Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
-
Upload
intervarsity-press-samples -
Category
Documents
-
view
244 -
download
0
Transcript of Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 1/31
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 2/31
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 3/31
A u t h e n t i c
c h u r c h
t Spaly a cl cs
Vaga rbs
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 4/31
InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
Internet: www.ivpress.com
E-mail: [email protected]
© Vaughan Roberts, 2011
Published in the United States of America by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, with permission
from Inter-Varsity Press, England.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press.
InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement
of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the
United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept., InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at
<www.intervarsity.org>.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International
Version®. niv ®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder
and Stoughton Ltd. All rights reserved. “ niv ” is a registered trademark of International Bible Society. UK
trademark number 1448790. Distributed in North America by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Scripture quotations marked esv are from The Holy Bible, English Stnr Version, copyright © 2001
by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Design: Cindy KipleImage: rudavin/depositphotos.com
ISBN 978-0-8308-3798-4
Printed in the United States of America ∞
InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsibleuse of natural resources. As a member of Green Press Initiative we use recycled paper whenever possible. To learn more about the Green Press Initiative, visit <www.greenpressinitiative.org>.
Library o Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roberts, Vaughan.
Authentic church: true spirituality in a culture of counterfeits /
Vaughan Roberts.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8308-3798-4 (usa; paper: alk. paper)—ISBN
978-1-84474-518-0 (uk; paper: alk. paper)
1. Bible. N. T. Corinthians, 1st—Critic ism, interpretation, etc. I.
Title.
BS2675.52.R63 2011
227’.206 —dc23
20110123153
P 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Y 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 5/31
contentS
Acknowlegments
Introuction: The Authentic Church in
Serch o True Spiritulity 11
1. The Cross o Christ, Not Humn Wisom 17
2. Fithul Leers, Not Flshy Ones 37
3. Holiness, Not Permissiveness 57
4. Mrrige n Singleness, Not Asceticism 81
5. Spiritul Concern, Not Unettere Freeom 105
6. Gener Dierences, Not Socil Divisions 135
7. The Priority o Love, Not Spiritul Gits 159
8. A Physicl Future, Not Just the Spiritul Present 191
Epilogue 209
Notes 211
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 6/31
introduction
t A c Sa t Spaly
A spiritual crisis
The rst mjor crisis in my Christin lie cme bout yer
ater my conversion. I had come to Christ shortly beore
leving school, simply through reing Mtthew’s Gospel.
It ws s i the Lor Jesus wlke o the pges n into my
lie, lling me with a deep assurance o orgiveness and a
conviction that I could never be the same again. In those
erly months I grew rpily in unerstning my new ith
n strove hr to live it out. It ws honeymoon perio in
which I enjoye pece n joy I h never known beore; but then cme the crisis.
Shortly ter leving school I went s volunteer helper to
holiy centre or the isble. There I met two Christins
who were roughly the sme ge s me. It ws the rst time I
h got to know believers rom very ierent bckgrouns
rom mine, n I elighte in the ellowship we enjoye s
we prayed together and tried to witness to the guests and
other volunteers. All went well until my new riens begn
to describe some experiences they had received and urged me
to sk Go to o the sme or me. They tol me tht I h
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 7/31
Authentic church
receive Christ, but tht the Holy Spirit ws still not living in
my lie. I only I woul open mysel up to him, then I woul
be ble to know r greter power in my Christin lie n
closer wlk with Christ.
I was conused by what they said but I certainly did not
want to miss out on anything rom God, so I prayed earnestly
to receive the experiences they had told me about. When
nothing happened I prayed again, but still with no eect. The
joy I had previously known deserted me, and I was lled with
spiritul insecurity. Ws it true tht I h never receive theHoly Spirit? Ws there whole plne o Christin experience
that I was missing out on? I so, was that because God did not
love me as much as he loved my riends? Had I not been
prying ernestly enough? Or ws it possible tht my riens
were misguided and were pointing me in the wrong direction?
How coul I tell?
True spirituality: a contemporary issue
The questions I ws grppling with were prticulr mni-
estation o an issue that has an urgent relevance: what is the
nture o true spiritulity? Perhps no other subject cuses
greater conusion and, sadly, division among Christianstoy. Wht oes it men to be truly spiritul Christin?
New trens requently sweep through the Christin worl,
which can give the impression that those who do not embrace
their teaching and practices are second-class disciples. None
o us wnts to miss out on ll tht Go is oing, so our ers
prick up when we hear o some movement, teaching or per-
sonlity climing to oer new work o Go’s Spirit. Buthow cn we iscern wht is relly rom Go?
I am very grateul to an older Christian who came alongside
me during my spiritual crisis and pointed me in the right
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 8/31
Introduction
irection. He tol me not to ocus on rmtic experiences,
clever arguments or the personalities o my riends, although
they were unoubtely sincere n pssionte, but rther to
look to the teaching o the Bible. Taking his advice, I read the
whole New Testment n mesure wht I h been tol
ginst it. The result ws both ressuring n chllenging. I
saw no evidence in the New Testament that there are two
clsses o Christins, spiritul n unspiritul, or tht some
believers have progressed into a dierent sphere o spirituality
through prticulr experience. It becme cler to me thtall people are spiritually dead by nature and can only become
Christians, or stay Christians, by the miraculous lie-giving
work o the Holy Spirit within them. All Christians are
spiritul becuse, s Pul puts it, ‘I nyone oes not hve the
Spirit o Christ, they o not belong to Christ’ (Romns 8:9).
Paul’s letter to the Colossians was especially helpul to me.
The apostle counters those in Colosse who claimed that it was
not enough simply to know Christ and taught that there
was a deeper knowledge o God that could be enjoyed by
those who also embraced extra revelation, experiences and
prctices. These wors in prticulr lept out t me n gve
me great reassurance: ‘For in Christ all the ullness o the
Deity lives in bodily orm, and in Christ you have been broughtto ullness’ (Colossins 2:9–10). I, by coming to Christ, I h
lrey entere into reltionship with the One who is the
ullness o God, how could there be more o God to be
received rom some other source? But along with the encour-
gement cme prooun chllenge: I h receive so much
rom Go in Christ by the Spirit, but ws I living in the light
o all that I had received? Was I keeping ‘in step with the Spirit’(Galatians 5:25), delighting in ellowship with Christ, resisting
sin, walking in holiness and taking every opportunity to build
up others n point unbelievers to Christ?
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 9/31
Authentic church
True spirituality: a Corinthian issue
The gol o this book is to help Christins who re seeking
to discern the nature o true spirituality, by applying thevice my mentor gve to me n looking to the Bible or
answers. We will be ocusing on Paul’s rst letter to the
Corinthins, becuse it irectly resses our subject. Pul
had been used by God to establish a church in Corinth, which
was a major port and commercial centre in what is now
southern Greece, during his eighteen-month stay there in
his secon missionry journey in the erly 50s ad (see Acts
18). He wrote 1 Corinthins bout two or three yers ter
his departure to respond to developments in the church that
were cusing concern. It seems tht the Corinthins prie
themselves on being very ‘spiritual’ (a word that appears
twelve times in the letter, more thn in the rest o the New
Testament put together). Other words that are oten repeatedalso seem to be qualities they admired and believed they
possesse: ‘wisom’, ‘knowlege’ n ‘power’.
Corinthian buzzwords
Spiritual 2:13, 14, 15; 3:1; 9:11; 10:3–4; 12:1; 14:1, 37; 15:44, 46
Wisdom 1:17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 30; 2:1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13; 3:19; 12:8
Knowledge 1:5; 8:1, 7, 10, 11; 12:8; 13:2, 8; 14:6
Power 1:18, 24; 2:4–5; 4:19, 20; 5:4; 6:14; 12:10; 15:24, 43, 56
The Corinthins relly thought they h rrive in these
res n tht they h let Pul behin. In contrst to them,
he ws unspiritul, ignornt, wek n oolish. The postlewrites a strongly corrective letter, not simply to deend his
reputation but also to restore them to true Christian aith. He
picks up the words they use themselves and is basically saying,
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 10/31
Introduction
‘The knowlege, power n wisom you clim to hve re
not the rel thing. Wht you cll spiritulity isn’t spiritulity
t ll, it’s worlly. You’re being irecte by the minset n
principles o the non-Christian world around you rather than
by the Holy Spirit.’
Tht chllenge is not just or the Corinthins; it lso hs
irect ppliction to Christins toy. It is striking how very
Corinthian the twenty-rst-century church is. The buzzwords
tht h such currency in Corinth still pper requently in
book blurbs and conerence brochures today. We value exactlythe same qualities and yet we oten have very inadequate
unerstnings o them. Pul’s ppel to the Corinthins is
God’s appeal to us. We also need to repent o inadequate and
worldly understandings o what it means to live by the Spirit,
n inste embrce true spiritulity.
A challenge or today
The approach I adopt as we study 1 Corinthians is expository
rther thn topicl. By tht I men tht I m not, rst n
oremost, coming to the text with a xed set o questions on
particular contemporary topics and looking to see what
answers it gives. I am rather starting with the text and seeing wht issues n questions it rises or us, which my ier
rom the ones with which we began. To understand what
the Holy Spirit is saying to us through this letter in the
twenty-rst century, we must begin by sking wht he ws
sying through Pul to the Corinthins in the rst century.
Tht will require us to stuy the text creully. There will
not be spce or etile iscussion o every verse, but Iam aiming to draw out the major themes. (For a more
detailed look at the text I would especially recommend David
Jackman’s Let’s Study 1 Corinthians, or the longer commentary
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 11/31
Authentic church
by David Garland.) You will gain most rom this book i you
read the relevant section o 1 Corinthians beore each chapter
n then keep it open. The Bible stuy questions t the en
o ech chpter re esigne to help you iniviully n in
groups to look more deeply into the passages and think
urther bout how they pply toy.
Some o the issues Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians, such as
whether or not to et oo scrice to iols, my seem lien
to us, but the principles are prooundly relevant. The sovereign
Go, who by his Holy Spirit ensure the Bible writers wroteexctly wht he wnte them to write, lwys intene tht
Paul’s letter to a particular group o Christians in one particu-
lar place and time would be his living word or all generations.
As we stuy 1 Corinthins, we will her Go’s wor to us
today, bringing both encouragement and challenge, whether
our temptation is towards a super-spirituality which claims
more rom God than we should expect, or a sub-spiritualitywhich is so nervous o excess that it contents itsel with ar
less than God wants to give us. In our desire to be spiritual,
we too re in nger o substituting the vibrnt hert o
our ith with ple echo o the worl. In correcting the
Corinthians, Paul challenges us too and calls us back to true
spiritulity.
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 12/31
1. the c roSS of chriSt,
not humAn wiSdom
1 cas 1 – 2
Longing or spiritual power
I recently went to lunch in an Oxord University college with
member o our congregtion, who introuce me s his
pastor to a proessor sitting opposite. To my surprise, the
proessor ske immeitely i I believe in Go – I woul
hve hope tht this ws obvious rom my job! When I tol
him that I did, he was politely scornul, clearly regarding me
as intellectually simplistic and naive. I coness that at the time
I ws reluctnt to respon by tlking bout Christ; I longeto be ble to prouce something more obviously powerul,
such s rmtic mircle or knock-own philosophicl
rgument or the existence o Go.
All o us eel wek n oolish s Christins t times. It is
hr not to eel wek when we look t the strient theism,
advancing secularism, apathetic spiritual ignorance and
increasing strength o Islam in our society. Even closer tohome, we re boun to eel wek when we n tht we re
the only believer in our mily, oce or sports tem. An we
will certainly eel oolish when riends laugh at us or our
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 13/31
Authentic church
outdated morality or colleagues dismiss our belies as narrow-
minded, undamentalist nonsense. We long or the eyes
o those roun us to be opene so tht they too cn come
to know God through Christ. However, it can be very hard to
believe that could happen, especially when we remember
Go’s chosen mens to bring it bout: the proclmtion o
the gospel o Christ crucie.
The world’s rejection o the cross
Non-Christians have never been impressed by the cross.
Archaeologists discovered some second-century grati in
Rome mking un o young mn bowing own beore
gure on a cross, which was drawn with the head o a donkey.
Besie this is the cption: ‘Alexmenos worships Go!’ His
riens clerly thought it ws riiculous tht he shoul be
oolish enough to worship as a god a man who had been
execute s common criminl. Still toy, there re those
who are scornul or dismissive o ‘crosstianity’. They can
unerstn version o Christinity which ocuses on the
moral teaching o Jesus, but have no time or those who
retin the emphsis on Christ s Sviour through his scri-
cial death. Others are simply mystied. Talk o Christ’sgonizing eth being nything other thn trgic ilure
mkes no sense to them.
In worl tht regrs the messge o Christ crucie s
wek n oolish, it will lwys be tempting or Christins to
look elsewhere or the power n wisom we eel we nee
to impress others. Our ttention cn so esily shit rom the
message o the Bible, with its ocus on the saving work o Christ through the cross, to other preoccupations. This devel-
opment will oten be justied as the result o the Spirit’s
leing or n increse in spiritul mturity, but in relity it is
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 14/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
prompte by the minset o the non-Christin worl. Pul’s
teching in 1 Corinthins 1 – 2 mkes it very cler tht true
spiritual power and wisdom are ound in Christ and the
messge o the cross.
A goo test, thereore, o ny movement or messge tht
claims to be spiritual is to ask, ‘Does this point me to the
crucied Christ and encourage me to grow in knowledge and
love o him, to serve him and imitate him?’ I not, it does not
come rom the Holy Spirit, however impressive it may appear.
We must be on our guard against any departure rom a ocuson Christ n the cross, whether it is cuse by eliberte
decision or a gradual drit which fows rom a orm o
spiritul mnesi.
Spiritual amnesia
Ater some introductory words, Paul begins his letter byexpressing his concern about reports he had heard o the
divisions in the Corinthian church: ‘My brothers and sisters,
some rom Chloe’s househol hve inorme me tht there
re qurrels mong you. Wht I men is this: One o you
says, “I ollow Paul”; another, “I ollow Apollos”; another, “I
ollow Cephas”; still another, “I ollow Christ.” ’ (1 Corinthians1:11–12).
Travelling philosophers were common in Greek society,
each proclaiming their particular brand o wisdom or lie.
Those with academic pretensions would attach themselves to
one o these and to the school o philosophy they represented.
It was a orm o one-upmanship, with dierent groups arguing
or the superiority o their wy o thinking n intellectulheroes. What shocked Paul so much was that this worldly
ctionlism h entere the Corinthin church.
There is no hint in the letter as to what the dierent groups
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 15/31
Authentic church
stood or. As ar as we can tell, Paul, Apollos and Cephas
(Peter) i not ier on ny signicnt theologicl question.
In act, Paul stresses in 1 Corinthians 3 that God worked both
through him, in planting the church, and through Apollos,
who succeeded the apostle as its leader, in establishing it (3:6).
It is most likely, thereore, tht the ctions in Corinth were
ivie, not by octrine, but by minset; inste o ocusing
on Christ they exalted human leaders, adopted them as heroes
n plce them on peestls. Pul is horrie: ‘I ppel to
you, brothers and sisters, in the name o our Lord Jesus Christ,tht ll o you gree with one nother in wht you sy n
that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perectly
unite in min n thought’ (1:10).
We cn imgine the ierent groups in the church: PPT
(Pauline Preaching Trust) and ARM (Apollos Renewal
Ministries), each with its own oce with posters o the great
leader on the walls and piles o photographs ready to be sentto donors. They assumed they would be fattered: ‘We’ve
read all your books, Paul, and downloaded every sermon;
we’re even thinking o calling our church St Paul’s. You’d like
that, wouldn’t you?’ But Paul is ar rom impressed; the
Corinthians ocused on their heroes, Paul, Apollos and
Cephas, but he wants to bring them back to Christ alone. Jesus Christ is mentioned eleven times in the rst nine verses
o the letter. It is likely tht ‘I ollow Christ’ in 1:12 is not
reerence to a ourth group, but rather Paul’s indignant
response to the other personlity cults: ‘You ollow Apollos,
Cephs n even me, but s or me, I ollow Christ – n so
shoul you.’
Paul took the actions in Corinth very seriously, becausethey were showing symptoms o spiritual amnesia. They had
orgotten the power o Paul’s message o Christ crucied,
through which they had been converted, and had chosen
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 16/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
inste to ocus on corrupte version o Christinity tht
tted better with the worldly ways o thinking that were
popular. They thought that by so doing they had grown in
power and wisdom, but in act they had oreited both. In
1 Corinthians 1 – 2, the apostle corrects their thinking by
stressing two importnt truths:
True power is oun in wekness.1.
True wisom is receive by reveltion.2.
. True power is ound in weakness (:8 – :5)
Ater Pul h let them, the Corinthins begn to eel tht
his understated style o ministry and his message, which
ocused on Christ’s cross, was too weak to make much o an
impact on sophisticated Corinth. They were increasingly
drawn to the emerging leaders in the church who had
more in common with the wisdom teachers who were so
popular in the Greek world and gave people what they
demanded: clever arguments and impressive oratory (that is,
the wy n ie ws presente ws s importnt s the ie
itsel ). No doubt a personality cult attached itsel to the
most ble Christin prechers, s it i to the best trvelling
philosophers, who coul gther lrge uiences n receivehigh ees.
Supercilly it must hve looke s i these new leers in
the Corinthian church were brilliantly successul. Perhaps
their congregations were overfowing, and the world had
begun to tke notice o them: they h become personlities
with the rst-century equivalents o their own newspaper
columns and a regular slot on a television discussionprogramme. They appeared to be ar more powerul than
Pul, whose messge o Christ crucie h been ismisse
by most in Corinth; but the apostle urged the Corinthians not
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 17/31
Authentic church
to be taken in, or God’s understanding o power is very
dierent rom the world’s. By adopting human wisdom, these
new leaders had in act oreited God’s power. As Paul himsel
reminded them, he had been commissioned ‘to preach the
gospel – not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross o
Christ be emptie o its power’ (1:17).
The weakness of the cross
The cross, as we have already seen, has always attracted
strong responses. I remember one brillint stuent exclim-ing contemptuously, ‘That’s ridiculous’, ater I had explained
tht we cn only be cceptble to Go becuse Jesus Christ
died or sinners on the cross to take the punishment we
deserved. Another clergyman told me why he and others had
so strongly opposed a church plant we had started: ‘The truth
is, Vaughan,’ he said, ‘we hate your theology.’ He was
speaking, above all, about the message o the cross. The
Bible’s teching tht we ll eserve Go’s jugment or our
sin, n tht Christ’s eth s substitute is our only hope,
ws eeply oensive to him.
While some ismiss the cross, others know tht they owe
everything to it. Our church recently bptize teen people
in the River Thames. They were a diverse group: a ew raisedin atheistic China, one rom the local council estate and some
brilliant young British students, yet all spoke o how they had
been trnsorme by the sme messge o Christ crucie.
As Paul puts it, ‘The message o the cross is oolishness to
those who re perishing, but to us who re being sve it is
the power o Go’ (1:18).
The power of the cross
What is our strategy in the huge task o seeking to win
our riends and neighbours or Christ and reaching out to our
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 18/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
ntion n the wier worl? Churches re quick to rely on
money, impressive builings n cpble st members, but
these hve no power in themselves. Nor o the techniques
tht come in n out o shion, n on which we plce so
much emphasis: church growth principles, cell churches,
seeker services or planting. They have their place but at their
best they re simply vehicles or the communiction o the
messge tht is Go’s power: the cross o Christ.
The messge o the cross is not wht the worl is sking
or: ‘Jews emn signs n Greeks look or wisom’ (1:22).Still today there are many who expect God to prove his
existence by supernturl isply, like the mn who shoute
t me when I ws preching in the open ir, ‘Prove Go; you
cn’t, cn you?’ Others look or version o Christinity tht
stises them intellectully n ts with the worl’s current
mindset, and there are plenty o proessing Christians who are
prepre to give them wht they wnt. The result is n ems-
culte gospel, robbe o nything tht might cuse oence.
It is sot on sin n jugment, strong on rmtion, without
any call or repentance (‘God loves you just as you are – you’re
wonerul!’), n explicitly enies the uniqueness o Christ,
who is oere s just one o mny pths up the mountin to
Go. This new gospel, which relly is no gospel t ll, my bepopulr, especilly when ttrctively pckge, but it hs no
spiritual power. I we want to see people saved rom God’s
wrath and reconciled to him, we must resist the temptation to
give people what they want and instead ollow Paul’s example:
‘We preach Christ crucied: a stumbling block to Jews and
oolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power o God and thewisdom o God. For the oolishness o God is wiser than
human wisdom, and the weakness o God is stronger
thn humn strength’ (1:23–25).
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 19/31
Authentic church
The weakness of preaching . . . and its power
I we wnt to be spiritully powerul, mking n impct on
the world as individuals and churches, we must be willing to
be weak. God’s power works through weak people proclaim-
ing a seemingly weak message, which is oten dismissed and
despised by the world. Hudson Taylor, the great nineteenth-
century missionary to China, was right when he said, ‘All
God’s giants have been weak people.’ That is the result
o God’s deliberate strategy: ‘God chose the oolish things o
the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak thingso the worl to shme the strong’ (1:27). I he h ecie to
save people by depending on the brilliant intellect and oratory
o especially able preachers, they would receive much o the
credit, but as it is, ‘No one may boast beore him’ (1:29), and
ll the glory goes to Go.
When Paul rst visited Corinth, he knew that he would
be r more cceptble i he gve people the humn wisom
they wnte: the kin o teching they were use to, with
Christian veneer, attractively presented in impressive oratory.
However, he deliberately resisted that temptation: ‘When I
came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom
as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved
to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ andhim crucie’ (2:1–2).
It is no surprise that Paul entered the city ‘with much
trembling’ becuse the worl htes the messge o the cross,
dismissing it as weak and oolish. And yet, God worked mightily
through him n mny were converte: ‘My messge n my
preching were not with wise n persusive wors, but with
a demonstration o the Spirit’s power, so that your aith mightnot rest on humn wisom, but on Go’s power’ (2:4–5).
The apostle is hoping that this reminder o the remarkable
story o the establishment o their church will awaken the
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 20/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
Corinthians rom their spiritual amnesia and prompt them to
return to the messge through which they were converte.
Tht is chllenge neee by every genertion o believers.
The devil will always do everything he can to divert the church
rom the cross. We can hear his voice whenever we are encour-
aged to believe those scholars who caricature the glorious
octrine o Christ ying in our plce to tke our punishment
s primitive n unbiblicl. An we shoul recognize his evil
scheming behind every temptation to sideline the message o
Christ crucied and rely instead on human personalities,wisdom, techniques or oratory to make an impact on the
world. Let us never orget that true power is ound in the
wekness o the cross.
. True wisdom is received by revelation (:–)
The wisdom of the cross
The worl my ismiss the gospel o the cross o Christ s
oolish, but Pul insists tht his messge is in ct wise: ‘We
do, however, speak a message o wisdom among the mature’
(2:6). His words contain an implicit rebuke to the Corinthians:
i they relly were spiritully mture, s they clime, they
would recognize the wisdom o the gospel, but worldlypeople like them are unable to see it. The cross is God’s
‘wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden’ (2:7), which cannot
be iscovere or unerstoo by humn brin power lone.
Living in n intellectul centre like Oxor, I m boun to
cknowlege tht humn wisom hs chieve much. It ws
here in 1662 that Robert Boyle devised his law o gas expansion
tht gve birth to the ge o stem, n in 1785 tht EmunCartwright invented the power loom, which launched the
Inustril Revolution. Who knows wht chievements my
ollow in the uture – cure or AIDS or cncer, perhps? But
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 21/31
Authentic church
despite its ne record and the brilliance o the minds gathered
in my home city, there is one discovery which Oxord will
never be ble to bost: the truth bout Go. The worl in its
wisdom has split the atom, put men on the moon and created
rticil intelligence, but it cnnot tell us wht Go is like or
how we cn know him.
The Spirit reveals God’s wisdom
I was once in a taxi in Indonesia with a riend, when we
notice hieous object ngling rom the mirror. Whenthe river tol us it ws his go, my rien ske him i his
god spoke to him. The driver just laughed at what was
obviously a ridiculous idea; but we were then able to tell him
that our God speaks to us. In his amazing grace, God has not
let us in the dark but has chosen to reveal his secret wisdom
to us by his Spirit: ‘ “Wht no eye hs seen, wht no er hs
her, n wht no min hs conceive” – the things Go
hs prepre or those who love him – these re the things
Go hs revele to us by his Spirit’ (2:9–10).
In the remarkable verses that ollow, Paul describes our
stages in the process o the Spirit’s revelation o God’s wisdom
to us:
a) t Sp kows (‘al vlao’)
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 (2:10b–11).
I I concentrte on prticulr imge in my min n then
ask you to tell me what I am thinking about, the best you can
o is guess. You o not know my thoughts, but my spirit, the
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 22/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
inner me, oes. You woul never hve suggeste tht I ws
imagining an elephant balancing on a tennis ball with a crown
on its he, but my spirit shres tht knowlege with me.
In a similar way, no-one knows the Father’s thoughts except
the Spirit. We may call this ‘internal revelation’. God him-
sel knows what he is thinking; his word is understood by
his Spirit.
b) t Sp vals (aposol vlao)
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who
is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us
(2:12).
The Spirit oes not keep his knowlege o Go’s wisom to
himsel, but revels it to those Pul reers to s ‘we’. It is true
tht ll Christins receive Go’s Spirit n re thereore bleto understand his word, but the context here suggests that
Paul is reerring chiefy to himsel and his ellow apostles, who
rst receive the reveltion o the gospel. He seems to use ‘I’
n ‘we’ interchngebly in this section, reerring to himsel
in the rst person singular in 2:1–5, switching to the plural
‘we’ in 2:6–16 n then reverting to ‘I’ in 3:1. He is mking bold personal claim: that the message he and the other apostles
received was not invented by them but was rather revealed by
the Spirit. Pul is not religious genius; he is recipient o
ivine reveltion.
) t Sp sps (spal vlao)
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but
in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual realities with
Spirit-taught words (2:13).
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 23/31
Authentic church
Pul i not keep his Go-given knowlege o the gospel to
himsel, but rather passed it on to others. As he did so, the
Spirit who entruste him with the messge lso ensure tht
he psse it on ccurtely, giving him the very wors to sy.
Tht is why we cn trust the New Testment, conent tht
it is not simply humn book, but tht Go spoke through
those who wrote it, ensuring that they said exactly what he
wanted them to say. The Holy Spirit is the divine author o the
Bible n so, i we wish to live by the Spirit, we must listen to
its messge. We shoul certinly resist the kin o tlk I hvesometimes heard: ‘I know the Bible teaches X, but I believe
the Spirit is telling us Y.’ That must be wrong because the Holy
Spirit inspire the Bible n will not contrict himsel. The
voice o the Spirit is oun in the teching o Scripture.
d) t Sp llms (dvdal vlao)
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from
the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand
them because they are discerned only through the Spirit (2:14).
Since the all, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God,
humn nture hs been corrupte so tht we re by ntureworlly in our thinking. We re unble to unerstn Go’s
wisom but rther ismiss it s oolish nonsense. However,
‘the spiritual man’, the Christian who has received God’s Holy
Spirit, ‘makes judgments about all things’ (2:15). The word
‘judgments’ comes rom the same root as the word translated
‘discerned’ in the previous verse. While the natural man,
without the Spirit, hs no spiritul iscernment n cnnotunerstn or ccept Go’s truth, the Christin is ble to see
things clerly. For ‘who hs known the min o the Lor so
s to instruct him?’ (2:16). Pul expects us to reply, ‘No-one.’
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 24/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
None o us by nture knows Go’s thoughts. ‘But,’ he con-
tinues, ‘we hve the min o Christ’ (2:16). By the mircle o
new birth, light hs fooe into our rk mins, so tht ll
who belong to Christ cn see things rom his perspective. As
result o our conversion, we no longer n the Bible e
book; it hs come live. We cn now recognize the messge
o the cross or wht it is: Go’s power n wisom.
This whole pssge is esigne to correct the Corinthins’
alse view o spirituality. They thought they were mature and
spiritul, possibly becuse they believe they h receive new revelation rom the Spirit that had raised them to an élite
spiritual plane, above Paul and other ordinary Christians
whom they judged inerior. Paul responds by insisting that
the truly spiritul person hs not receive some extr revel-
tion, but is rather the Christian who has been enabled to
unerstn n ccept Go’s wisom: the messge o Christ
crucied revealed by the Spirit to the apostles and now ound
in the Bible.
It is very importnt tht we grsp this truth. There is no
eeper reveltion o the Spirit beyon the reveltion o the
Bible. The authentic work o the Spirit is seen, not when
people get excited by some new message or miracle, but
rather when their eyes are opened and their hearts lled withn ever-eepening pprecition o the Bible’s teching bout
what God has done or them in Christ and a growing longing
to live in the light o ll they hve receive rom him.
Pul’s teching in these rst two chpters o 1 Corinthins
contins importnt chllenges or us toy:
Expect to be consiere oolish.•
Don’t look or short cuts to spiritul power.•
Never ivie the Spirit n the wor.•
Alwys keep the ocus on Christ crucie.•
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 25/31
Authentic church
Expect to be considered oolish
In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins dismisses the message
o the cross s ‘vicious, so-msochistic n repellent’. He
continues, ‘We should also dismiss it as barking mad, but or
its ubiquitous amiliarity which has dulled our objectivity. I
Go wnte to orgive our sins, why not just orgive them,
without having himsel tortured and executed in payment?’
That is a particularly strong expression o a widely held view.
The worl cnnot unerstn the messge o the cross n
rejects it s oolish nonsense. We shoul not be surprise,thereore, i we ourselves are regarded with a mixture o
conusion n contempt or holing to the gospel o Christ
crucie n trying to explin it to others.
When I nnounce tht I ws no longer going to pursue
legl creer but woul become pstor inste, one mily
rien recte with horror. ‘Tht is the en!’ she shoute. It
me no sense to her tht I shoul give up the possibility o
a job with high status and pay to preach the Christian message.
‘Wht wste!’ She coul see the vlue o legl creer, but
wht ws the use o being precher?
It is always hard when amily members, colleagues or
riends cannot understand why we are so gripped by the
gospel. They think we hve lost our mins n even beentaken in by a cult. The result can be a painul sense o loneli-
ness and disconnection rom those around us. Although that
is hard, it should be expected. The wisdom o this world,
corrupte by the ll, will lwys regr the cross s wek
and oolish. We only recognize its power and wisdom because
o the miraculous work o God’s Spirit in open-
ing our eyes to understand the truth. Until that miracleoccurs in the lives o others, we should expect them to
be mystied by us and even contemptuous. Surely this
shoul be spur to us to pry tht Go woul hve mercy
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 26/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
on them n enble them to see or themselves the woner
o the cross.
Don’t look or short cuts to spiritual power
My prie bristles when I sense tht I m being consiere
weak or oolish because o my Christian aith. The immediate
tempttion is to prove the other person wrong by trying to
impress them in worlly wys. I might tlk bout the lrge
numbers who come to our church, the size o the sta team
or the new congregtions we hve plnte n builings wehve bought, hoping they will be struck by how successul
we re. Or I might use clever rguments n show o how
much I have read, so that they will know that I am intelligent
n knowlegeble. But even i I chieve my gol n they
are impressed by my personality and abilities, they are no
more likely to become Christians. The power does not lie in
mysel and anything I am, have or do. Only God can achievethe miracle o conversion as, by his Spirit, he opens blind
eyes to see the glories o the crucie n risen Christ.
We woul be wrong to tke this principle to n extreme
n conclue, or exmple, tht it leves little or no room or
pologetics (the use o resoning to rgue or the vliity o
the Christin ith). Luke explicitly tells us tht Pul himsel ‘resone in the syngogue’ when he visite Corinth, ‘trying
to persue Jews n Greeks’ o the truth o the gospel (Acts
18:4). There will be mny circumstnces in which wise evn-
gelism emns the use o rtionl rgument.
We will meet some people who re convince tht Chris-
tianity cannot be true because, or example, they believe there
is contriction between science n ith, or tht the NewTestment is not historiclly relible. Others re so content
with their own world-view that they will not be willing to
consider the Christian alternative unless we chip away at their
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 27/31
Authentic church
certainties. Even those who are prepared to hear the Christian
message may raise objections that cannot just be ignored.
Faithul evangelism does not mean simply repeating a
ormulic presenttion o the ABC o the gospel. We hve to
use our minds so we can engage intelligently with alternatives
to Christinity n objections to it but, s we o so, we must
not orget tht we will not convert nyone through the bril-
lince o our rguments. Apologetics shoul never be n en
in itsel, but rather a tool that is prayerully and humbly
employe s mens o bringing people to the messge o Christ crucied. Conversion is achieved not by intellectual
persusion, but rther by the mirculous power o the Spirit,
enbling sinners to believe the gospel.
Never divide the Spirit and the word
It is common to hear o Christians dividing the word and the
Spirit, and saying, or example, ‘St X’s church is strong on
the Spirit, but St Y’s is strong on the word.’ However, the
Bible does not allow us to separate the word and the Spirit in
that way. I a church is led by the Spirit, it will surely be
committe to lerning rom the Bible, which is inspire by
the Spirit; and i it is serious about the Bible, it must also long
to live by the Spirit, to whom Go’s wor points so clerly.The Corinthians claimed to be spiritual, but had drited
rom Christ crucied, so Paul directs them back to the message
o Scripture. His wors in 2:14 woul hve hurt those who
prided themselves on how spiritual they were: ‘The man
without the Spirit oes not ccept the things tht come rom
the Spirit o God, or they are oolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spirituallyiscerne.’ The impliction is cler. The postle is sying, ‘I
you cn’t ccept the messge o Go’s reveltion in Scripture
bout Christ crucie, which is Go’s wisom, tht suggests
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 28/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
you o not hve the Spirit t ll, s it is only by the Spirit tht
we cn receive tht messge.’
Truly spiritual people do not abandon or contradict the
teaching o the Bible, but rather make every eort to hear and
obey its message. I you want to nd a Spirit-lled church,
look or one which tkes the Bible very seriously n gives
time to hering Go spek through it. Tht will be church
where the sermon is central to its meeting and not a platorm
or the prechers to put orwr their own ies, but rther
ithul exposition o the truth o Scripture.Some proessing Christins clim tht the Bible is out o
te n so they opt new unerstnings o Go’s will. As
result, they eel ree to reject the cler teching o the Bible
whenever it clshes with the ominnt views o our culture,
or exmple, with regr to sexul immorlity or the unique-
ness o Christ. They may claim that God’s Spirit has led them
to their reinterpretation o the aith, but Paul’s teaching in
1 Corinthians is against them. We are not ree to produce our
own iniviul contemporry versions o Christinity; true
spiritulity recognizes the reveltion o Go communicte
by the Spirit through the apostles in the Bible and seeks to
submit to it.
It is not just those who overtly put Scripture aside who canle us rom the pths o true spiritulity. We shoul lso be
wary o the danger posed by those who may uphold the
Bible’s teching in theory n yet in prctice prech very
dierent message. We should not be dazzled by the brilliance
o prechers, their populrity, the mircles they my clim
to hve perorme or the number o people who spek o
the spiritul benet they hve receive rom their ministry.Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 1 – 2 urges us to keep a
cler he n sk o ny church or leer: Is their im to sit
uner the teching o the Bible n proclim wht it sys,
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 29/31
Authentic church
rather than dismiss and distort it? And does their message
ocus on the Lor Jesus Christ n his cross? I not, it comes
rom humn wisom, not Go’s; it is worlliness, not true
spiritulity.
Always keep the ocus on Christ crucifed
Pul’s resolution s he entere Corinth ‘to know nothing . . .
except Jesus Christ and him crucied’ (2:2) presents a challeng-
ing example or us. We must not take his words as a justication
or a wooden orm o evangelism which makes no real attemptto engge with people or listen to them, but just recites the
same ew basic truths at every opportunity. It is very clear rom
Luke’s account o his missionary journeys in Acts,
and rom his own letters, that Paul sought to teach people ‘the
whole will o God’ (Acts 20:27) when he taught them
the gospel and presented it in a variety o ways, depending on
his audience. We should not, thereore, understand him to be
sying in 1 Corinthins 2:2 tht he only ever spoke bout the
cross o Christ when he ws in Corinth n not, or exmple,
his incrntion, resurrection, scension or return s well. In
act, later on he explicitly states that the resurrection was
centrl to his messge (15:3–4). Pul’s eclr tion shoul be
tken rther s n expression o his etermintion never to be efecte rom the centrl importnce o the cross in his
lie n preching, espite its unpopulrity in the worl. We
too shoul mke the sme resolution.
I vivily remember the rst time the Holy Spirit opene
my eyes to understand the amazing truth that Christ had died
or me. Until then Go h been rther istnt gure who
let me cold, but now I knew that he was my Father who lovedme so much tht he h sent his only Son to ie or me. Such
love blew my min n sotene my hert to love Go like I
h never one beore. It is lwys chllenging to remember
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 30/31
The Cross of Christ, Not Human Wisdom
those erly ys ter my conversion n sk mysel i I m
still s thrille by the messge o the cross s I ws then.
O course, it is right to seek to grow in unerstning o
the depth and breadth o the Bible’s teaching, but that growth
must lwys spring rom the ountion o the messge o
Christ crucie. I some new teching or movement, which
claims to be rom the Spirit, has led me to shit my ocus away
rom the crucie Christ, I shoul be concerne. The Holy
Spirit will keep pointing me back to the cross, enabling me to
elight in it mysel, s well s prompting me to point othersto it. We shoul pry tht the Holy Spirit woul enble us to
keep proclaiming the praises o the crucied Christ all our
ys on erth until we join the chorus o heven: ‘Worthy is
the Lmb, who ws slin’ (Reveltion 5:12).
8/4/2019 Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits by Vaughan Roberts
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/authentic-church-true-spirituality-in-a-culture-of-counterfeits-by-vaughan 31/31
Authentic church
Bible study ( Corinthians – )
In wht circumstnces re you me to eel wek n1.
oolish s Christins by the unbelieving worl?Re through 1 Corinthins 1 – 2. Which wors n2.
themes re repete?
1:17–31
Wht oes Pul men by ‘the wisom o the worl’3.
(1:20)? Wht re its limittions?Wht o you lern bout true spiritul power n4.
wisom?
Do people still seek ‘signs’ n ‘wisom’ (1:22)? In wht5.
wys re you tempte to give them wht they wnt?
2:1–5
Wht i it men or Pul ‘to know nothing . . . except6. Jesus Christ n him crucie’ (2:2) when he visite
Corinth?
Wht will the sme ttitue men or us toy?7.
2:6–16
How oes Go revel his wisom to us?8.
Wht is the reltionship between the Spirit n the9.
Bible?
Wht re the prcticl implictions o these truths or us?10.
Finally . . .
Wht hve you lernt bout true spiritulity rom these11.
chpters?Wht lterntive thinking oes this chllenge?12.