6th Sunday after Epiphany 2020
Psalm 119.9-16
1 Corinthians 3.1-9
Matthew 5.21-37
Paul sees a problem in the early church. They have a preferred preacher, Apollos, and it isn't jealousy that motivates Paul to speak into the situation. It was Paul who first preached the Gospel to the Corinthians and then they found someone whose style was more pleasing to them. Paul sees the danger in factions based on the preacher, an issue I have seen at close hand to divide a church. If that guy is preaching I will stay home, I prefer the other person's style. I also see people who follow a TV preacher to the exclusion of everyone else and then judge everyone else based on their opinion of their guy. We are to have a hunger for the Word of God, both the word written and the Word made flesh. No one preacher has everything we need and it shouldn't start with the preacher and it certainly shouldn't end there. We are to have a passionate desire to read the Word for ourselves if we are Protestants that was what our forebears fought for, but too often we only get the word from another man who digests it for us and then regurgitates it for our consumption. If you aren't in the word you are in a dangerous situation where you can easily be led astray. More than that, you are missing out on great blessings, the opportunity to spend time with Him and allow Him to speak directly to you. If you leave it to the preacher occasionally you will get a blessing of feeling God is speaking to you, if you are in the Word you'll have that experience more and more often.
