Sunday, January 04, 2009
First Things First
Setting your priorities by thinking, “First things first,” has been a phrase I’ve often used with my students. One of the best Principals I worked for use to ask us as teachers, to set our “first things first” by thinking, “The Instructional Program should come first.” With the present College Bowl season in play (apologies to you Bama fans – wow – what about them Utes) along with the NFL Playoffs, teams will often make a commitment defensively to stop the run first and force the offense to pass or vice versa.
Paul in I Corinthians is dealing with a church whose priorities to say the least are out of balance. With all of the issues, disputes, and priorities out of balance going on in Corinth, you almost expect to see Paul whip out a “Bill Murray / Dr. Peter Venkman / in the Mayor’s Office in the movie, “Ghostbusters” when the Mayor asks, “What do you mean, “Biblical,” and Bill / Dr. Venkman answers with a, “Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria,” tirade.
And less we crack on those yo-yo Corinthians too much I some how believe Paul saw all of us here in the 21st Century, getting things out of whack with what happens inside our church buildings and neglecting the things that are of “first importance.” Remember I Corinthians 15:1 – 5
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of (emphasis mine) first importance [a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, [b] and then to the Twelve.
Most of you know of the changes that have taken place at our church with respect to our worship services. These changes have been a blessing to our church but they will be all for naught if we, as individual Christians do not allow The Gospel as Paul describes it in I Cor. 15, to be the driving force in our lives 7 days a week.
I also challenge myself and all church leaders to filter everything that we have to deal with through what Paul said was of “first importance.”
A little raw in bringing back the major points vs. our daily walk, but a subject matter (the Gospel lived/preached) that should be foremost in all our outreach initiatives.
That “fill in” preacher has touched my heart on both occasions that I have had the privilege! He makes us THINK…
Michael/Kim
Greg - It's so easy to forget Paul's "f.i." or get derailed to #'s2 and beyond.
But I know you don't want ONLY what is important, but you want it all. Right?
With love from Switzerland.
BTW - I keep getting an "404 Error" everytime I try to comment on your blog. Just wanted to let you know that I'm reading but in "Word Press silence."
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