Concerned Only with Christ

Introduction

We’re back in 1 Corinthians today, in our series we’re calling Jesus Changes Everything. When Jesus takes over your life, you enter into a radical process of re-orienting your heart’s deepest desires and longings. And the truth is that your new desires will often come into conflict with your old desires, which were influenced by something the Bible calls the world.

I was reading this week about the world and it’s influence and came across a few definitions for the world:

Abraham Joshua Heschel: The world is a place where people believe that man reigns supreme, with the forces of nature as his only possible adversaries. Man is alone, free, and growing stronger. God is either nonexistent or unconcerned. It is human initiative that makes history, and it is primarily by force that constellations change. Man can attain his own salvation.

Gerry Breshears: The world is Satan's domain, where his authority and values reign—though his deception makes that hard to realize. If you are of the world, then it all seems right.

Yuval Noah Harari (historian and leading atheist): In earlier times, it was God who could define goodness, righteousness and beauty. Today, those answers lie within us. Our feelings give meaning to our private lives but also to our social and political processes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the customer is always right, the voter knows best, if it feels good do it, and think for yourself: these are some of the main humanist credos.

When we speak of the world, we’re not speaking about good people vs. bad people; be careful that you don’t fall into this us vs. them mentality. We are talking about man’s tendency to want the kingdom of heaven without the King, and the chaos that ensues in people’s hearts when they do. If you rebel against the king and choose to rule for yourself, then you must determine what is good and right and beautiful. But you are a selfish being at heart, limited in your scope and understanding, and so is everybody else. So when everybody decides selfishly what is good, there’s trouble coming.

As the church, we resist the system of rebellion and choose to let God define for us what is good, right, and beautiful. 1 Corinthians strikes at the heart of this resistance. Let’s see how this plays out in today’s passage at the end of chapter 7.

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Be Faithful, Be Wise (1 Cor. 7:25-31)

1 Corinthians 7:25–31 CSB

Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is faithful. Because of the present distress, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they didn’t own anything, and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.

Okay, I know it can be a bit off putting to read the words “Now about virgins” and decide how much of this passage you want to listen to. Remember that Paul is writing this in response to previous correspondence that the Church sent regarding different cultural issues and ideas that were floating around in the church, and how they were called to be faithful to Jesus in the middle of it. If Paul was writing today, he might have said something like, “now about TikTok,” or “now about your Christmas gift spending” or “now about voting.” The church was trying to work how how best to walk out their faith, specifically in the area of sex and marriage. Can we be sexually liberated, like that guy and his stepmom in chapter 5, or should we all divorce our spouses and live totally chaste—what are the rules, and what makes us look better in God’s eyes?

And Paul’s been faithful to talk about sexual immorality and marriage, and now he addresses another topic they wrote about, which was engaged people—(Dear Abby/Paul…) I’m engaged to be married to the love of my life, but I want to be in lockstep with Jesus; but I also really want to get married. What should I do?

So yes, this sermon is about virgins… sort of.

More so, it related to this question:

What do you do when times are difficult, when circumstances are strained, or simply when following Jesus puts you into a bind, where a decision that would be easy to make before is suddenly conflicted?

And an interesting thing here that Paul says, right off the bat, is that he has no command from Jesus on this one. The whole passage, here, is Paul’s perspective here; it’s his opinion.

I think we want the Bible to be this book of endless answers: a road map, a guidebook, a manual. In any possible permutation, I open my Bible and find the answer to my question. But it doesn’t always work that way. Because that is not the point of the Bible. If it were, our faith would be about how to make the best choices possible at all times, and your relationship with Jesus would have very little to do with it. Instead, we have a book that speaks to the relationship God wants with his estranged people and the lengths he went through to regain it, and the position that we who trust in God and believe Jesus now find ourselves, no longer as strangers, but as friends. And where the Bible is silent or unclear about issues, we have a couple things to guide us in the way of Jesus.

Be Faithful

First, Paul reminds the church that while he does not have a word from Scripture, he has one thing going for him. By the Lord’s mercy, he is faithful. He has spent his entire life following YHWH, and many years turned to Christ the King, and his advice comes not as Jesus’ own words, but as someone how has faithfully walked with him and learned the pattern of his gait. Paul can speak to this issue because he knows Jesus, because he has walked Jesus’ steps after him.

This is what faithfulness does, church. You know how kids mimic their parents’ attitudes and perceptions and facial expressions? You know how married couples start to act and even look like each other the longer they’ve been together? That’s faithfulness. I believe it was Eugene Peterson who once defined faithfulness as “a long walk in the same direction.” It’s syncing your steps together. It’s developing the same desires and interests and opinions and goals over time. It’s a gradually developed trust that when I lean from weariness, I will not fall, because someone is walking next to me, steadying my feet.

If you want to know God’s will for your life when things are not going well, a good question to start with is, how is your relationship with Jesus? How closely are you walking with him? Is your mind being renewed day by day? Are you being reshaped in his likeness, characterized by sacrificial love and grace and mercy and compassion? Knowing God’s will starts with knowing God, not just intellectually, but relationally. If you are faithful, you will know the way. If you are not, find someone who is. You’ll know them because they remind you a lot of Jesus.

Be Wise

Second, Paul speaks from wisdom and experience. I’ve shared this before, but I heard wisdom defined this way: Knowledge tells me that a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom tells me that a tomato does not belong in a fruit salad. Paul doesn’t have a word of knowledge, but he speaks wisely here.

He tells the church, there is a present distress going on that you need to factor in here. It’s not just should I or shouldn’t I; it’s should I in light of the trouble I’m experiencing right now?

Paul takes that into account. We don’t know what the distress is that Paul’s talking about. He may be talking about the imminent return of Jesus, or he may be talking about something sinister and troubling that is unique to the Corinthians. In either case, Paul’s advice is wise. It’s good for you to remain as you are. Shifting your circumstances will shift your focus away from what is most important right now, and it’s best if you put your focus in the right place—again, that’s your relationship with Jesus. Paul says that these other things you are concerned about will stop being so concerning as the distress grows. Paul lists a few things here that often concern our daily thoughts and decisions:

Relationships and Marriage: Should I get married, and to whom? Who’s my future spouse going to be? How is my marriage, is it going well? Does my spouse love me? Do I love my spouse? Do I need a new spouse? Who should that be?

Life and Death: I’m so happy I got that new promotion! I’m sad that I lost my job. I’m rejoicing that we have a new baby! I’m grieving the loss of a child. I got married! I got divorced. I’m finally retired! My loved one passed away.

Possessions and Positions: I need that new phone to be happy. I need that new house to be happy. I need that promotion to be happy. I need that college degree to be happy. I need the acknowledgment of my peers to be happy. I need my political party to win to be happy.

Paul revisits this theme later on in the letter, but this is his answer, rooted in wisdom: Marriage and divorce, earthly joys and sorrows, possessions and positions of power, all of this is temporal, bound to a moment in a time that will seem insignificant in light of eternity. So Paul says, it makes sense to put your attention and focus on eternity, particularly when the circumstances are bad.

But, let’s be wise here. Is it sinful to marry? No. Is it sinful to rejoice or grieve? Absolutely not. Is it sinful to buy a car or a house or get a college degree? It is not. Paul is clear here, this is not a question of sinning or not sinning, this is not an ethical situation. It’s a “what is best for me right now?” situation.

So to answer the question, what is the will of God for your life? Sometimes there are magical answers handed down to you in a cloud of glory, sometimes God speaks in a burning bush, sometimes the answer you are looking for is cut and dry right there in the Bible. But often it doesn’t work that way. So I’ll paraphrase something my seminary professor said once:

Is it lawful?

Is it wise?

Is it loving?

Are you honoring God?

Then do what you want. Because what you want lines up with God’s good way of doing things.

Be faithful, be wise. And God will lead you as you go.

Good Things vs. God Things

1 Corinthians 7:32–35 (CSB)

I want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But the married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

Paul continues here to help answer the quest about what to do here. Specifically about getting married, Pauls says his primary concern is that you are without concerns. In other words, that you would be free from anxiety and worry. I think we would all want that, right?

So Paul here is saying, when you are in a difficult season of your life, should you divide your focus and your attention? Is that going to serve you well in the coming fight?

Imagine if you will it’s 1972. That’s the last time there was a draft call in the United States. Your number is called, you are going off to Vietnam in a week. But you are engaged to be married. What do you do? You are about to head off to war, and it will take every ounce of your attention to keep focused on the battlefield to survive, but also to do your part for the mission. If your focus is split, that could mean life or death. That’s the scenario Paul is offering here.

All that Paul wants is for you to be devoted to Jesus without distraction. And to Paul, in this moment, having to think about caring for your wife when you might have to die for your faith? Thinking about meeting your husband’s needs when you might have to die for your faith? Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart!

Now, this may not necessarily be our situation today, but there is a situation where I see this creeping in. Often, our devotion to Jesus is split by our concerns for good things, like your marriage and your career and your home. Again, it’s not sinful to have these things, or even to want things. But a spouse or a family or a new job that the only thing you think about? Is your current spouse or family or job so frustrating to you that the only way for you to be happy is to change them?

One of the great temptations in the human condition is to change your circumstances to change your fate. If things are going well, here are the steps the world tells you to take:

Truly believe that you are not the problem; you are the solution. This absolves you of all responsibility. If you’ve taken this step, you are 95% of the way there.

Pinpoint the real problem. Remember, it’s not you. If the problem is in your marriage, it’s your spouse’s fault. If it’s your family, it’s your kid’s fault. If it’s your job, it’s your boss or coworkers. Just find the situation and the person that’s causing you grief.

Cut the problem out and try again somewhere else.

See, it’s at this point where good things like marriage and relationships and jobs and money and families take the place of God in your life. Good things become God things. Changing my circumstances will change my life.

Remember how Paul calls the gospel foolishness? Here’s another reason why. From the vantage point of the world, the only way to fix a problem is to cut bait and change your circumstances. But the way of Jesus is not this. It is faithfulness. Trust in Jesus and commitment to him. Remaining through difficult situations and finding a sustaining joy in him. In God’s kingdom, good things remain good things, and God remains God.

Be without concerns. Don’t let Good things become God things.

Remember Your First Love

1 Corinthians 7:36–40 CSB

If any man thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage, and he feels he should marry—he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep her as his fiancée, will do well. So, then, he who marries his fiancée does well, but he who does not marry will do better. A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord. But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

Paul ends with some practical advice. If you are a man and you are getting ready to marry a virgin, and you are full of desire for this woman and she is starting to age out of marriage (weird) and you think you need to get married, that’s not a sin. Go for it. Do what you want, Paul says. Now, if you can keep it together and you’ve decided that this present time is not the time to make a life-altering, concern dividing decision, than it will be better for you to focus on following Jesus and giving your life to him. Paul says that’s better, in his experience, and by the way, he also is a person led by the Spirit (the Corinthians were known to boast about this).

I will end this way. There is not one set way to live your life, oh Christian. If you don’t need to get married, that’s not weird or wrong. If you want to get married, that also is not weird or wrong. If you want to go to school and get a job and have a family, great. If you want to go into the mission field and commit your life to reaching the world for Christ and possibly die for it, amazing. These are not sinful or wrong choices, and the Bible does not give you one set way to do them.

Just remember your first love. In all of these possible avenues, how is your relationship with Jesus? Let that be the first question you seek to answer. Let his kingdom be the first place you seek.

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