Another week, another scandal
Another week, another account of gross misconduct by a church leader. The stories just keep coming. Something is seriously wrong. This is nothing new.
I’m working through 1 Corinthians. The church is riven with factions, each of which follow “their” preferred leader.
Paul reminds them (chapters 1—4) that leaders are servants of God, accountable to God for their conduct and their work. Our ultimate allegiance is to God, not to a leader. That’s why Nathan can stand before God’s anointed, King David, and call out his murder and adultery.
Paul regarded himself as a simple farm worker, working in God’s field. He and others work hard, but God gives the growth. He owns the field, he employs the workers, he enables growth through the progress of his word throughout the world.
The church is also a building, a holy temple in which God dwells. Paul and others serve as master builders. They don’t own the church. Christ crucified is the foundation upon which they build. On judgment day the quality of their work will be revealed. Anything built on another foundation will be lost. Nothing survives except Christ crucified and the way of life that flows from that truth.
Leaders are servants, only God is our master. They are God’s servants entrusted with the message of the cross, not a gospel of power, fame and prosperity. God will sweep away the wisdom and glory of this world to reveal his foolishness and salvation through his crucified Son. Nothing else matters. Nothing else will survive his judgment in this life and the world to come.
