I teach at a local church on Sunday mornings each week and I have a rule in my class that answers to questions must be real not the “church” answer. By church answer I mean that I don’t want the class to answer what they think everyone would expect to hear in church but to answer the question in real honest terms the way we would see it in life outside the church. The church answer to a question I specifically don’t want is “Jesus”.

Is Jesus Your Answer?

Jesus could almost literally be the answer to most any question one might get at church. The running joke in my class is that if no one has an answer or no one wants to answer the hard question because it is a little to real and close to home then I get the church answer “Jesus”.  The class laughs because it is most likely the right answer but not the answer we usually live life by.

Everything You Need is Jesus

Barclay in his commentary for 1 Corinthians notes that in the first 10 verses Paul uses Jesus, Christ, or some combination of those names 10 times. The Corinthians were divided and they were struggling internally. So Paul is trying to get their attention with that intro. Church hear Paul… the solution, the answer, the resolution, and everything you need is Jesus. Why can’t we as people who call ourselves followers of Christ turn to Him first, consistently, and always?

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

This reminds me of a hymn Have Thine Own Way, Lord. Where the final verse of the final stanza concludes with Christ only, always, living in me.

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way
Hold o’er my being absolute sway.
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!

Christ Always and Only

Church, why not turn to Christ always and only? I grew up in a large denomination that I still love. God has called me to serve in a non-denominational church and I am good with that because Christ only, always. A friend once told me to major on the majors and minor on the minors. Meaning that the organization of the church is not something to argue over (the minors). Let people be where God has called them, but where division should occur is where Christ stands on what is right and wrong like the trinity, sexual ethics, and hell (the majors). What a challenge Paul put before this early church. Here are those first 10 verses calling out Christ only, always.

1 Corinthians 1

1. Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
2. To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
5. that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—
6. even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—
7. so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8. who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

If you enjoyed this then click the like button, leave a comment, or ask a question! Looking for more you can jump to the next Chapter of 1 Corinthians here: Giving up on People