We are studying through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians at our church right now. Let me tell you, that church was a mess!

A lot of times, I hear people say that they want to get back to the way the church was in the first century. And while the church in the book of Acts is a great model, and definitely something to strive for, the church in Corinth wasn’t living up to that image. In fact, it was pretty messed up.

The believers in the church in Corinth were not behaving as believers should. They were suing each other. They were arguing with each other over petty things. They were disrupting the flow of worship during their services. They were treating others with disregard and disrespect. They were divisive and not living in unity. They were tolerating immoral sexual relationships within their midst. They weren’t tithing. They were no longer preaching the gospel.

They were, simply, a mess.

But as you read Paul’s letter to this new, fledgling, church in Corinth, you see a few things that are stunning in their beauty. And by the end of the letter, it is amazing.

Paul begins by addressing the lack of unity. He moves on to their unwillingness to preach the gospel, and then to the divisions within the church. From there he addresses immorality and lawsuits. But as you progress through the letter, you start to see the opposite side of all these negative aspects.

Paul addresses marriage in chapter seven. And that is a beautiful description. In chapter eleven, Paul describes how the Lord’s Supper should be taken, and provides a simple and yet profound explanation of what communion portrays.

In chapters twelve and fourteen, Paul describes several different spiritual gifts, with the love chapter, thirteen, right in the middle of it. And finally, in chapter fifteen, Paul gives a lengthy and beautiful description of the resurrection, describing what Christ did, and what that means for believers.

This letter begins with a church that is a tremendous mess. But by the end, you see just how beautiful the mess can be. Jesus comes into the mess and makes it beautiful. In spite of everything that was going wrong, Jesus still loved his bride in Corinth. And he still loves his bride, all around the world, despite how messed up we can be.

And that is truly beautiful.

Question: What is your favorite passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church? You can leave a comment by clicking here.