Pastor’s E-Pistle

In  1 Cor. 15 verses 30-34, the Apostle Paul makes a plea to the believers who were at Corinth when he asks, “And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? [31] I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. [32] If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. [33] Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. [34] Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” What a truly stunning question followed by an astonishin statement! “Why is it that I am at risk of my life all the time while you are living it up? Paul draws the obvious conclusion that there is a difference of priorities between himself and the Corinthian believers. That difference was found in a proper understanding of the resurrection upon everyday life.

Paul calls us to attention by throwing us into the wrestling ring of the Roman colliseum. Paul had carried out and immense struggle for the cause of Christ at Ephesus. He faced great peril because he stood up for the truth and boldly proclaimed the Gospel. Paul says that if there is no life after death, then all of that struggle was merely an attempt to win a human argument, and as such, it was worthless. He then states a common euphemisitic statement from the godless greek culture in which they lived when he touts, “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” What he is saying is this, if the reality of the resurrection does not have an impact on how we are living and what our priorities are then we might as well live as those who do not believe that there is a God at all. We should live by the mantra, “Get all you can and can all you get because you only get to go around once.” The sad reality was that this is exactly how the Corinthians were living. That is why Paul was protesting their rejoicing. Pauls rejoicing was in Christ, but theirs was the bliss of selfish living.

After shocking them with his statement and stunning them with his question, Paul scolds them with the truth. He makes a remarkable, universal assertion when he states, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” Paul challenges the thinking of the believers who didn’t have godly minds when he abruptly tells them to stop being deceived. The way they were living was due to their wrong thinking. They had justified the lives that they were leading. Paul trumpets the truth that the way you live directly impacts the person that you are. They believed that as long as they had some sort of profession of faith that they way lived (associations) didn’t matter. Paul tells them that things that we allow our selves to be associated with directly impact the character that we have. In other words, bad behavior identifies bad character. In fact, bad behavior corrupts good character and creates bad character. Wow!! Choices really do matter! Life is not just as simple as saying, “I have Jesus so now I can live any way that I want!” Paul protests that kind of thinking!

Paul closes this challenge by setting off the alarm clock! He tells the Corinthian believers thata it is time to wake up out of their sinful sleep. Their are priorities that do matter! There is a demand for how we are to live. He says that it is a shameful thing that there are people in their sphere of influence that have no knowledge of what God is like because the Corinthian believers were not living as His ambassadors. Paul tells them that they need to stop sinning!

I wonder, what are our priorities? Are we living out the reality of resurrection truth? Are we living as though there is life after life? Are we so connected to our earthly priorities and sinful pleasures that we communicate to the world around us that they are the most important thing? Paul is challenging all believers to live out the impact of Easter 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! The greatest proof that there is a heaven is the life of a person who is laying up treasure there. The greatest evidence that there isn’t is the life of a person who claims that there is but lives as though this life is all that matters. The question is this, “what is your life proving?