1 Corinthians
Over the weekend I was reading 1 Corinthians and got stuck meditating on Chapter 1. This is one of most diverse epistles in the New Testament. Corinth was a vibrant, growing church that was filled with questions and problems. According to this letter they were moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, reaching out to the lost in their city and even supporting the preaching of the gospel through missionary activities.
The church also had its fair share of problems and issues. There were all types of questions, people were not getting along and there were some things taking place that would even make headlines today.
Corinth was a prominent Greek metropolis in the first century. It was a port city with a strong economy and a diverse culture. Pleasure, sensuality and luxury seem to have been synonymous with Corinth in the first century. There are many who believe sacred prostitution was a regular part of the worship of Aphrodite in the city. The city was Greek, the government was Roman and many of the citizens and residents were wealthy.
I have heard preachers say that building a church in Corinth was like building a church in Las Vegas. The Apostle Paul spent about 18 months in Corinth along with Priscilla and Aquila on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-17). These apostolic teams planted this church, raised up leaders and moved on to the next city to continue their ministry. We have two of Paul’s letter to this church and the subject matter of the two letters shows that there was a period of major maturation between the two and that Corinth became a strong church.
I don’t want to take the normal approach when talking about Corinth. Most will talk about the sexual sin, the