Tag Archives: 1 Corinthians 6

Chapter-a-Day

Taking the Loss

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Taking the Loss (CaD 1 Cor 6) – Wayfarer

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
1 Corinthians 6:7 (NIV)

John Sexton, former President of New York University, wrote a book that I have in my personal library entitled, Baseball as a Road to God. In the book, Sexton shares the many things that the game and spirituality share. This includes things like faith, doubt, miracles, conversion, and the sacred. I agree with him. There are many spiritual lessons to be learned from the game

Every year, each major league team has its ups and downs. Every team, even the best ones, occasionally end up on the wrong end of a blowout. The sting of getting shellacked often gives way to some much needed comic relief when managers reach the point where they don’t want to waste any of their pitchers arms in what they know is going to be a defeat. They take the loss and place an infielder or outfielder on the mound to do the best they can. It makes for some funny moments and match-ups.

For those who are highly competitive, this strategy just feels wrong. The truth is that it’s a very wise move. It’s about the proper use of energy and resources in a 162 game season. Some days it’s best to take the loss and save your bullpen for tomorrow.

I have also learned that I sometimes have to do the same thing in life. It particularly occurs when I’ve been wronged by another person. Believe me, I feel the anger, the hurt, and the desire for vengeance and justice. Along life’s road, I began to ask myself about the usefulness of all those negative emotions along with wisdom of spending my energy focused on the person who wronged me. Often, the wrong I experience is relatively petty and small in the grand scheme of life, and I have much better things to do with my time, energy, and resources. Sometimes forgiveness feels like I’m letting my enemy off the hook, when the truth is that it’s freeing me to use my thoughts, energy, and resources more productively.

For those who have a heightened sense of justice, this just feels wrong.

In today’s chapter, Paul addresses his fellow Jesus followers in Corinth who were experiencing all sorts of conflicts between one another. Some of them had even escalated to the point where believers were suing one another. He asks the same question: Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? I can descend into anger, hatred, slander, and a lust for retribution, but all of those are character qualities Jesus teaches me to avoid at all costs. Choosing to switch the focus of my thoughts and energy towards ultimately more profitable, productive, and spiritually healthy pursuits is strategically the wise move. Life is a long season.

I’m reminded of two episodes in Jesus ministry. In one, the people of a town tell Jesus that they want nothing to do with Him. He and His followers were not welcome. In the other, Jesus’ disciples hear that someone who isn’t officially part of Jesus’ ministry was spreading Jesus’ teaching and even casting out demons. In both of these instances, Jesus’ disciples wanted to pursue their anger and indignation. They wanted Jesus to call down fire from heaven to burn up the town that rejected them. They wanted to go find that man who was doing their job without permission and tell him to cease and desist. In both episodes, Jesus told his disciples to let it go and take the loss. He had more important and more strategically productive ways to focus their time, energy, and resources.

In the quiet this morning, as I’ve meditated on these things, my mind has conjured up the names and faces of individuals who wronged me along life’s road. Some of them are distant memories. One or two are so recent that I still feel the internal struggle and the desire for justice and vengeance. I realize, however, that I have never regretted taking the loss with those former experiences and in fact it was the best decision for me in the long run. That helps me with the sting of my more recent experiences.

I’ve only got so much time, energy, and resources in my personal bullpen. I need to use them wisely. It’s a long season.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Answering Accusation (or Not)

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The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
1 Corinthians 6:7 (NIV)

When the first phone call came from a co-worker, I was taken completely by surprise. My head was still spinning when the phone rang again. This second call came from my closest friend.

“Dude,” he said immediately when I picked up, “I’ve got your back.”

That was the beginning of a particularly dark stretch of my life journey. Accusations had been broadcast among family, friends, and colleagues. Things were about to get really ugly, and I was faced with many decisions of how to respond.

Almost immediately I received, unexpectedly, some wise counsel from a person who’d traversed a similar stretch of rocky terrain earlier in their own life journey. I will never forget that bit of advice. Let me paraphrase: “Don’t fight back,” said the sage. “Make like a turtle. Pull into your shell at need and let the words, insults, accusations, and suspicions bounce off your shell. Just be true to yourself, and keep pressing on one step at a time. Make like a turtle. Slow and steady wins the race.”

In today’s chapter Paul, in his letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth, is addressing similar sticky situations. Accusations are flying among the small group of believers. People are pointing fingers. Sides are being taken. Private arguments are turning into public lawsuits. In all the hubbub, the local gathering is suffering a black-eye.

Paul asks the believers an interesting question: “Might it be better for everyone to just allow yourself to be wronged?” In a nutshell (or, more aptly, a tortoise shell), Paul is echoing the sage advice I received many years ago. Don’t escalate an already bad situation by publicly answering insult for insult, accusation for accusation. Rather, do as Jesus proposed:

“Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” Matthew 5:38-42 (MSG)

It’s not easy. Step-by-step, day-by-day I simply endeavored to be true to myself and to be a follower of Jesus to the best of my ability. Slow and steady I pressed forward letting the public suspicions, accusations, and tossed rocks bounce off the shell. “Don’t answer,” I had to keep telling myself as I protectively pulled inward. “Keep moving.”

In the quiet this morning I’m privately enjoying a tremendous compliment I recently received from an individual who, during those dark days, wouldn’t speak to me or give me the time of day, as the saying goes.

Slow and steady wins the race.

(Note to my regular readers: I expect my posts to be a bit erratic through the holidays. our kids and one-year-old grandson are visiting from the UK until New Year’s. Grandpa’s daily schedule might be appropriately messed up on a regular basis.)

Chapter-a-Day

Freedom, Rights, and Responsibility

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“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.
1 Corinthians 6:12a (NIV)

When I was growing up there was premium placed on personal responsibility by my parents and grandparents. You took responsibility for your own needs, your own debts, your own responsibilities, and your own actions. Looking back, I believe that some of it was motivated by their spiritual principles and some of it was motivated by social pressure. No matter the motivation, there was a self-respect that simply came from doing what had to be done to make your own way and not be dependent on others.

It seems to me that the social pendulum has swung in the past fifty years. I perceive that the rugged individualism and value of personal responsibility that seemed rather pervasive in my youth has given way to a spirit of entitlement and a “take what you can get” mentality. A few weeks ago I spoke with an employer who was behind because a part of the work force on which he depended  was choosing to be unemployed as long as possible in their off season to collect as much “free money” as possible. I recall a friend who was quite capable of providing for he and his family, but chose to manage their lives to get as much welfare as possible. “The money’s just sitting there,” he said. “If I don’t take it someone else will. Might as well be me.” I’m afraid that our world has become adept at taking for ourselves while shifting the cost to others.

In today’s chapter, Paul is addressing a parallel thought process among the believers in the city of Corinth. There were those who were acting out of a claim that they had a right and freedom to act in ways that were having a negative effect on themselves and the whole of the community. Paul points out that having a right and freedom to do something does not make it beneficial for yourself or for the whole.

This morning I’m doing a little soul searching of my own. I’m asking myself a few hard questions. Where in life am I cost shifting? Where in life am I exercising rights and freedoms in ways that are ultimately not beneficial to me, my family, my fellow believers, or society as a whole? In what ways am I acting out of self-centeredness that may ultimately be detrimental to everyone else?

Chapter-a-Day

The Good Stuff

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Wine decanter and glasses.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chapter-a-Day 1 Corinthians 6

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

Wendy and I like to entertain. We don’t do it as often as we’d like and, while we don’t go to extremes, there are evenings when we choose to get out “the good stuff.” Paper napkins are replaced by cloth. Plates are put on gold chargers. Because we are going to bring out the good wine, the nice wine glasses are placed on the table along with a special wine decanter for pouring, aerating and serving the wine. We recognize that our guests are honored when we make the effort to break out “the good stuff” for our dinner together.

Let me be honest. The verses above have haunted me for most of my journey. I have never been uber athletic. Running marathons, competing in triathlons, or getting involved in recreational athletics have never held much appeal for me. Okay, they’ve never held any appeal for me whatsoever. Like most Americans, I like to eat. While I have given regular and serious thought to my diet and to exercise (e.g. I think about eating better, I think about exercising, I contemplate the benefits of doing so), an honest audit of my behavior over time would reveal that I have had little or no discipline in this area. This past year has been one of two periods of my life in which I’ve dropped some serious weight. And yet, the verses still haunt me.

God’s Message clearly teaches that following Jesus means inviting Him into our hearts and our lives. There is something simple and mystical yet powerfully in the act of sincerely saying to Jesus “Come into my heart. Come into my life. Save me.” Elsewhere in God’s Message, Jesus says:

“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you.” [emphasis added] Revelation 3:20 (MSG)

The night Jesus gave Himself up for us, He took wine and blessed it and said, “this is my blood.” When I read these verses from today’s chapter, what haunts me is this: when Jesus is invited into our hearts and our lives, our very own bodies become the decanter for creation’s most precious wine. Yet, the way I’ve treated my body most of my life is no different than welcoming my most honored guest and His gift of precious wine by grabbing a dirty, used styrofoam cup off the counter and telling Him to “fill ‘er up.”

Lord, have mercy on me.