Epiphany
January 20, 2017

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? –1 Corinthians 1:12-13

The phrase, ‘I belong to Christ’ bothers me as it is included in a laundry list of leaders in the church apparently caught in the middle of a game of my preacher is better than yours. Are we not all called to belong to Christ? As I ponder that phrase, I wonder if Paul was trying to say we don’t get to customize Christ—build a Christ based on our values not the other way around. I fear we may all get caught up in creating our own Christ occasionally.

Jesus taught a radically different way of being than was the common practice among the faithful of the first century. He invested his life in standing behind the principles that he taught. I do not think he was bringing a new message as much as he was making the age-old message clearer in more human terms. Loving God, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, being a blessing to all nations are recorded in some of the earliest writings. So why was it deemed unacceptable in the first century even to the faith community? Why is it still hard for us to live like Jesus today?

Prayer: Lord, just as you opened Saul’s heart and mind on his road to Damascus, open our lives to living through your love on our journeys. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.