both HOW to be servant leaders, and why this is important.
At a more macro level, the church seems never to have been able to successfully exorcise this “I’m of Apollos/I’m of Paul” game of champions. From the moment Paul and John Mark parted ways, we have been choosing sides. Modern sects and denominations have their “patron saints” around whom they rally, be it “Calvin” or “Luther” or “Wesley,” or the “Orthodox” vs. the “Roman Catholic,” or the Pope vs. the TV preachers. How about the new “game” on the block—the Global Methodists vs. the “United” Methodists? “I belong to Greenway,” or “I belong to Bickerton.” “I belong to Oliveto” or “I belong to Ongley.” “I belong to the LITERAL Bible” or “I belong to historical-critical interpretation of scripture.” How about “MY church is voting to disaffiliate” or “MY church is staying loyal to the UMC.” As I said last week, THIS “game” or competition is the worst witness Methodism has yet put forth to a world that just needs to hear about the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Doesn’t Paul eventually get around to telling the church at Corinth that we ALL belong to CHRIST? Two thousand years later, and we STILL DON’T GET IT!
Choosing between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs is a fun, cultural phenomenon during this Super Bowl weekend. Choosing between factions that are going to split the second largest Protestant denomination in our nation is not fun, and it will NOT be understood by the culture as anything but a “family feud” that demonstrates—yet again—that “those Christians” don’t put their “money where their mouth is.” It has been, and WILL be a negative witness to the inclusive, “grace upon grace” saving truth of Jesus Christ, and it will NOT honor Christ. That the United Methodist Church has stayed “united” to this point—warts and all—has been some kind of a positive witness, albeit a less-than-perfect one, but the culture could always point to the GOOD things we have accomplished together, such as the United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) and the various institutions of higher education we spawned and still support, especially through the Black College Fund. Africa University has also been a great success.
It's no wonder Paul was going postal over the competition in Corinth. He KNEW it was in danger of becoming the BIG, public story about the fledgling Christian church there, when the Gospel should be the REAL “big story.” One can read between the lines of the Corinthians text to see that much more was going on than just a prideful disagreement over who these factions were “with.” The same is true with the United Methodist disaffiliation, that has been polluted with MIS-information, name-calling, in-fighting, and even complaints filed between the “camps” and pastors. What has been a bad public witness will most likely lead to two weakened denominations and more closed churches. It’s too bad we don’t have Paul here to help us straighten this out. We all say we believe in the witness of scripture, but certainly this passage is not being taken too seriously in the MIS-affiliation activity that is slicing and dicing the UMC at this time. How very sad, indeed.
On a more personal level, if I were preaching this message to a congregation, I would urge each and everyone who dares call themselves a Christian to enter into a time of personal confession and discernment. WE are called to be servant leaders and show the world what servanthood to Jesus Christ looks like. We are not called to win arguments or to “disaffiliate” from those with whom we disagree. Search your hearts, friends. Choose this day whom you will serve! Amen.
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