Couldn't Help Noticing

Letter from the sub-editor VII

In 1 Corinthians 14, the sub-editor of my translation has taken a 20th century debate about Pentecostalism as a cue, and hence given this passage the heading reads “Prophecy and Tongues”—in so doing making Paul an unwitting commentator on a debate he was not aware of. Did the Corinthian church have difficulties relating to what we might call Pentecostal or charismatic issues? Maybe, maybe not. But with all due respect to editors (of whom I are one), I don't want to have them settling the question for me ahead of time.

A topic dear to our hearts

Copyright. So dear to a publisher's heart, yet seemingly such a pain in the neck to many in ministry.

What can help you understand copyright law, what it covers, how it works, and how to stay within the law but still be creative in ministry?

This free seminar organised by FEVA sounds like a very good place to start:

7:00pm Saturday 4th March
All Saints Anglican Church hall
325 Stanmore Road, Petersham

Speaker: Karen Gettens is a Senior Associate in the Intellectual Property and Communications Group of Blake Dawson Waldron. Karen's practice focusses on contentious and non-contentious copyright, IT and broadcasting matters. She is the Vice President of the Copyright Society of Australia, and has extensive experience writing and speaking on the subject.

The practice of evangelism

Something I noticed, as I tried to explain to a non-Christian friend from school why our church believes women shouldn't preach and lead congregations, was just how unprepared I was. It wasn't that I didn't know the Bible passages to talk about or that I hadn't heard others explain it well. Rather, it was for simple lack of practice that I found myself fumbling, for a concise explanation that would, God-willing, help him want to hear more about Jesus.

And as I've noticed some of the recent talk amongst Christians about how we might use recent films, such as Brokeback Mountain, or Chronicles of Narnia, or, the upcoming movie of The Da Vinci Code, as opportunities to explain the gospel, one thought keeps recurring: “Help!” (Although this will help for The Da Vinci Code).

So perhaps it's time we practice a bit more.

All it would take is contact with a couple of Christian friends and an email to them, first thing in the morning: “Hi guys, most of the headlines at the moment seem to be about those Danish cartoons, maybe we could talk about how a Christian response in similar circumstance would differ from the violent response of these Muslims? Any other ideas...” And, via email, you take a couple of minutes to discuss problems, other opportunities, etc. and voila: you're practicing evangelism, which will hopefully help you to get out and practise evangelism.

The abortion (lack of) debate

Albert Mohler makes some interesting observations on the weakness of the ‘pro-choice’ lobby in intellectual debate in his recent blog “Who's Afraid of an Argument? The Insecurities of the Abortion Rights Movement”.

The following observation could not be more true in respect of the recent Australian debates:

As pro-lifers attempt to assert arguments on behalf of the sanctity of human life in the public square, abortion rights advocates stalwartly refuse to debate or discuss the issue. One technique used by the pro-abortion movement is to label all opposition to abortion or stem cell research as ‘religious’, and therefore beyond legitimate debate or state interest.

The Way of Love

Gordon's ‘Letters to the sub-editor’ immediately drew my mind to chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. If there were any title worthy of being labeled as ‘intrusive’ I believe it would be “The Way of Love” heading listed in a few different Bible versions before this passage. There aren't too many more well-known passages than this one; yet, there aren't many more passages so misunderstood.

The reason, of course, is that there is usually little regard for the argument leading up to chapter 13. In a way, this chapter is a capstone and summary of all the chapters before. Paul uses this chapter as a heavy-handed rebuke to the Corinthian church. Think about the description of love in vv. 4-7. Each of these characteristics is the exact opposite of Paul's previous descriptions of the Corinthians.

Compare the following:

• Love is patient and kind; the Corinthians are rude (11:5)
• Love is not boastful or envious; the Corinthians are proud (4:6-8)
• Love does not insist on its own way; the Corinthians are selfish (8:9-12; 11:21)
• Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing; the Corinthians are arrogant about sin (5:2)
• Love does rejoice in truth, believes all things; the Corinthians doubt Paul (4:3-5)

As Dick Lucas says of this passage, “A young Corinthian girl would never ask Paul to preach this chapter at her wedding.” Why? Because the Corinthians would have been greatly rebuked and probably highly offended by Paul after reading (or hearing) this chapter. Everything they take pride in (their knowledge and gifts) is worthless because they don't seek to do all things in love. Further, this passage is about how the people within the Corinthian church should act towards each other and outsiders, not primarily about the love between a man and a woman.

So, when you are confronted with “The Way of Love” at the beginning of chapter 13, it does little to capture the force of Paul's words. One Bible titled the section, “A Better Way”, which is a slight improvement as it begs the question, “Better than what?” and hopefully drives the reader back to the previous chapters. However, the best way to understand this section is to allow God's Word to explain it rather than the pen of a human hand.