Apostolic Agriculture
The church in the Greek city of Corinth had plenty of "issues". We know about some of those issues as a result of a careful reading of the letters written to the church by Paul the Apostle. Granted, Paul's assessment of the Corinthian situation was skewed by virtue of his own involvement as a teacher in the congregation through the years. Nevertheless, his attempts to offer the congregation guidance in form of the letters we now know as 1 & 2 Corinthians give us, not only an insight into the difficulties of congregational life back then, but also underscores the common themes of congregational communal life which are remarkably consistent over the course of centuries.
In this coming Sunday's reading assigned by the lectionary, we read Paul's attempt to address a tendency among the Corinthians toward partisanship. Apparently there was some conflict around which of the itinerant teachers who had been a part of their communal life should hold the most influence on doctrine and practice. Some were for Peter. Some were for Apollos. Some were for Paul. Some members of the congregation seem to have claimed a direct encounter with Christ (even though the Crucifixion and Resurrection had occurred at least 15 years prior to the time of the letter).
At the beginning of chapter 3, Paul asserts that this partisanship merely demonstrates the congregation's immaturity -- spiritual infants who required "milk" in spite of the expectation that they would be munching on the "meatier" issues of the spiritual life. Then, using an agricultural metaphor, Paul puts all of the teachers on a par with one another. Even if each of the teachers had brought different gifts to the "field" which was the church at Corinth, no one of them could claim primacy -- simply because the only way a church could grow was by virtue of God's quickening Spirit in the life of the congregation. Everyone gets a job, but God gets the glory, because God gave the growth.
Recently I was in a church building and happened to walk around a corner and down a hall only to be confronted with two rows of pictures (portraits really). One row contained the portraits of the men (and only men to this point) who had served the parish in the role of rector through the years of the parish's existence. The other row contained the portraits of the men (and only men to this point) who had served that diocese as its bishop. I had an immediate reaction. "The spirit of Corinth lives!" I thought to myself.
Now some would argue that to have these portraits hanging on the wall in an out of the way hallway somehow "honors" the history of that particular parish. My guess is there are still parishioners in this location who have some interesting stories to tell about the last 3 rectors and (at least) the last couple of bishops. My argument is such a "hall of fame" mentality puts the focus in the wrong place.
Over the time of any congregation's existence there have been some priests/bishops who have had a positive impact on its communal life. Others have hand an impact which could be viewed as less-than-positive. In the final analysis though, priests and bishops are farmers -- planting the seed of the Gospel, watering it, maybe doing a bit of weeding here and there, fertilizing the soil, protecting the plants from the plague of all sorts of insects. With the ecclesiastical gardening tools, clergy-types do their work of encouragement and exhortation, all the while having very little clue how it will all work out.
There are no guarantees in apostolic agriculture. But I think what Paul was attempting to cajole the Corinthians into understanding was that no one is more important than anyone else. The personality of the farmer has no bearing upon the bountifulness of the harvest. That's out of our hands. We can plant. We can water. But God gives the growth! (The sort of growth that can't be captured in a picture frame.)
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building. -- 1 Corinthians 3:6-9
The church in the Greek city of Corinth had plenty of "issues". We know about some of those issues as a result of a careful reading of the letters written to the church by Paul the Apostle. Granted, Paul's assessment of the Corinthian situation was skewed by virtue of his own involvement as a teacher in the congregation through the years. Nevertheless, his attempts to offer the congregation guidance in form of the letters we now know as 1 & 2 Corinthians give us, not only an insight into the difficulties of congregational life back then, but also underscores the common themes of congregational communal life which are remarkably consistent over the course of centuries.
In this coming Sunday's reading assigned by the lectionary, we read Paul's attempt to address a tendency among the Corinthians toward partisanship. Apparently there was some conflict around which of the itinerant teachers who had been a part of their communal life should hold the most influence on doctrine and practice. Some were for Peter. Some were for Apollos. Some were for Paul. Some members of the congregation seem to have claimed a direct encounter with Christ (even though the Crucifixion and Resurrection had occurred at least 15 years prior to the time of the letter).
At the beginning of chapter 3, Paul asserts that this partisanship merely demonstrates the congregation's immaturity -- spiritual infants who required "milk" in spite of the expectation that they would be munching on the "meatier" issues of the spiritual life. Then, using an agricultural metaphor, Paul puts all of the teachers on a par with one another. Even if each of the teachers had brought different gifts to the "field" which was the church at Corinth, no one of them could claim primacy -- simply because the only way a church could grow was by virtue of God's quickening Spirit in the life of the congregation. Everyone gets a job, but God gets the glory, because God gave the growth.
Recently I was in a church building and happened to walk around a corner and down a hall only to be confronted with two rows of pictures (portraits really). One row contained the portraits of the men (and only men to this point) who had served the parish in the role of rector through the years of the parish's existence. The other row contained the portraits of the men (and only men to this point) who had served that diocese as its bishop. I had an immediate reaction. "The spirit of Corinth lives!" I thought to myself.
Now some would argue that to have these portraits hanging on the wall in an out of the way hallway somehow "honors" the history of that particular parish. My guess is there are still parishioners in this location who have some interesting stories to tell about the last 3 rectors and (at least) the last couple of bishops. My argument is such a "hall of fame" mentality puts the focus in the wrong place.
Over the time of any congregation's existence there have been some priests/bishops who have had a positive impact on its communal life. Others have hand an impact which could be viewed as less-than-positive. In the final analysis though, priests and bishops are farmers -- planting the seed of the Gospel, watering it, maybe doing a bit of weeding here and there, fertilizing the soil, protecting the plants from the plague of all sorts of insects. With the ecclesiastical gardening tools, clergy-types do their work of encouragement and exhortation, all the while having very little clue how it will all work out.
There are no guarantees in apostolic agriculture. But I think what Paul was attempting to cajole the Corinthians into understanding was that no one is more important than anyone else. The personality of the farmer has no bearing upon the bountifulness of the harvest. That's out of our hands. We can plant. We can water. But God gives the growth! (The sort of growth that can't be captured in a picture frame.)
posted by FrGaryB | 9:01 PM
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