Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, May 10, 2020
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Paul preached against “us vs. them” and for a united kingdom under Christ.
As Paul preached in Gentile communities, differences and divisions became even more pronounced. Paul established a Christian community in Corinth, which once had been a wealthy, culturally rich, thriving city. It had suffered many wars over the centuries, and by the 300’s BC, it was destroyed. About 45 years before Jesus, Corinth was rebuilt by Julius Caesar and became once again a culturally and religiously diverse city, housing Romans, Greeks, and Jews.
The diversity of Corinth soon became problematic, as factions within the Christian community began to fight. Some followed Paul; others Apollos; and others Cephas. These were other missionaries bringing the word of Christ but interpreting Christ’s word quite differently. As the divisions deepened, Paul wrote to condemn the arguing and the separation, and encouraging the communities to learn to live together under Christ.
Still today, Christian communities are divided and disagree on how to interpret Christ’s words and actions. The divisions are in part responsible for the cultural exodus from Christianity. People question the relevance of Christianity to their daily lives. Worship, Bible study, personal faith growth, the strengthening of faith communities—all of these are suffering.
It’s right here you’re hoping for a word that will make it all better. But there is no easy answer. Perhaps one of the challenges churches face is that churches have clung so tightly to what they’ve always believed and done, that they have failed to listen to what the needs of people truly are. Christianity is no longer the only mainstream option for faith growth in our culture. The search for spirituality is as present as ever, but as people are not finding opportunities for spiritual, communal, and faith growth within their churches, they are looking elsewhere.
Perhaps our churches, like Paul’s, would thrive if we let go of our musts and our shoulds, if we stopped comparing ourselves to everyone else, if we stopped bickering about who’s right. Maybe if we learned to listen, and accepted that we’re not always right, we might once again become not only relevant, but also garner the capacity necessary for faith growth and development, for spirituality and community.
God, help me grow WITHIN a community to serve you. Amen.
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