Deeper Reflection
AMONG ALL THE CHURCHES THAT PAUL PLANTED AND BUILT which we know of from the New Testament, the one that gave him most headache and heartache was probably the church in Corinth. He “stayed a year and six months” in Corinth “teaching the Word of God among them” (Acts 18:11). And Apollos, “an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures”, was with the Corinthians, teaching them the Word of God (Acts 18:24, 27-28; 1 Cor 3:5). With such good teaching of God’s Word by such good teachers, we would reasonably expect this church to grow and mature spiritually. But no, they were living “as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1, NIV).Paul was an eschatological realist in both discipleship and ministry. In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote to address certain serious pastoral problems in the church, the root cause of which was their spiritual immaturity. While knowing full well the Corinthians’ spiritual condition, Paul began his letter with a highly positive note (vv.4-9). Paul’s ministry was eschatological in nature, marked by an eschatological vision and eschatological confidence. He could see in his ministry to the problematic Corinthians the Lord sustaining them, keeping them firm and strong, “to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.8). Then, standing on this eschatological assurance, Paul went head-on to deal with reality: the problem of divisions in the church (vv.10-12). That’s eschatological realism. But for Paul, eschatology and reality are tied together by “God is faithful”, “who called us into the fellowship of His Son” (v.9).