The church in the world not the world in the church

This weekend I am speaking at Lancaster CU's Houseparty so I'm up to my neck (metaphorically speaking) in 2 Corinthians. It is a really striking book with so many parallels with our world and especially our culture today.

What is that British society prizes most? Tolerance, multiculturalism, integration, wealth? Maybe but I think perhaps above all these individuals prize social status. It is knowing where you fit into society’s hierarchy, society’s food chain and then striving to work your way as far up as you can. That’s why men like Richard Branson and Alan Sugar are held up as role models. That's why reality shows like The Apprentice are all the rage its trying to work your way, or get a helping hand, to work your way up.

It matters what others think of you, how they view you counts and you mustn’t do anything to jeopardise that no matter what the cost. That is one of society’s mantras. It’s the basis of all the makeover shows, be it DIY, garden or clothing. How others perceive you is what counts – they yell at us again and again.

Corinth was no different; the Corinthian believers faced the same pressures. The city had been totally destroyed in 146 BC and was rebuilt only in 44 BC by Julius Caesar. This rebuilt city was repopulated with old soldiers, slaves and ex-slaves. It was a city of contrasts in Paul’s day; there were the very wealthy and the poverty stricken who were just about surviving. One third of the population of the city were slaves who had nothing, yet for the very rich, many of whom were ex-slaves made good, “wealth and ostentatious display became a hallmark of Corinth”

It is the same pressure point, first Century Corinth and Britain in 2009. Image matters, how people perceive you is king. And the Corinthians are struggling to live out the scandal of the cross because it goes against the world view of everyone around them. It is seen in the way they do communion that Paul writes about in his first letter – some bring their Harrods Hamper packed with Camembert, Caviar and Bollinger whilst others in the congregation go hungry because they are poor. Why? Because image matters, because that’s the Corinthian worldview.

The problem at root in Corinth is that the Church has yet to rid itself of the worldview of the world around it, a worldview that hates and ridicules humility, a worldview that says what people think of me is what matters. A worldview that Paul says the gospel turns on its head.

The challenge as we come to 2 Corinthians is to identify our worldview, our way of thinking of ourselves and others, of judging what matters, what is success, what is failure. And having identified it to ask am I struggling to adapt my thinking from that of the world around me to that of the gospel?

What is it that will enable these believers in this pressured society to make Christ known to a hostile audience? What alterations does Paul want them to make in their worldview and in their thinking? What alterations do I need to make to enable me to do the same in just as hostile a society?