God's Puzzle Box: The Bible in the Christian Life
In 1 Corinthians 4:6 Paul writes these words, so that you may learn the meaning of the saying: "Nothing beyond what is written." That sounds rather cryptic but the point that he is making is that he and Apollos had set an example for the Corinthians of living a life according to God's Word (what is written). Unfortunately, the Corinthian Christians had not been living lives shaped by God's Word and the apostles' teaching. The results were evident:
- they thought they were superior
- they thought they had earned some portion of their salvation and gifts
- they thought they were spiritually "full" when they were spiritually malnourished
- they thought they were rich when they were spiritually poor.
Paul's point? If you were living by the Word your lives would look dramatically different than they do. Like the lid of the puzzle box shows us what the finished product is supposed to look like, so God's Word shows us what our lives are supposed to look like. To be sure, it shows us a great deal more than that, but it doesn't show us anything less. Now, let's look at a few things this passage shows us.
1. We must decide what role we are going to allow God's Word to have in our life?
How do you view God's Word? Is it something that you look to occasionally for encouragement when you are having a bad day? Is it nothing more to you than "chicken soup" for your psyche? Or is it God's truth revealed to us? If you believe that the Bible is God's truth revealed to humanity then it must have an effect on your life. If God has something to say to us, then it only makes sense to listen.
Sadly, we tend to pick and choose the parts that we like, or make us feel comforted and affirmed. No doubt, there is untold comfort and assurance in the promises of God in his Word. However, there is much more that we must allow the Bible to say to us. This is especially true if we have not entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We do not get to come to God on our own terms, we must come on his. His terms, described in the Bible, include brokenness over sin, repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ. We don't get to monkey with God's rules when it comes to salvation.
Beyond that, even Christ-followers tend to adjust the Bible to match their sensibilities instead of having our lives molded by the Word. What do we allow God to show us about the lives we live now as his children, and servants?
2. The results of living according to God's Word are evident.
For the Corinthian Christians the evidence they were displaying proved that they were not living by God's Word. They were full of pride and self-righteousness, the very antithesis of God's will for their lives. On the flip-side Paul gives us a great overview of what the Christian life should look like in Romans 12:9-21 and the overriding ethic is love for one another within the Body of Christ, and love for the world outside of the Church. Other characteristics include; holiness, patience, service, hospitality, and humility. Do these attributes characterize your life as an individual? Do they characterize your life within your family? Within your church family?
You see, living by God's Word re-calibrates our understanding of who we are. We begin to understand that we are simply recipients of God's unimaginable grace, mercy and blessing. We should embrace the truth that every good and perfect thing that we enjoy is a gift from God.
3. The Christian life is very different from the world.
If we take this truth too far we end up in monastic seclusion, which I do not think is God's will for his people. However, as much as we claim to be "in the world, but not of the world" we prove over and over again that we are both "in the world and of the world." A major part of the Christian (and the Church's) witness to the world is that transformation has taken (and is taking) place in our lives. There is supposed to be something properly different about Christians than the rest of the world. Paul puts it like this in 1 Corinthians 4:12b-13;
When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we respond graciously. Even now, we are like the scum of the earth, like everyone's garbage.
There's an awesome advertisement for Christianity! The point is, Christians don't act, or react, like the world. There is a difference and it comes from remembering who our Savior is, how he was treated by the world, and that this world is simply not our home. We are aliens in this land, and our reward is not to be found here - regardless of what the prosperity preachers say.
The other day I was helping our daughter put together a puzzle of the United States. She wanted to put the piece with part of Ohio and Indiana upside own next to Arizona. I had to tell her that no matter how much she wanted it to go there - it didn't. God's Word certainly does give us a "big picture" of his plan for the world. It also tells us how our lives as Christians are supposed to look. If we take God's Word seriously it must have a transforming effect on our lives. Will you let it change yours?
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