We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment. – 1 Corinthians 4:12-13

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 5, 2018): 1 Corinthians 4

Sometimes, you just have to stand up for yourself. If you want something done, then get angry. Yell, scream, and demand that be treated with respect. If this is what you believe, then you would have fit in well with Greek Society, because this is what they thought. There are just times in this world when this is the only way to be heard. To suggest that there might be another way was offensive. There is nothing wrong with standing up for your rights.

Paul is continuing his philosophy of Christian behavior, this idea that we are to be fools for Christ. And when we are fools, we are wise. When we are weak, then we are strong. And he begins to suggest that there exists a uniquely Christian behavioral pattern. Christians work hard. No one should be able to outwork a believer in Jesus. But more than just a people with an impeccable work ethic, when Christians are cursed, they reply with a blessing. When Christians are persecuted, they simply endure it. When they are slandered, they respond with kind and encouraging words to the ones who criticize or minimize them. This is part of what means to act out as Christians.

The Corinthian church was a Greek church, and Paul’s words would have sounded foreign to them. To act in such a way would have been seen as being weak, or even wimpy or whatever derogatory term they might have for an ugly and unbecoming feebleness. But again, that just supported Paul’s argument that, in Christ, when we are weak, we are strong.

I am amazed when I see Christians arguing for their rights. Or when we pick up signs and protest the way that we are treated. We see it as standing up for the Christmas faith, but I am not sure that Paul would have agreed. It is the tension that Christianity always should have as it encounters the world. We respond differently because the battle was never ours to fight. And even when our founder fought against the evils of the world, he didn’t do so by responding with weapons and violence, or even picket signs. He went to a cross and died for all of the wrongs of the world, speaking words like “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” along the way. Christianity is different, often presenting an uncomfortable love in the midst of persecution. This is who we are. And there should be no room for Christians “standing up for our rights” as we travel toward our own personal crosses. It just isn’t who we are in Christ. We are the ones proud of our foolishness and our weakness because we know that God is strong and he is the one working through us.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 5