Divisions, Judging, and Holiness
1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4
When we divide from others, we as a matter of course are making a judgment. We are presuming the rightness of our own side or position. While we might admit that our own side or position has problems, we gloss over them because the other side’s problems are “so much worse.” Such thinking, often under the guise of “rightness” or “righteousness” or even “holiness,” is actually hellish. It can never lead to a just and merciful end.
We like to start with why we are right. Healing starts with discovering where we are wrong.
It is not that we should stop making all value judgments... It is that the nobility of character and clarity of vision required to make good judgments only comes by owning our own issues first, working diligently and endlessly to address them, NOT looking at anybody else, and through such awareness and purging of spirit eventually reaching a place of peace.
Then, our judgments can actually end in justice, in mercy, and in the humility that makes both possible. That is simplicity. That is grace.
This is not a graceful age. But we can be graceful people. Truly holiness is impossible without such grace.
WE NEED WISDOM!!!
- Know where true wisdom comes from (2.6-10)
- Understand three kinds of thinking (2.11-3.4) (Natural, Spiritual, Carnal)
- Define “spirit” and “spiritual” (2.11-13)
- Judge well (2.15)
- Stop inappropriate judging (4.3-5)