May 5, 2018 | For The Common Good

God’s spiritual gifts are given for the benefit of the whole church, as the ESV puts it: “for the common good.” Corinth appears to have missed this and gotten all excited about their specialness and how each person could boast about his or her gifts. They thought life revolved around them. That is tragic! But it still occurs.

I recently talked with a pastor whose church attendance has changed dramatically. The church has more members than ever, but the average family is only attending 1.7 times per month. Their old numbers – from 3 years prior – were 2.6 times per month. He said they had done a little digging and discovered a few adjustments are needed to the church ministries. However, the number one reason they could find for the drop was summarized in this statement from one family: “We get all that we need this way [i.e., attending less]. We are so thankful for messages online and other things the church gives, because we just have too many activities to come more often.”

Isn’t that sad? No understanding there that God commands us to not flag in meeting together. No comprehension that church isn’t only about them. That poor family doesn’t even seem to realize that they have been gifted precisely to build up the church – for the common good.

Theologian Craig Blomberg nails the cause and effect:

All of Paul’s emphasis on diversity within unity [and] unity within diversity calls into question the behavior of growing numbers of Americans who…believe in God and even Christ, and yet drop out of church life or at least fade to its periphery. In a land still heavily influenced by a heritage of rugged individualism, believers need to work ever harder to demonstrate that Christianity is not a merely personal religion but fundamentally corporate. Even evangelical language for conversion betrays this bias: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” That is the necessary starting point, but we dare not stop until that relationship leads to intimate interpersonal relationships with other Christians. – Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians