Articles From Our Bulletins
Getting Back to Basics
Sometime around 51-52 A.D., the apostle Paul came to Corinth to preach the gospel. Many of the Corinthians “when they heard were believing and being baptized.” (Acts 18:8) Thus began the church at Corinth. It was a church with a lot of potential, but by the time Paul wrote 1Corinthians back to them five or six years later, it was a church with a lot of problems. The litany of troubles this church had developed is quite evident from simply reading the letter Paul wrote them. We note they were: divided (1:10ff); spiritually immature and carnal (3:1-3ff); spiritually arrogant (4:6-21); tolerant of gross immorality (chp.5); sinfully litigious (6:1-8); apparently needing to flee immorality (6:18ff); turning the Lord’s Supper into a common meal (11:17-34); and abusing spiritual gifts (chps.12-14). As if this wasn’t enough, some of them evidently no longer believed in the resurrection of the dead (15:12ff).
These surely seem to be a lot of problems for a church to develop in only five or six years of existence! But we need to be careful since our churches have likely been around a lot longer, and probably have many, if not more, of the same problems. We also have to realize that churches with problems have them because they are comprised of members with problems. Actually, it is not much different for individuals than it is for churches: those with potential are also potentially problematic. The same energy and enthusiasm that “gets the ball rolling” can just as easily roll it “into the ditch” unless constant reassessment and realignment occurs.
So what do we do when we our churches seem to have “rolled into the ditch” of sin or stagnation? The answer is very simple: We get “Back to Basics.” Every athlete has heard it from a coach at some point. When the baseball or golf swing is out of whack, “Get back to basics.” When tackles are being missed or volleys hit into the net, “Get back to basics.” When the jump shot or free throws aren’t falling, again, the answer is “Get back to basics.” There’s really no difference in spiritual matters. When our life is in shambles and completely off course, we have to “get back to basics” there too.
Look again at the Corinthians. What were they told to do? Those divided were told to “agree… (and) be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment” through the “name (authority) of our Lord Jesus Christ” 1:10. Those who were immature and carnal were told to grow up and become spiritual, 3:4-23. Those who were spiritually arrogant were told “not to exceed that which is written,” and to “be imitators” of the humble servant Paul, 4:6-16. Those who tolerated gross immorality were told to “remove the wicked man from among yourselves” and “not to associate with immoral people” in the church, 5:5-13. Those sinfully litigious were told that it was better to be “wronged.…(or) defrauded” than to go to law with one another. Those involved in immorality were told to “flee” it and to remember that they were “bought with a price”, 6:18-20. Those abusing the Lord’s Supper were told to remember how and why it was instituted, 11:23-26; to eat it in a worthy manner, 11:27-29; to “wait for one another” in their partaking, 11:33; and to eat their common meals at home, 11:34. Those abusing spiritual gifts were given rules to govern their proper usage, 14:26-38. And those mistaken about the resurrection were told again the things “of first importance” from the gospel, 15:1-8. None of these “solutions” was necessarily complicated- the Corinthians just had to “get back to basics.” The same thing holds true for us too!
But for “churches” to “get back to basics,” the individuals that comprise must do the same. Is your spiritual life in need of getting “Back to Basics”? Oftentimes we get sidetracked with relationship problems, family problems, or work/career problems. Unfortunately, these can lead further to mental health/depression problems or even drug (prescription or otherwise) problems. The solution is “getting back the basics” by identifying the real problem that is at the root of all the others- the spiritual problem! Is it that “your heart is not right before God” and that as a result, “you are in the gall of bitterness and the bondage of iniquity” (Acts 8:21-23)? Is it that you’re still delaying and need to “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (Acts 22:16)? Is that Is it that you haven’t been truly “transformed by the renewing of your mind,” or aren’t really “presenting your bodies as living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1-2)? Is that you’re not really putting God’s interests ahead of your own by seeking “first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33)? Get back to the basics.
Life’s problems can be countless and complex. Getting back the basics and identifying and resolving the “real” problem is simple. “Fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) still works. It may not solve all the problems in your life, but it will help you put them in the proper perspective, and will also give you the proper basis for dealing with them as needs be.
- Back_to_Basics.pdf (85.15 kB)
