1 Chronicles 26:20-27:34
I just can’t get that excited about lists...
1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Ooh, can’t you just feel that sarcasm bouncing off the walls? It seems like Paul is taking the Corinthians’ self-awarded crowns and bashing them over the back fence with a cricket bat. And it’s all done through further explanation of the repeat theme of this letter - stop focusing on your own status!! The Corinthians’ obsession with what they deserved and what their rights were and how important they were has driven Paul potty. So he really lets rip this time. Perhaps an uncensored version would read “Status! Status?? Don’t talk to me about status. Scum. SCUM! That is my status. That is the status of true apostles of God. We look like scum - we dress in rags and our hands bear the blisters of hard labour, we live like scum - we have no homes and we regularly miss meals, and we are treated like scum - dishonoured and cursed and brutally treated and slandered. So you want to know what the kingship of the kingdom looks like do you? Well I can tell you there is no Chateauneuf de Pape served for supper, it’s not sauteed foie gras with roasted veal sweetbreads every night. We are not kings because of the luxuries we enjoy, we are kings because of the power we dispense. This kingdom is about us giving rich life to the world, not us taking the riches of the world and living off them by ourselves. We are to be extravagant philanthropists, not sting egoists. So sort yourselves out you numskulls. Or I’ll have you.”
Proverbs 19:13-22
“He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord.” And I hear that he pays a pretty good rate of interest.
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