Participants 113
Discussion Questions
-
In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul explains how he tries to be all things to all people. Describe, in your own words, what you think Paul is saying in this passage. How can we apply his teaching in this passage to our Christian walk? What precautions should we take in applying this teaching?
-
14 Replies
-
Paul tried to be all things to all people meeting their needs in the context of holiness and as guided by the Holy Spirit. He was a pastor, counselor, teacher, friend, probably gave financial advice, relationship advice, gave to the poor and needy but for me I would find that to be spiritually, mentally and physically taxing. However God can empower us to do the things that are needed within the church.
-
Reaching out and loving people exactly where they’re at is what I believe Paul is saying and what we all should be doing. Our actions in loving God and loving people is what brings others to Christ.
-
This is about souls being won for the kingdom an in this way Paul avails himself to be as those He is drawing to Christ, understand that for the kingdom, for Christ and for the church to be as others see themselves this allows these to be reachable.
-
To the Jews, he acted like a Jew. Although he would not preach a gospel of good works, neither would he do anything offensive to a Jew like eating pork. In his sermons to them, he would appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures which they understood. To the Gentiles, he tried to reach them at their level. For example, he spoke about an unknown god to the Athenians.
In our Christian walk and witness too, we must try to speak in terms that our unbelieving friends can understand, and not use flatulent, religious terminology. Although we do not want to compromise in any sinful acts or habits that our unbelieving friends indulge in, neither need we act in awkward ways as if it would enhance our “holiness”. The precaution we take is that we do not try so hard to appease them as to approve of and engage in whatever clearly and explicitly violates Biblical moral standards. Where it isn’t such an outright violation, we just let the matter be, because we cannot expect a non-Christian to want to behave like a Christian and follow the Bible. This way, we maintain our friendships and the chance to speak into their lives.
#Corinthians
-
I think Paul is referring to the people’s need for guidance and counsel and the fact that perhaps there is no one else who can properly guide them. We need to understand that we can’t effectively do the whole work of the ministry. We have to guard against pride and exhaustion and offering false guidance.
-
Write a one-sentence summary of the teaching of 1 Corinthians. Then, explain how your sentence summarizes this epistle.
-
20 Replies
-
Focus on Jesus and in that serve and love others.
-
The teaching of 1 Corinthians is: Re-focus on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, to recover the oneness of the Church and to repair the divisions and disorder in her.
Content-wise, the book gives answers the problems raised by Chloe’s household and the questions raised by the Corinthian church. The problems include divisiveness and immorality, and the questions include marriage, food offered to idols, worship protocols, etc. These kinds of disunity and disorder need to be repaired. Yet the emphases given to the cross and the resurrection (in the second chapter and second last chapter), acting like bookends to the book, suggest that it is when the church is united by her belief in and gratitude for what Christ has done by dying and raising to life, that she can solve all these problems.
#Corinthians
-
The teaching of 1 Corinthians is the power of the cross and resurrection. The love God showed to us by sending his only son to die for us is more powerful, wiser and important than any human teachings on how to live the Christian life in a corrupt world.
-
Paul was speaking wisdom about relationships within the church of Corinth to his brothers and sisters in Christ. His hope was to help the Christians within a diverse culture to navigate the arguments and disagreements that arose. He wanted to encourage them to seek unity and to practice the wisdom that he shared. He wanted them to understand Christ’s ways amid the marketplace of ideas that was revered in that day and place.
-
If we focus on Jesus’s death and resurrection, all the other parts of faith will come together. God’s grace encompasses us and we want to live to please Him and make Him known to others.
-
Think of an area of conflict in your church or in the church at large today. Dr. Blomberg says that if we focus on the two doctrines of the crucifixion and the resurrection, the issues of Christian behavior will begin to fall into place. Explain how such a focus would affect a resolution of the area of conflict you have identified.
-
15 Replies
-
A conflict I see in churches today is the division of the body (whole church). With different interpretations of the Bible, churches put down other churches and judge the pastor and those that attend. They make films/videos exposing these differences, too. However, when we focus on the crucified and resurrected Christ–the differences seem meaningless and Christ is on the throne in everyone’s hearts.
-
I cannot identify any current conflict that my church is facing. But I find that often conflicts involve an element of personal offence, so that however much we justify it by some “objective” or “doctrinal” basis, there is a sense in which one party is personally offended and refuses to negotiate peaceably nor to forgive; or maybe this hostility is even from both sides.
From this angle, a re-focus on the Cross will help. This helps us to see how much Christ has suffered for us to bring us as one into the family of God, and therefore how much we have grieved the Spirit of Christ in this conflict. It also helps us see that, in contrast to the injustices Christ tolerated, our current grievance is truly petty. This may help both parties to humble themselves and resolve the conflict peaceably.
#Corinthians
-
I see an area of conflict that involves the version of Bible that should be used. King James only and nothing else, or some other belief. As long as the version clearly communicates the crucifixion and resurrection and all of the principles that reflect those beliefs, version or translation should be a personal preference. The church should not dictate which version of the Bible is the only correct version. However, we as believers do need to guard against improper or misguided translations that change basic Biblical principles to justify the behavior of the culture.
-
The example of Christ’s sacrifice as attornment and then the miraculous resurrection should be the only focus. Not all of the many things that arise and separate churches and people.
-
Within the children’s ministry, there are a lot of differing opinions on the best way to teach the children. Instead of letting pride come into play, they could allow God’s work through each individual to teach the children as individuals
