AP

1 Corinthians 4:11-13  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment.

These are interesting and challenging thoughts for us today – especially for my own generation (I was born in 1940).

Corinth of Paul’s day was a centre of Greek culture – ‘humanism’ at its ‘best’.  Human wisdom and achievement was the pinnacle of all things, and when citizens of Corinth became believers in Christ they subconsciously brought that culture with them into the life of the Church.  And with this came a sort of prosperity, ‘got it all together’, success-oriented theology.  In this environment we can see how the danger of the ‘gift of tongues’ came into the Church (Chapters 12-14).

The ‘super-apostles’ of Corinth were therefore very critical of Paul’s life and suffering (cf 2 Corinthians 12), and he was therefore looked down on by them as among ‘the scum of the earth’.  In the world I grew up in as a child, the Church had good standing and respect in the community, and it was easy to become proud to be a Christian and a church-goer.  Most children my age were sent to Sunday School, even by non-church-going parents (as in my own case).  I guess we were in grave danger of being too much like the First Century Church in Corinth.

But now, things are quite different in our culture, and it is important that we take today’s words from Paul seriously.  Our brothers and sisters in Christ in many parts of our world can readily identify with ‘going hungry and thirsty’, ‘being in rags’, and ‘being brutally treated, … homeless’.  We could possibly be heading in this direction, but, by God’s mercy, are not there yet!

But, in many ways, our Gospel is being ‘cursed’, and we are being ‘persecuted’ by enacted legislation contrary to God’s revealed truth, and God’s Word is being ‘slandered’, and we are becoming considered ‘the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world’ – mainly in the form of just being ‘ignored’ so far.  It is most important that we realise and acknowledge this developing (degenerating?) situation and not just pine for the ‘good (bad?) old days’.  Only by doing this will we actively and prayerfully strive to adopt the same attitude as the inspired Apostle Paul, and bless those who curse us, endure when we are persecuted, answer kindly when we are slandered, and earnestly seek the humility (ie humiliation) that comes with being ‘the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world.’  As we make this our conscious aim, let us remember that the good Apostle received his inspiration from the life-example and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ himself.

– Bruce Christian