Have you ever met someone prestigious, someone with name power and recognition? I like playing the game where you name three famous people, two of whom you have met and one you have not—two truths and a lie.
Let me play the game now. I, Billy Arnold…
- …have shaken the hand of a U.S. President—before he was president, though. He was running for state governor at the time (now that narrows down which president I am speaking of).
- …drank coffee in a Seattle coffee shop at a table next to one of the world’s richest people, and even said a quick “hi”.
- …ran face-to-face into an extremely famous actor in a clothing store. Trust me, I could not afford the clothes in that store! (See if you can guess who it is with the quote, “I’ll be back!”)
Which of these three encounters are truth, and which one is a lie? (You can ask me sometime for the answer!)
We are a people who take great notice of fame, money, power and prestige. When those encounters occur with fame, we try to get a photo and post it to sort of show off who we just ran into. No insult to any of the above people in my game—but did you know that prestige can be a great sign of shallowness? Prestige, power, wealth, fame and influence are not necessarily signs of maturity; in fact, not held in check, they can lead to great immaturity. That sounds quite the opposite of what seems natural and what we often aspire to become.
Prestige can be a dangerous sign of shallowness and erosion in an Ekklesia—a church.
This Sunday, I will deal again with the dangerous erosion that can occur in an Ekklesia (the “called-out ones of the Church) when spiritual superiority, prestige and power become the dominating motivations your life. In order to prepare for Sunday, I want you to read and take a good look at 1 Corinthians chapters 3 & 4. As you read ahead, highlight some of the things that stand out to you regarding signs of shallowness and immaturity, as well as any instructions given to counter the immaturity and lead to maturity and depth. On Sunday morning during the teaching time, I am going to walk through what I see here, and then challenge us all in small groups and personal study to examine this deeply.
We are trying to understand that we as God’s people are HIS BODY (1 Corinthians 12:27), and as His Body in this broken world, we are called out and set apart to bring a message. But we must watch out for attack from wolves and for the internal erosion that often sneaks in and causes us, as a Body of Christ, to be useless. Let’s continue to learn together.
Reading challenge for the weeks ahead
- Acts chapters 1-20. Read slowly and watch the Ekklesia being formed in town after town.
- 1 Corinthians (all 16 chapters), watching for instructions to the Ekklesia in Corinth as they deal with erosion in their church.
In mid-February, I will challenge us to read through Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians in the same way.
See you Sunday at 10 a.m. Have your Bibles ready!
