What Kind of Church is This? (Introduction)

Introduction

It is necessary to understand what the churches of the New Testament must have been like to comprehend whether our current idea of church matches any example that is represented in Scripture. In our investigation of various examples, why should we begin with the church in Corinth? Too often we idealize our modern ideas of church through the best examples Scripture has to offer. While we are to embrace the positive examples of the church, we must also identify the negative examples as well. Whether positive or negative, they continued to remain the church.

The church in Corinth was started by the apostle Paul (Acts 18:1), and he made several efforts to maintain the moral compass amidst the dominant influence of the Greco-Roman culture that existed in Corinth. Corinth was named from the currant, a type of grape that grew in abundance in area.

Corinth was a neighbor to Athens and was known as an international crossroad of commerce and travel. In fact, it was the place betwen Asia and Europe where sailors could travel for business. It was also populous, with nearly 150,000 to 300,000 citizens and an additional 460,000 slaves. It was the largest and most commercial city in the Roman Empire.

Religiously, Corinth was very pagan. It included pagan sanctuaries dedicated to Asclepius where the citizens practiced medicine. Also, there was a large temple dedicated to Tiberius, which formed an imperial cult. There were also smaller sanctuaries dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, which accommodated the other acts of idolatry.

There was also a temple to Aphrodite, which had 1,000 temple-slaves and prostitutes. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, which included men and women slaves. Essentially, these acts of temple worship developed a great share of wealth for individuals within the city.

These are simply examples of how immoral the city was. Furthermore, this pressure from the society left an drastic impression on the church, which struggled with these societal practices.

Paul’s Premise (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

Paul’s theme is the message of the cross should be the foundation upon which everything in the church is built upon. He wants them to be unified and brought together through the message of the cross, which is offensive to both the Jews and the Greeks. However, the believers—creating their own community—are to see the cross as the distinguishing symbol that separates them from all other communities.

I propose for the rest of this study that when the cross ceases to remain the main focal point of the community, all sorts of moral and divisive issues arise. The goal of this letter is to build Christian maturity (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)

Issues in the Corinthian Church

Spiritual P-ride, which leads to the outward expression of sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1-2,6)

Sexual Sin (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)

Lawsuits (1 Corinthians 6:1-8)

Selfishness at the Lord’s Table (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

Disorder in Fellowship (1 Corinthians 14:26-40)

Conclusion

The passages we have considered tonight displays various issues that are common in the church today so that no one can say the church is this perfect organism. Rather, the church is a organism made up of imperfect people who are joined together in a perfect work. This is why Jude wrote,

Jude 24 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,