Tom writes:

This ruffles a few feathers. The verses about slaves remaining in the situation they are in have been grossly abused. The stuff on marriage and divorce is increasingly ignored. The problem comes from our feeble view of salvation. The gospel that Paul preached included forgiveness of past sin and receipt of the Holy Spirit. But - I feel utterly foolish for saying this - that is a feeble view of the immensity of Jesus’ work. For Paul the biggest achievement of the cross was not to enable forgiveness for individuals. Jesus’ death and resurrection gave undeniable confirmation that God’s great day of justice is coming. When Jesus was raised it proved God will bring “an end” to this present age and will bring in a glorious golden age. And it also showed the church what to do while they are eagerly waiting for that day; don’t lack any gift of the Spirit… stay strong… walk in the way of Jesus.

1:4-9 is the foundation stone for all the ethical imperatives we see in chapter 7. And so slaves shouldn’t seek to change the situation they are in because Jesus submitted himself to cruel men, showing a self-sacrificing love to win some for God. This in no way validates enslaving people - it is a command to those already enslaved in how to subversively sow the Kingdom into their situation. The only instructions we see Paul giving to slave-owners is to similarly sow the Kingdom into their situation by treating their slave as a brother (Philemon). Equally marriage should be seen not as the pinnacle of pilgrimage and pleasure but as a fleeting opportunity to sow kingdom love and hope into a human relationship. The pinnacle of pilgrimage and pleasure is the Coming Kingdom. We wait in hope for that day. And now we walk in the way of Jesus through faithful love, through self-giving kindness. This might mean remaining single, it might mean a Jesus-shaped marriage, it might even mean allowing an unbelieving spouse to walk away if that is the path to greatest peace. The details are worked out in a pragmatic way in the shadow of the coming age. This is so rare today. We’ve got so used to comfort in this age that the Coming Age barely seems to feature in our decision making. I yearn to embody something different. I want to do all God wants from me now, knowing God will give me all I want from him then. I want to live like Jesus.

Question for reflection

Are you at risk of “idolising” a certain way of life now (being rich, married, having kids, retired, living in a new home)? What would it look like for you to embody hope in the great beauty of the Coming Age?

1 Corinthians 7 - Friday 24th May