In the last blog post we saw that the people who lived in and passed through the ancient city of Corinth were a widely diverse group of people.
With Corinth being the capital of a major Roman province there was the presence of military personnel, soldiers, and Roman government officials.
Corinth’s location on an isthmus where boats could be portaged across land to the other side brought ship captains, sailors, ship merchants, and sea travelers through the city.
Likewise, Corinth’s location on the isthmus served as the “gateway” to the Peloponnesian peninsula … thereby bringing land travelers through the city.
Corinth had shop merchants and businesspeople capitalizing on the wealth generated from the commerce passing through the area. The well-known Temple of Aphrodite high atop Corinth’s acropolis had hundreds of priestess prostitutes which served the goddess.
Slaves which were used to portage the boats across land, run the Roman baths, and every other sort of manual labor were also common throughout the city of Corinth.
Not only that, Corinth had a devout religious Jewish community.
And it was to this city that the Apostle Paul came, bringing the good news about Jesus Christ.
Many from the devout religious Jewish community believed in Jesus … even the synagogue ruler and his entire household! Additionally, “many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.” – Acts 18:8
Now we have the beginnings of a small church in the city of Corinth.
These brand-new followers of Jesus met together as small church in the home of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. (Acts 18:7)
They were a conglomerate of every type of person you can imagine. They were a “jumbled heap of stones” … rather like the jumbled heap of stones you can see here among the ruins of ancient Corinth.
Paul describes them this way: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things …” – 1 Corinthians 1:26-28
We see further description of the “jumbled heap of stones” which was the brand-new church in Corinth:
“Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were.
“But you were washed, you were sanctified [made clean], you were justified [just as if you had never sinned] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
The brand-new followers of Jesus in the fledgling little church of Corinth were every bit as diverse as the city itself. There were slaves from the docks who had believed in Jesus Christ … meeting together alongside prostitutes who had believed in Jesus Christ … meeting together alongside devout religious Jews who kept the law in every way … meeting together alongside shop merchants from the Agora. This little church in Corinth was a “jumbled heap of stones”!
These people had a lot to learn!
These people had a lot of “baggage” in their lives.
Even the super-religious devout Jewish people who kept the law in every way … even they had a lot to learn … even they had “baggage” to deal with as Jesus Christ worked in their lives to develop holiness and righteousness.
When we open our Bible, we see two letters written by Paul to the Christians in Corinth. These letters were written a year or two later, after Paul had left and was no longer with them. These two letters are: 1 Corinthians … and 2 Corinthians.
In reading these two letters we might be shocked at the church in Corinth! These Christians are bickering, arguing, and quarreling with each other. There is a lot of sexual confusion, as well as profound sexual sin among the people. They are filing lawsuits against each other and taking each other to court. They are getting drunk when they meet together to share the Lord’s Supper (which is in remembrance of Jesus’s death & resurrection).
They have a lot of confusion and questions about how to grow spiritually in holiness and righteousness. They have a lot of confusion about how to worship God. These Christians in Corinth were a “jumbled heap of stones.”
And to be honest … we ourselves are the same today. We are no different. God calls people to himself today from all backgrounds and all walks of life. The Church is a “jumbled heap of stones” made up of broken people with “baggage” and “broken” lives.
Of course the devout religious people of today would feel that they definitely are not “broken” … neither do they have “baggage.” So did the devout religious Jews during Paul’s day. But everyone is “broken.” Devout religious people are “broken” in different ways than those they judge. But everyone, no matter who they are, is a “broken” piece of stone … just like the broken pieces of stone lying among the ruins of Corinth.
And Jesus has called each “broken piece of stone” to himself! Jesus has a plan for this “jumbled heap of stones.” Jesus is going to build something amazing and beautiful with this “jumbled heap of stones.”
This is why the Holy Spirit gave Paul the wisdom and the words to write the letters of 1 & 2 Corinthians. Because Jesus was working on the “jumbled heap of stones” in the city of Corinth. Jesus was changing his followers from the inside out! Jesus was removing sin from their lives. Jesus was making them clean. Jesus was making them righteous and holy.
Jesus was building his Church!
And this is why God chose to include these letter of 1 & 2 Corinthians in our Bible today! Because Jesus is still working on the “jumbled heap of stones” today! Jesus is still changing his followers from the inside out today! Jesus is still removing sin from our lives! Jesus is still making us clean! Jesus is still making us righteous and holy!
Jesus is still building his Church!
Thank you Jesus! Thank you that you can make something beautiful out of my “broken piece of stone.” Thank you Jesus that all of our “broken pieces of stone” you can use to build something amazing and beautiful!
Thank you Jesus for redeeming the “jumbled heap of stones.”
