Spitting at God.

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

"Let no one decieve himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise." -1 Corinthians 3:18

I am surrounded by opinions. Opinions are king. Opinions are all powerful. If you are caught making an absolutely inappropriate and ill-timed comment, or if you happen to be simply wrong about a certain subject, simply respond with, "That's just my opinion." Then whomever you have insulted must immediately overlook your heavy stridden trollop over their feelings or else be labeled intolerant. The center of this kind of truth is me. 

The truth of this kind of thinking is that it is mistaken.

Paul left his fledgling upstart church in good hands. He spent 18 months nurturing these pagan converts and handed the struggling masses to Apollos. Apollos was a powerful preacher that could move hearts with words (Acts 18:24-28). This powerful eloquence overwhelmed these connoisseurs of rhetoric and they quickly began to compare Paul and Apollos. The critiques were solidly rooted in opinion only. Paul's response is amazing. He declares that the evidence of the preacher's ministry is the quality of the application. In short, the evidence of the ministry of Paul and Apollos were the Corinthians themselves. The fruit was not looking appetizing.

The appeal of Paul is really simple. Christians must not seek to locate their worth in their leaders, the quality of the worship that they find at church, the success or size of their denomination, the ability to brag about the church building, church carpet, church nursery, or the number of attenders. To pursue such opinion based efforts is to claim one church may be better than another.

I did not deserve to be included in the family of God. I am included only because of the grace and mercy of God. I prove my inadequacy every day of my life. To attempt to split what I do not deserve to be a part of is to spit in the face of the God that died to include me.

Every good and right thing in my life, I owe to Christ.

He determines my worth. Not your opinion.

• In Christ that we are made into one body (1:12; 12:1; Ephesians 1:22)
• In Christ we have victory (15:27, 56; Romans 8:28-39)
• In Christ we share in his glory (Rom.8: 18).
• In Christ I am rich (Phil. 3:7-11).
• In Christ I possess all things (Phil.4: 10-13).
• In Christ my Past is his gospel (1Tim. 1:12-17).
• In Christ my Present is in his hands (2 Tim. 2:8-13).
• In Christ my future is secure and my salvation is sure (Romans 8:31-39).
• In Christ I understand yesterday (Philippians 3:2-11).
• In Christ I look forward to a tomorrow with hope (Revelation 19:11-18).