The Nr. 6 Indicator that you Might be in a Dysfunctional Church

You might be in a dysfunctional church if everyone is genius in their own eyes. What am I talking about? Sometimes people pick up a "new" understanding from scripture; a new interpretation of the end times; a new understanding of how healing works; or a new understanding of what it means to be spiritual. Because of this understanding, someone who preaches the basic gospel appears ignorant. "We are too far along for this!" They have become geniuses in their own eyes. This was part of the problem in the Corinthian church. They were "so mature" that they didn't respect Paul anymore. He was just this basic itinerant preacher. That was OK in the beginning, but "we are past that now." Let's look at the scripture passage:

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"
— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:

"For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:1-15 -- NIV)

Paul starts by telling them that he purposely stayed away from illusions of human wisdom. In fact he presented the message in weakness and in fear and trembling. His simple message was that of the cross. Jesus was crucified for them! He might be weak, but the message is powerful. It has the power to transform lives. He accompanied this message with signs of God's power, not just the power of that message, but with healing and other miraculous signs. There was a reason for this. Paul didn't want the Corinthians putting their faith in him. He wanted them to put their faith in God.

He proceeds to tell the church that there is wisdom in God's message for those who are mature. Actually Paul is showing the Corinthians that they weren't as mature as they thought of themselves. When Paul discusses those who are mature, he isn't designating an elite class of people; the intellectual giants. He is talking about regular Christian people who have allowed the Holy Spirit to come into their lives and transform them. He goes on to emphasize the glory of God in the crucified Christ. Many times in the Bible, God's glory is personified as God himself. God was on the cross in the person of Jesus; the glory in a crucified Christ. Their is wisdom in this understanding, but it is not human wisdom.

Then Paul discusses the limits of human wisdom. Philosophy is great. God created human beings with an intellect. There is nothing wrong with human wisdom, but it does have limits. Human wisdom missed what was happening in the life and death of Jesus Christ. It was not only ordinary people, but elite people also missed this. In fact, the powers of darkness missed it. Satan thought that he would be victorious in the cross. But the cross defeated him. If the powers of this earth had really understood the wisdom of God, they wouldn't have crucified Jesus.

This lack of understanding is not some kind of defect in human beings. It is just a fact, that spiritual things are only understood by spiritual people; those enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Paul gives an example. No one really understands what another is thinking. Only the person himself understands. Likewise, no one can really understand God except God himself. But, God has placed his Spirit in us and because of this, we actually have the mind of Christ. He is talking about ordinary Christians. This should encourage us, but, he was also pointing out to the Corinthians that they weren't as spiritual as they thought they were.

Well, what does this say to us? First, we must rely on the Spirit to instruct us. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't study. It merely points out the limitations of only study; there must also be prayer, meditation and discussion to discern what the Spirit is saying. Secondly, the Christian should understand things in a human way. For this we really do need to study. When we talk with people who don't have a Christian background, it is not enough to say, "The Bible says it, I believe it and that settles it." We have to be able to talk with people as people. We don't have to be geniuses in the church or out of it. Relax. Learn all you can and trust God to help you know what you need to know.