Started in on 1Corinthians this morning. Ok . . . so I head into this letter knowing that the reason it exists is because these fellow-believers weren’t exactly the “A Team”. If they hadn’t been so messed up on so much we’d have less teaching from Paul on such vital matters as division in the church, immorality in the church, principles of marriage, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, love and, the resurrection . . . not to mention a few other things. Yup . . . not exactly the model church . . . or is it? As I read Paul’s opening words in this letter this morning, it cast another light on this less-than-best body of believers.

So check this out . . . They were “the church of God” . . . “sanctified in Christ Jesus” . . . “called to be saints” (1:2). Paul thanked God for the grace given to them by Jesus Christ . . . grace to the extent that they were “enriched in everything”, in “all utterance” and in “all knowledge” . . . they came “short in no gift” . . . so that, “the testimony of Christ” was evident in them (1:4-6). And, they were “eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:6b). And Paul was confident that the Lord they waited for would keep them “strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:8).

And it gets me thinking about position vs. practice . . . about the destination vs. the journey . . . about the prize vs. the process. Aint’ it true . . . Christians aren’t perfect . . . we are a work in progress . . . God’s not finished with us yet. Oh, it would be so nice if it was get saved and then . . . ZAP!!! . . . we’re all fixed . . . we’re all shining examples of what Christ is like. But that’s not reality, is it? Certainly not with me. It’s a process . . . a long, sometimes painfully slow, process. It’s a journey . . . not a straight four-lane highway type of trip, but a bumpy, back-roads, 4-wheelin’ type of rough ride. It’s about a work begun in us when we were set apart by His grace . . . a work to make us more in practice what we are in position. We are declared holy, now He wants us to be holy. And so it’s a work of pruning away the junk . . . of refining the material in a crucible so that the dross is exposed and separated . . . of shaping the clay into the vessel envisioned by the Potter.

The believers in Corinth had it all. They were God’s church . . . they were set apart in Jesus . . . they had been graced abundantly in the talent and gifting God had poured out on them . . . they bore witness to the life changing reality of Christ in a culture that was ultra-pagan and super immoral . . . they were waiting for Jesus’ return . . . so in love with Him that they couldn’t wait to be with Him. But . . . they weren’t perfect . . . yet.

Actually, the more I think about it . . . the more they sound like a lot of Christians I know . . . and sound like a Christian I look at in the mirror every morning. Blessed of God but still working on a being a blessing to God. Loving Jesus but not quite looking like Jesus. Oh, it’s easy to get critical of fellow-believers who come up short . . . it’s easy to get down on ourselves when we recognize that we are those believers . . . but I take heart this morning when Paul says to these crazy Corinthians, “[He] will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:8-9).

God began the work in me and He will complete the work (Php. 1:6) . . . God has called me into the fellowship of His Son . . . God is faithful. Sure, I want to be growing in the things of Christ . . . I want to be more like Him and less like the old me . . . I want to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh . . . I want to live in power and not in poverty . . . but, while I might be more there today than yesterday, I am so not there. But God is faithful . . . His calling is sure . . . His grace is sufficient . . . and He will present me blameless in that day.

Yeah, I know it can be frustrating to see other believers living in a way that believers shouldn’t live . . . it can be disappointing to see those who name the name of Christ coming up so short of reflecting the Christ they say they follow . . . it can be depressing to see how far I have yet to go to be like the One I so want to be like . . . but God is faithful. Ours is to seek Him . . . ours is to submit to Him . . . and His is to make the position the practice . . . sustain us through the journey to the destination . . . be glorified in the process as we press on toward the prize.

Who knows . . . maybe these Corinthians were, in fact, the “A Team” . . . the Assured Team . . . assured that God is faithful . . . and that the work God has begun in us will be the work that brings God the glory in that day. Amen?