This is God's word, but I want you to understand what that means. In two Timothy 316, the Lord says, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. And what we mean when we say this is God's word is that this Bible is true. It is breathed out by God himself. It is the only truly true thing, in a sense, in the world around us. It also says that the Bible is always relevant, regardless of whether we read a passage of scripture and go, great, that connects with my life. It does connect with our lives if we will do the work of understanding it. And third, it reminds us that the Bible is useful. It does good things in our lives.
And so with that in mind, in one Corinthians chapter 14, we're going to read verses 26 through 40. Let us remember as we read this is God's word breathed out by him, relevant in every moment and useful in our daily life. First Corinthians 1426. What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two, or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the law also says. If there's anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. Or was it from you that the word of God came? Are you the only ones it is reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order. This is God's word.
And Lord, I pray that you would make it alive in our hearts. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see. In your name we pray. Amen.
Well, imagine that you've got a friend that invites you to their church. It's the first time you've ever been there. And visiting church is always a little scary. If you come to church today and you were like, I'm not sure what's going to happen. And then I just read the passage, and it was like, women, you have to be quiet and never say anything. You're like, and there's tongues and other things. You're like, what kind of a church is this? Is this one of those churches? But imagine you arrive at a church, it's a little scary. Your friend finally convinces you to come after wearing you down. He's a coworker or she's a coworker. So you finally come. And you notice when you walk in that people, well, they're sitting in groups in kind of clicks in one side of the congregation. There's everybody wearing I love Apollos shirts, or Apollos is my homeboy shirts. The other section is people sneering at them, wearing I love Peter, the apostle Paul forever. The rock with a Peter, you know, picture of Peter's face, the original rock from 2000 years ago. And you notice that they're kind of jibe, you know, mocking each other, kind of jiving at each other. And the meeting finally starts and worship starts up. But right in the middle of the song, somebody stands up and says, I've got an impression. I've got a word from the Lord. And somebody says, don't listen to them. I have a better word. And the third person says, both of you be quiet. I have a tongue. And they just start shouting the tongue out in the middle of the meeting. And the elders are trying to work out what to do, and they're trying to bring order to the thing. And the person, you know, finally somebody, they go and order. One person shares a prophetic impression, and as the elders are trying to evaluate it because maybe it seems a little off, they need to bring some direction here. A lady just gets up and starts rebuking all of the men, including the elders, and telling them what to do and mocking them for not doing their jobs. And then another lady says she's got a word, but her husband is telling her, like, dora, stop doing this. You do this every Sunday. And she's like, shut up, Bob. I've got a word from the Lord. And then she throws off her head covering, which in, you know, in symbolic terms, that's. That's her symbol of being in the household of that man. So she just throws it off and is like, you sit here, Bob. I'm gonna go up there. And so Bob is, you know, like, oh, I don't know what to do. And so he. The lady marches up, and eventually the elders get control of the meeting again. But it's, you know, an hour into the service, and there's a whole group of people now that want to share their own tongue, their own prophecy, their own word. People just start sharing as they can, as they want to. It's not coordinated. It's not understandable. Finally, somebody brings out communion, and everybody goes, okay, okay, the meal time. The meal time. So they bring out the communion elements, and they would have brought with them a meal to eat with communion. So kind of think of it as a. An immediate during church potluck, sort of. And so some of the people bringing food, man, they've barely got an old kind of crusty piece of bread because it's the end of the month and they haven't been paid yet. And there's other people that are bringing in fancy bottles of wine and doing the little glass snifter thing, you know, oh, this is a good year, you know, and other people barely have enough to eat, and they've got a charcuterie board on the other side of the meeting. And finally the service ends, and you walk out and you go to lunch with your friend, and your friend looks at you eagerly and says, well, what'd you think?
What are you gonna say? Probably nothing positive. And that is what it was like to go to the church in Corinth. The church in Corinth. Well, they've got a lot of issues, and Paul has been systematically working his way through and addressing a number of these issues. But one of the things that Paul does brilliantly in helping this church, and by the way, he planted this church, he's been overseeing and kind of counseling this church in seeing all of this chaos breaking out. He does not just simply say, do this, don't do that. Rather, he helps counsel them from principles in the word, right? And so while the details of what is going on in Corinth may be a little bit different than our gatherings, the principles Paul uses to bring, order, and build up this church, man, they are the same principles that we need. Problems do not change. There is nothing new under the sun. And here is, then, the underlying problem that Paul addresses in this passage. Every believer in Corinth had made the church all about them. They'd made it about them. It was all about them. That makes me think of that old Carly Simon song with the chorus, you're so vain. I bet you think this song is about you, don't you? Right. That is the theme song of the church in Corinth, and they are so vain that everyone there thinks the church meeting is about them. And while we may not be tempted in the same ways the Corinthians are tempted, we have the same temptation to walk into church, into small group, into dinner with other believers, into life, and to think it is all about me. I'm the focus of attention here, or at least I should be.
So, two mindsets that are ruining the church, and then one very brief mindset at the end that might help it flourish. So two mindsets ruin the church.
6 · Exposition of 1 Corinthians 14:26, identifying the core problem: people arrive at church focused on their own contribution and expression rather than learning or building others up
First mindset, ruining the church is this. Bet you think this meeting is about you. That's the first mindset. Here's the problem. Everybody's walking in thinking, yep, what am I going to do today? How am I going to use my gift? How am I going to be able to express myself? Verse 26. What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Let all things be done. There could be a comma there for building up. So each person is arriving at the meeting with something to contribute, which Paul is saying, well, that's, that in many ways, is a good thing. We should be arriving thinking, how can I contribute to the church around me? But the mindset is wrong. Things are being done, but not for building up. Every person wants to teach. Every person wants to sing a song. Everybody wants to share an impression or prophetic word. Nobody is arriving to learn. Nobody has arrived thinking of the good of others. They are only thinking about themselves. They are seeing the church as a platform for the exercise of their identity and gift. Right? That's the way that they are arriving.
7 · Exposition of Paul's instructions regarding tongues (vv
Example number one, in tongues, verse 27. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two, or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there's no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. So, as we talked a few weeks ago, tongues is a gift that can be. Well, essentially, it's a language not understood by the speaker, and it's a vertical communication. It's a prayer or praise to the Lord, and it's meant to build up the individual believer that they might then go out and serve and minister. But what's happening is that everybody at this church was speaking in tongues at once, and no one had any control over the meeting. So Paul says, listen, here's some very practical advice. First, limit how many of those you allow in the gathering, because there are other things you have to do in the gathering, right? You still need to teach the word. You still need to baptize people. You still need to take communion. So you cannot have even a good thing become the ultimate thing. All right? So limit how many have them go in turn, and let someone interpret meaning. Let somebody be able to make sure that there's somebody that can say, this is the prayer they prayed. This is the praise that they are praising God for. Make sure that that is in place. So we believe in this gift. It's not as common in my experience. And if at cross of grace, somebody had a tongue they wanted to share, we would take it seriously, and we would wait, though, and see if there was an interpretation. And if there was no interpretation, we would not share it publicly. That doesn't happen a lot, but it has happened a few times over the years.
8 · Distills Paul's corrective on tongues into a single theological principle: even possessing a desirable spiritual gift (illustrated by reference to John Piper desiring this gift) does not justify making the church gathering about displaying that gift
And Paul, his main point here is this. It is not all about you. So even if you have the gift of tongues, even if you feel like man, this is such an amazing gift. I can't believe I have this gift. I love having this gift. I was reading recently that this is the gift that John Piper's prayed for. He thinks he has other spiritual gifts. He's like, man, I'd love to have the gift of tongues. The Lord hasn't given it to him yet. And so you're thinking, man, I've got a gift John Piper doesn't have, I am going to share my gift. And now you're making it about you. That's what Paul is saying.
9 · Exposition of Paul's instructions on prophecy (vv
Second example, prophecy, verse 29. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent, for you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and be encouraged. And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets. So similarly, we've covered this over the last few weeks. Prophecy can be defined as God bringing something spontaneously to mind for the edification of the church that is in line with the word of God. So not contradictory. It's aimed at building up the church. And so God brings his impression to mind. And as good as that gift is, as good as those moments are when the Lord breaks in and perhaps gives someone an impression to pray for a group or gives an encouragement. If you've ever been here and we've maybe a worship leader or a pastor or somebody who's come forward and said, man, the Lord's putting this group on my heart, here's an encouragement. I feel like the Lord's given me for them. And you feel like, man, that's for me. Amazing. Sometimes you can go, well, that's all I want. Forget about communion. Forget about baptism and give me more of that. And those who had that gift, it was like, man, these people are pretty amazing. And they thought that they were amazing. They thought, I am pretty amazing. You're right. And so Paul is saying, listen, even though that's wonderful and good, again, shouldn't become the only thing going on in the meeting. Second, because this is not scriptural prophecy, capital p prophecy. This is an impression God's bringing to mind. It is fallible, and so it must be, as it says, weighed. It must be evaluated. The elders at times may need to weigh in and say, hey, listen, listen. That word we appreciate, brother, is so and so. That actually is not in line with the Bible. And so we need to kind of lovingly say, this is kind of what the scripture says, right? It needs to be. Or we really affirm, we believe that God wants to pray for that group today. You know, that's what Paul is talking about. It must be weighed. And there shouldn't be more than one person sort of having dueling prophecy meetings in the main meeting, right? If somebody's trying to give a word and maybe they're not super clear, you can't just push them aside and be like, all right, listen, I got a better word. Okay. I don't know what that was, but watch this, right? That's the impression. That's the attitude that Paul is speaking to here. So he says, prophesy one by one.
10 · Exposition of v
And then last verse 32 says, no one, even in the realm of spiritual gifts, should be acting in an uncontrolled manner. Nobody should just be. And I've seen this, unfortunately, at times where people are like, listen, I just can't. I can't hold it in. I have to make this prophecy. I have to say this tongue. And Paul is saying, no, you don't. No, you don't. The spirit of the prophet should be subject to the prophet, right? Holy Spirit. And this is really his point. The Holy Spirit is not in the meeting to cause chaos. The Holy Spirit is in the meeting to build up the church, to bring unity in an atmosphere of peace that is what Paul is saying, these people are making it all about them in the realm of prophecy as well.
11 · Pivots from the textual exposition of tongues and prophecy to contemporary application by introducing the distinction between active and passive forms of the same self-centered mindset
Now, that's the principle. The church is not all about you. The meeting is not all about you. And this can be true both in an active way and a passive way. We face this in an active and passive way.
12 · Concrete application of the "active" form of self-centeredness in contemporary church life: demanding to serve on worship teams, dominating small group discussions, insisting on being recognized
So think of an active kind of mindset with this. Maybe today it would look like demanding to play on the worship team. Just be like, man, you've never seen a guitar player like me, baby. Like, you imagine, like, how good worship would be with a killer lick right in between that second verse and the chorus. Like, we're gonna hit new heights, man. Right? I demand to play in the worship team, or I'm really good at teaching, and I demand to be able to teach, or I demand that I'm able to serve. Or I used to lead this team at my other church, or I lead this kind of team at my office, and so I'm demanding, you better use me or listen, man, this is the reality. Maybe it's small group. You just end up dominating the discussion. Every the group leader is asking, like, hey, what do you guys think about that? You're like, I got another thought. And you're like, oh, man. And you know, and if you're like, I don't think our small group has one of those people. I'm not saying anything, but just think about it. Or maybe in this context, especially using your spiritual gifts, might you be tempted to use your spiritual gifts in a way that trumps everyone else and demands that people pay attention to you? Is there any sense in which you see the church as a platform to display and express your gifts? That's what Paul warns us about.
13 · Application identifying the "passive" form of self-centeredness: the consumer mindset that constantly evaluates every element of church life through the lens of personal preference
But there also is a passive way to do this, because you might be sitting there and thinking, well, I don't do that. Well, perhaps even more common in american culture is being passive but holding the same mindset. So you're in the church meeting, but the only person you're thinking about is yourself. Everything that happens in the meeting or in the group or the seminar, you're just asking yourself, do I like this song? Nah. Do I like this message? Did I like that joke? Nah. The snacks of this community group are kind of bad. That leader asked a weird question. I don't know what he's trying to say. Oh, there's no one I can talk to at this group. None of the people I like. The vibes are off in this meeting, right? And you see what's going on. It's the same mindset it's all about me. One person is outwardly expressing it. The other person is very silently holding the same mindset.
14 · Returns to the text (v
And look at how Paul pushes back on this mindset. Verse 26, he says, let all things be done for building up. So he's saying, listen, it changes the way you use your gift. When the goal of your gift is not to express yourself or make yourself look good, but rather to build others up. It's an outwardly oriented use of their gifts. This is what John preached just recently. Use your gifts, but do not aim your gifts at your. Aim your gifts at others. This is so helpful because it helps rein in the person seeing the church as a stage. And they may want to share something. But the question is, does that word, does that song, does that encouragement not just make you look good, but does it build up others? And it helps push on the passive person too, saying, if this song isn't for you, man, maybe there's somebody in this room that needs this song. So you sing it loud. Or if this community group discussion isn't really landing for you, man, maybe somebody else in this room really needs it. Maybe you're looking for an opportunity to pray, right? That's the way to think about it. Building others up.
15 · Exposition of v
And second adjustment is this church is about building up others, but church is also just about honoring God. In verse 33, Paul says he doesn't say anything about them. He just says, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. He introduces the divine perspective on the meeting. He's saying, not only should you be horizontally thinking, does this actually help the people around me, but you should be thinking vertically, does this reflect and honor God? God's a God of peace. Is this meeting a reflection of that? God is not a God of confusion. Is this meeting telling a lie about God? If this gathering is meant to look like the character of God, is it telling the truth or telling a lie about who God is? Right. That category is so helpful. Does this thing in the church honor the Lord? Does it reflect the Lord's character? Is it an act of worship?
16 · Theological claim about the ironic tragedy of self-centeredness: making church about yourself ultimately harms you because you are part of the body
Now here's the tragedy. The tragedy. If you look back at one corinthians twelve, where Paul gives the metaphor of the body, is this when you make it about you, you actually don't end up benefiting either, meaning you actually end up hurting yourself. Paul wants the church to be built up, including the person that is using their gift. Paul cares about that person as well. But do you really benefit when you're the one always doing all the talking? Do you really benefit when you just sit there passively thinking selfish thoughts. No, you don't. And you're part of the body. So when the body is built up, you're actually built up as part of the body. So it's this beautiful, self giving, self sacrificial mindset in the church that when I'm about the care and edification of others, and others are about my care and edification, we build one another up. But as soon as somebody starts going, nope, it's all about me, the whole body begins to be disordered and hurt, and in the end, you actually hurt yourself.
17 · Extended personal story illustrating the passive form of self-centeredness: emotional withdrawal when one's ideas are not adopted, even in ministry contexts explicitly aimed at serving others
Look, example from my own life. Years ago, I was on a creative team putting on a conference. When I was in my college years, it was this kind of fun, big, multi thousand person, young adults conference, had relatively big speakers and money to do cool lighting and things like that. And I was super excited to be on this creative team. I was the lowest ranking member, probably, of the team, because I was just the writer. I was the copywriter. I couldn't design anything, couldn't build stages, but I was there, and I love doing it. But I began to show a pattern, which is this, that in our discussions about trying to put on this conference and remember, it's about other people trying to build up other people. But the pattern I began to have is when my ideas were not received or when people decided on things I did not like. I started to withdraw and get a little grumpy. Right? And so at one point, the pastor was leading the thing. He invited me over to his house, and I'm sitting in his kitchen, and he's just, you know, he's asking me about my life, and he just says, hey, man, can I talk to you about something? And what are you gonna say? No, I'm already in his house, in his kitchen. It's too late. So I'm like, sure, yeah, what do you got, man? And he goes, hey, man, I'm just starting to notice something. It seems like when we run with your idea, you light up and you're excited and you're ready to go. And then it seems like when we run with a different idea, you kind of shrink and get passive and aren't super enthusiastic. Do you see that? Or is that just me? And I'm like, maybe sometimes, right? And I began to think about it, and I realized, man, no, that's what I'm doing. And then as I sat in more meetings, I started to realize, yep, when my way was prevailing, I'm all of a sudden like, yeah, this is a great meeting. Great meeting, guys. Yeah. I'm high fiving people. When my ideas get shot down. I'm like, man, that was kind of a tough meeting. I didn't like that one, you know, and, and that's the, that's the mindset, right? It's all about you.
18 · Direct application question aimed at personal conviction: where are you making church about yourself rather than about building others up and honoring God? Reiterates the first major section's diagnosis before transitioning to the second destructive mindset
And so the question Paul wants us all to ask, is there an area in which, in your interaction with the church, in the, in the meeting, in your community group, in discipleship, in service teams, is there an aspect in which you are making it about you, not about building others up, not about honoring the Lord, but making it about you? That's the first question that'll. And that's the first mindset that'll kill the church. Making it about you.
19 · Announces the second major section: the problem of rejecting authority
Second mindset that'll kill the church. Bet you think the only authority is you. That leads to disorder in the body.
20 · Pastoral acknowledgment of the congregation's nervousness and confusion regarding the controversial verses just read
Now I'm going to upfront acknowledge even reading verses 34 to 35. I think half of the people in this room got nervous and then the other half of the people in the room got nervous. Like, by extension, meaning, like, did he just, did the Bible just say the women should keep silent in the churches and they can't say anything? Like, did we already violate? Because we have some people singing this morning, like, I'm sorry, Chelsea. To Abe. This is, this is. I didn't read this earlier. No, I'm just kidding. You're wondering, like, okay, how do we work this out? What does this mean?
21 · States the controlling thesis for the second section: the self-centered mindset ("it's all about me") inevitably produces rejection of all authority ("no one can tell me what to do")
Well, I want to give you what I think is the theme and then walk through the passage together. So I think the theme is this. The problem is that this church and its attitude of it's all about me is leading them to a mindset in which the only authority is them. Meaning when you get in that mindset, it's all about me. It's all about what I want, what I care about, my platform, my gifts. It inevitably leads to a mindset of no one can tell me what to do. No one gets to tell me what to do. I'm the only one that can decide what to do. That's the mindset it leads to.
22 · Re-reads vv
So here's the first example. Let's read those verses again. 34 B. As in all the churches of the saints, the woman should keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the law also says. For if there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church. So pause here what's your reaction to this? Because here's the reaction. There's a reaction that goes like, ah. That can't be what it means. Or there's a reaction that goes, ah. It's one of those weird parts of the Bible we don't obey anymore. Or ah, like, let's just skip over that and not worry about it. But we must take the whole bible seriously. If two Timothy 316 is true and scripture is breathed out by God, and all of it's relevant and all of it's helpful, then the question we must ask is, how is this relevant, how is it helpful and what does it mean?
23 · Begins a four-step hermeneutical tutorial using the controversial passage as the case study
So I wanna walk you through a, I'm gonna, this is a little bit of an excursions, but I wanna walk us through how to interpret difficult passages of scripture. Okay. So I want to hopefully give you some principles when you run across something like this in your Bible reading and you're going like, what? I don't know. And then either, here's what happens. Either you skip it and think the word is just too confusing, I'll never be able to understand it myself, or you think, eh, maybe not everything in here is totally true. Right? And we don't want to do either of those things. So the first thing you want to do is this. Use scripture to interpret scripture. Right? Use scripture to interpret scripture. So even in the context of this letter, in one Corinthians eleven, we did a whole passage about head coverings, if you remember that, of women taking off their head coverings, which is a symbol of being in the household of their husband and prophesying and acting in ways in the meeting that dishonored their husbands. First Corinthians eleven, that removal of that head covering is essentially dishonoring their husbands in that cultural context. And what they're really doing in that moment is casting off the role of spiritual leadership in their household. And that same attitude, and probably the same group is the same group in view here. Because here's another thing, though, about one Corinthians eleven, Paul is clear that women can and should prophesy. So he does not tell the women of one Corinthians eleven, never prophesy, never share an impression, don't use your spiritual gifts. He doesn't say that. He gives them direction on how to do it in a way that doesn't undermine and dishonor their husbands. That is clear. Women can speak, and they're included, by the way, in those. In one corinthians twelve, the Bible says, all have been gifted by God with spiritual gifts. That includes women. Absolutely. So we must then interpret scripture with scripture. So what Paul is not saying here is contradicting his earlier counsel. So he's addressing something, perhaps in particular, not generally any woman saying anything at any time in the meeting, but there must be a specific thing he's going after.
24 · Hermeneutical step two: separate cultural reference points from scriptural grounding
Second thing you want to do separate cultural reference points from scriptural grounding. So here's what I mean by that. We are not given everything we would like to know about this situation in Corinth, but we've been given enough to understand it. We know that there was a group of women in one corinthians eleven casting off spiritual authority, casting off being in the household of their husbands, and blurring the line of sort of appropriate gender roles in the first century. And it seems like this must be a similar group. And so what's the issue here? Well, Paul identifies the issue as submission. Basically, they were speaking in a way that was not submitted in the gathering. Now, the specific context here seems to be judging or evaluating prophecy. So this is probably is going back to let two or three prophets speak and let others weigh what is said. So in the weighing of what is said, which may be done sort of, by the elders, or maybe if the church was smaller, the whole church would be thinking and talking about it. In the weighing of prophecy, it seems as though women were or could have been shouting out opinions about the prophetic words contradicting the elders as they sought to navigate through that moment. And that is a role for church leaders, for qualified elders, and perhaps by implication, for men who were spiritual leaders in their households. So Paul, that's why I think Paul inserts this encouragement. If you have a question or an opinion or a thought, do not interrupt the deliberations, in a sense of the spiritual leaders of the church with that. Rather, ask your husband at home if you're just like, I don't understand what's happening. Meaning, talk about this at home in an appropriate place for the husband and wife to have this open dialogue, rather than doing it in a way that could potentially undermine the appropriate spiritual authority in the church gathering. He's saying there's a right place and a wrong place to be able to have these discussions. And right in the middle of church, as the elders perhaps are deliberating, is not the right place. That's what he's saying.
25 · Hermeneutical step three: identify the trans-cultural principle being carried from OT into NT
But notice something. Whenever scripture in the New Testament ties encouragement to a principle in the Old Testament, we should pay attention, because not everything from the Old Testament law carries over into the New Testament in terms of specific law keeping, especially ceremonial commands. But when the New Testament looks at something in the Old Testament and says, yep, that applies still, yep, we're carrying that over. We've got to pay attention. What is that thing that is being carried over? So notice it says they should be in submission, as the law also says. Now, in the Old Testament, the law is the first part of the Old Testament, from generous to deuteronomy, probably something, you may know it as the Pentateuch, the five books. And so that includes Genesis. And Genesis is the exact thing that Paul already referred to in one corinthians eleven, where he's talking about male and female, and he's talking about God's design, and he's referring back to Genesis. So it seems like again, in first corinthians 14, Paul is speaking, tying back to one corinthians eleven and back to Genesis one and two, the idea that God created men and women beautifully equal in his sight, but beautifully distinct in the way that they express God's image as his image bearers. And so what then gets pulled from the Old Testament into the present day? We need to pay attention in those moments. And so here's, here's what it seems is being pulled from the Old Testament into Jesus day, into the last days that we're in. Simply this. Wives should not cast off appropriate spiritual authority. And primarily the context here is church authority, meaning that because we're co equal in Christ, and because we're all one in Christ, because we're the body, it doesn't mean that anybody, including especially this group of wives, can basically say, nope, we're not gonna listen to the elders. We're not gonna listen to the appropriate spiritual authorities. We got this. Shut up, Bob. You know, that's the attitude. And Paul is saying, this is not good. The law, meaning Genesis one and two, give us this beautiful design for marriage. Give us this beautiful design for how God's people are meant to function together, and that is getting marred and disfigured and destroyed in your church gatherings.
26 · Hermeneutical step three (continued): extract the trans-temporal application
So third thing you want to do, then clearly identify the call for all believers. So what is carried not just over to Corinth, but over to us today? Well, simply this, that freedom in Christ does not mean disregarding God's order for the home and church, but rather freedom in Christ means the freedom to fulfill God's design, not cast it off. Evidently, some women, in an effort to say we are equal in Christ, were casting off authority. And look, let me just acknowledge this. It is tragic that in the first century. At times and throughout history, many times, women were not treated with the dignity and respect they should be as co image bearers made in the image of God. Right? Full stop. That is tragic. The New Testament clearly corrects that mindset, showing women and men, husbands and wives, as co heirs with Christ. But the dignity and worth we have as image bearers calls us back to bear God's image in his design. And God has designed men and women differently. We must not then blur and destroy those distinctions. That is the issue at hand.
27 · Transition using gratitude and humor to acknowledge that the congregation is not replicating Corinth's specific abuse, preparing for the pivot to contemporary application
Fourth and last apply, then the call to our context. This is where we go. Okay. Thankfully, at cross of grace, I'm unaware of a group of wives publicly demeaning their husbands and shouting directions onto the stage. So I just want to say thanks to all the ladies. You guys are doing really great with that. I am so grateful we don't have Corinth's problem, you know? I mean, I love our sisters in the church. Thank you for not doing that.
28 · Application pivoting from the specific Corinthian problem to contemporary relevance: the same principle is at stake today in cultural debates over gender, marriage, and authority
And yet, I think we must ask, as we look at scripture, using scripture to interpret scripture, as we separate the cultural stuff from the overarching biblical principles, and then as we pull those principles into our today, we must then ask, well, where might we be tempted to do the same thing the corinthians were? Where might we be tempted to disregard God's commands for home and church? If you ask that question, there are few more relevant questions today, perhaps especially this month. What is God's design for gender, marriage and authority? That is an ever relevant question, because in our culture, there is massive confusion about gender itself, about what it means to be a man or a woman, about marriage and about leadership, especially leadership in the church.
29 · Direct application to men: the passage calls not only women to submission but men to faithful spiritual leadership
And so the question we should hang over everything we do is this. What is God's design? And am I letting him tell me what to do? And so, for both men and women, there's an application, first for men. If you're a guy and you're like, man, I'm so glad I'm not involved in this. Sorry, pulling you back in, because the question for you is, are you fulfilling God's design in specifically the home and church? Are you, as scripture would call you to? Are you taking on the role of spiritual leadership in your family and taking it seriously? Just as damaging as a woman? Not listening to God's design for marriage and family is probably even more common. A man not fulfilling his role as spiritual leader. And how many, perhaps, situations might there be where a wife might even, in a good effort to bring strength to her family, take over, kind of run over her husband. But part of the problem is her husband is sitting there passive, doing, passively doing nothing, that he's meant to be a spiritual leader. He's meant to, as we see in this text, be having conversations with his family about the word, about what's going on in church. He's not just meant to get in the car and drive home and say, what do you guys want to eat today? He's meant, even imperfectly, to be seeking to bring spiritual strength and direction in his family. And so the question for us brothers, are you involved in your wife's spiritual health and help? Are you encouraging her? Are you building her up? Are you having these conversations? As the scripture indicates, you don't have to be perfect brothers, but you have to be faithful.
30 · Direct application to wives: support your husband's tentative, imperfect attempts at spiritual leadership rather than mocking or usurping
And then for wives or for our sisters in the church, are you fulfilling God's design for you as a woman or as a wife? If you're married in the home, that means this. Simply not undercutting your husband at every opportunity, but rather trying to hold up and support your husband, especially when he tentatively, imperfectly, tries to lead out spiritually. And you're going, oh, lord, he's trying, you know, in that moment where you could mock him, or that moment you could just be like, okay, get out of the way. Let me do this. Rather, are you taking that as a moment of going like, honey, you got this. I know this is weird. I know this is unfamiliar for you, but you got this. You can do this. Bring strength to him as he's trying to lead out in the church. Are you not only being faithful to your gifts, but faithful to your gifts in a way that supports appropriate spiritual authority rather than simply undercut it? That's the question.
31 · Transition from the specific wives issue to the broader church issue: rejection of apostolic authority
All right. Second, we'll move fast toward the end here. Second issue is this. Not only is this particular group of wives not listening to spiritual authority, but second, we have an entire church not submitting to their appropriate church authority. So, meaning this is not just an issue among a very specific group of wives in one Corinthian, Corinth, this was emblematic and symptomatic of the entire church.
32 · Exposition of v
Look at verse 36. Or was it from you that the word of God came? Paul is basically saying, look, you're acting like you wrote the Bible, right? No one can tell you what to do. You're acting like, yep, yeah, whatever. Put this away. We. Don't worry, Lord. We got it now. We'll take it from here. Right? And you're like, I would never do that. But functionally, that's what the church is doing. Functionally, that's what the church has been doing. And what Paul is trying to do is saying, listen. Nope. This is our authority. We're putting this back into the pulpit, and this is how we're going to govern the church. That's the issue.
33 · Exposition of vv
Look at verse 36. Was it from you the word of God came, or are you the only ones it has reached meaning? Are you guys the only christians? Do you guys just decide what everyone in Christianity does? No. Verse 37. If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. Now, this is a unique moment. Paul is a capital a apostle, meaning he's commissioned by the risen Lord Jesus Christ, appearing before him in bodily form. None of us has not happened to us in the same way. He has a unique authority we don't have and no one has today. But that. Even that did not stop the corinthian church from disregarding him. Paul had planted this church. He had faithfully instructed the church, and now it was wandering away, and it was wandering not just from Paul, but from the Old Testament scriptures, wandering from the body of teaching handed down by the apostles. And the church is so arrogant, they're acting like they wrote the Bible, that they're the only ones that know how to do church, and that is friends. That is the end result of that mindset of it's all about me.
34 · Theological synthesis connecting the two major sections: self-centeredness inevitably produces rejection of authority
When you start with it's all about me, you're always going to end with, no one can tell me what to do. And if you end up with no one can tell me what to do, you trace it back to somewhere it started saying, it's all about me, right? That is what Paul is confronting in this church. The principle Paul gives them is this christian life is a submitted life.
35 · Pastoral commentary on Pride Month identifying the deeper issue beneath cultural celebration: universal human desire to reject authority over our lives
Now, just for a moment, I want to make a comment about Pride month. Because one of the things going on in our culture today, starting this week, is Pride month. We're going to see the rainbow flags everywhere. And one of the questions you should be asking is, well, why is pride month so celebrated even by those who would not consider themselves lgbtq? And here's what I think part of the issue is, I think everyone in our culture realizes that something is at stake. We all want to be able to live our lives the way we want, and none of us want anyone to tell us what to do. And so even if you're like, well, I don't really relate to LGBTQ temptations or issues, we all are tempted to say, you know what? I don't want to have to listen to God or the church or anyone about God's design for gender. I don't want to listen to anyone about God's design for marriage. I don't want to listen to God's design for sex and sexuality. I don't want to listen to God's design for money or for conflict or for anything. I want to be able to live my life the way I want to live my life, and no one else can tell me what to do. And so maybe when you find a group of people that are like, yeah, what we're fighting for is we want to be able to decide what to do with our lives. We all sense something is at stake there, because deep down, we want that, as well. We want to live unsubmitted lives, and so we want to rally around one another and say, yep, you don't have to be submitted, and neither do I.
36 · Theological claim identifying the universal tragedy: rejecting God's design in any area harms ourselves and others
But the tragedy is this, that we have a design, and disregarding it only hurts ourselves and others. And that could be in any sphere of life. Right? That is the. This might. You might not think like, okay, first corinthians 14 is not about pride month. It is about pride month, because the deep down heart of every human being is. It's about me, and I don't want people to tell me what to do. And that's where the Bible is pushing on us, because here's the thing, brothers and sisters. We may not struggle with some of the same issues those battling LGBTQ temptations are battling. But there are, in each of our lives areas that we do not want anyone to tell us what to do. Do. We're like, nope, nope, not gonna listen. I wanna do what I wanna do.
37 · Rapid-fire application naming specific areas of unsubmitted living: entertainment choices, marriage, parenting, workplace gossip, pornography
Look, it's always easy to look at another group of people and go, man, look at those unsubmitted people. They just won't listen to the Lord. Not like me. And you just go, you know, do, do, do, do, do. And your netflix cue was unsubmitted to the Lord. Your marriage is unsubmitted to the Lord. Your parenting is unsubmitted to the Lord. The way that you talk about your boss or coworkers is unsubmitted to the Lord. The way that you deal with a private pornography addiction is unsubmitted to the Lord, right? This is all of us friends. It should be all of us going, oh Lord, have mercy. We all struggle with this, and yet for our good, the Lord comes to us in the pages of the scriptures and says, son or daughter? Do you see that this mindset only leads to, what does it say? Confusion, chaos, frustration. When we act contrary, when this church is acting contrary to God's design for the church, they're all, none of them. Nobody's walking away from church going, that was a great meeting. Everybody's walking away frustrated because none of them are working to fulfill and express God's design for them. And the same thing is true of us anytime we think, yep, I wrote the Bible. Yep, I'm the only Christian that can tell me what to do. We end up unhappy, don't we? And the Lord is gently, patiently, firmly calling us back.
38 · Application defining submission concretely, starting with submission to the word
So let me talk about what it means to live a submitted life real briefly. What does it look like for us to live submitted lives? Well, first and foremost, we are submitted to the word. We must be submitted to God's design for humanity, for ourselves. And here's the question I've got for you. When the culture and the Bible disagree, who wins in your life? Do you go to the Bible and let it tell you what to do in areas of relationships and areas of sexuality and entertainment and money and conflict and marriage and parenting? Does the Bible, with some regularity change what you do in life? Because if you're living the exact same life you lived five years ago and there are not current areas in which the word is working on and shaping you, that's an issue that's dangerous. Then you're just giving lip service to the Bible and living your life the way you want to. Submission to the word.
39 · Application to submission to church authority
Second, submission to godly church authority. There are clearly sad uses of church authority that fill up news articles and social media and they always get clicks. Everybody always wants to see a train wreck. And it is grieving when church authority is misused in the sight of God. But the solution to bad church authority is not anarchy. The solution to bad church authority is not no authority. The solution to bad church authority is returning to God's design for church authority. Right? That's like somebody who goes to a bad doctor once and is like, yep, not going to the doctor again ever. You're like, ever? Yeah. Never, never trust a doctor. You're like, maybe it was that one guy. He looked real shady, you know, he was, like, working out of the back of his Oldsmobile. And you're like, yep, never gonna trust a doctor. You're like, that's just a bad doctor. Similarly, we should work hard to, when appropriate, make sure that there is godly church authority speaking into our lives. Listen, one of the things I'm so grateful for at our church is we lead with a plurality of elders. There are regular times in my life and ministry where our elders are speaking into my life and adjusting me and saying, Ricky, that's not good. Ricky, I don't think you should do that, that I need to be submitted to for my own good. That's what we all need.
40 · Application to submission through discipleship and accountability
And then third category, submission to other believers through discipleship and accountability. Look, this is so important. You must have other believers that are actively opening your life, that you are actively opening your life up to. I think so many of the issues in the corinthian church were, were issues not just of church gathering problems, but of discipleship problems. These were people that were not opening their lives up to others and submitting their life to others and saying, what do you think about this area in my life? What do you think about my parenting? What do you think? Do you think I should spend money on this? I just. Listen, I just heard recently in our church, somebody in church, a couple got a kind of a financial windfall, and they immediately, their impulse was to get together with a different couple and say, hey, we just want to be accountable about the way we spend this money. We want to get some input, right? Because we could just easily be like, yeah, woohoo. You know, but we would really like to prayerfully put this before the Lord and ask the Lord, and we just need to get together with somebody and talk it through. What could. Could you do that with me? Right? That's what Paul is talking about. That's the. The kind of mindset we're meant to have. Your marriage needs other people to speak into it. Your parenting does your work, life does all of it.
41 · Final structural transition summarizing the sermon's diagnostic arc (self-centeredness → rejection of authority → chaos) and explicitly setting up the gospel solution
All right, let me end with this. Let me end with this. I want you to turn, if you would, with me, to Matthew, chapter eleven here at the very end. Because here's the reality. We start with, it's all about us. We end up saying, nobody can tell me what to do. And then the end result of that is chaos, confusion, tragedy, frustration. So what's the solution?
42 · Exposition identifying the gospel as Paul's ultimate solution throughout 1 Corinthians
Well, the solution is something Paul has been threading through the entire book of first corinthians he starts by saying, I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and I'm crucified. And then he ends in one corinthians 15 saying, this is the most important thing. I'll tell you, this is the first importance, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. What he is calling the church to here is, he's calling them back to Jesus. He's calling them back to the savior, who, rather than thinking only of himself, came in the form of a servant and gave up his very life for the believers in Corinth. He's calling them back to Jesus, who he himself was submitted to his heavenly father, who in the garden of Gethsemane prayed, Lord, not my father, not my will, but your will be done. He's calling them back to the example of Jesus, who loved them, who gave his life for them, and who has not given up on them despite their absolute chaos of a church.
43 · Begins exposition of Matthew 11:25-27, establishing Jesus' prayer of thanksgiving that the gospel is hidden from the proud and revealed to the humble
And then he wants them to hear, I think, the voice of Jesus in one corinthians. Rather, Matthew eleven. Look at verse 25. At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Meaning this, the proud don't see it. The all about me. People don't see it. You know who sees it? Those who are little children, those who are humble. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the Son except the father, and no one knows the father except the Son, and everyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
44 · Extended exposition of Matthew 11:28-30, the heart of Jesus' invitation
And this is his call. Come to me, all who are labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Look, Paul knows that the issue with the Corinthians, the issue with us, is we have been laboring under burdens we were not meant to bear. Look, expressing yourself and your identity will never fully fulfill you, and you will be crushed under the weight of it when you cannot do it fully. And the Lord says, come to me. I'm the only one that can give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. The yoke, meaning his teaching. Take my teaching upon you. And you might say, well, Christianity has so many rules. You know what those rules are designed to do? Those rules are designed to free us from our burdens and sin and allow us to live in freedom, freedom and rest in Jesus Christ. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, meaning you can trust me. I was the one that laid my life down for you. I was the one that prayed, not my will, but my father's will be done. I am gentle and lowly in heart. My heart is inclined toward you, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
45 · Theological claim clarifying what Jesus means by "my yoke is easy and my burden is light
And look, there are so many times I've looked at the Bible's teaching and gone, oh, it's so heavy. It's so oppressive. It's so crushing. It's so difficult. Do you know what Jesus is saying? He's not saying that his teaching is easy. Elsewhere, he calls us to take up our own cross and follow Jesus. What he's saying is this. I think he's saying that the weight of trying to live to please yourself, governed by no one but you, no one telling you what to do, living in chaos and confusion and frustration, cut off from the design and creator you were made for, that is far heavier and more crushing than coming to Jesus and just living life in the way that he designed you to live.
46 · Final pastoral charge synthesizing the entire sermon: Corinth's chaotic gathering is a symptom of a chaotic heart
And so he says, come back, guys. Your gathering in chaos is just a symptom of your heart. And the cure for your heart is for you to once again say, okay, Jesus, you get to tell me how to live my life. And so, friend, my encouragement to you, is it all about you? Have you made it all about you? Because if you have, it's far more freeing, far more restful, far more peaceful, far more full of life to live your life for the good of others and the glory of Jesus Christ.