Monday 11/10/14

This week’s Monday Morning Bible Breakdown is on the second reading from last night: 1 Corinthians 3:9C-11, 16-17.

Brothers and sisters:
You are God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building upon it.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

I really like this passage because it operates in layers. At the topmost layer, it is a message from Paul to the Church at Corinth instructing them to take care how they build the Church. Take away a layer, and you have a personal message to the individuals of Corinth. If you keep going, you get a message about the Universal Church. There is even a layer for the contemporary reader. The presence of these layers is one of the reasons that we say the Sacred Scripture is alive. Even though this was written nearly two thousand years ago, it is still relevant to us today.

Let’s start at the top and work our way through. Paul’s letter was written to a very specific audience, the Church he founded at Corinth. Corinth was a Greek city a bit west of Athens. The Churches founded by Paul were interesting faith groups. They were often operated out of the home of a wealthy patron. They were usually also very small. Often, all of the worshippers would know one another on a personal level. It was a small, tight knit community, without much tradition to build upon. They were figuring it out (with guidance from Paul and his letters) as they went. As a result, the complexion, attitudes, and ideas of the group could change very quickly. Paul’s purpose here is to remind them of what little tradition they have, and anchor them to it. He tells them that Christ laid the foundation of the Church, and that he (Paul) helped lay the foundation of their specific Church at Corinth. Though everyone adds to the Church with their presence, worship, and ministry, they must be careful how they build, and must remain rooted to their foundation. He goes on to tell the Church at Corinth that they are the temple of God. He tells them that they have the Spirit in their Church. He warns that if anyone destroys the temple (their faith community) that they will be destroyed themselves. This is not just an assurance that they won’t be attacked by people outside the community. It is also a warning to those within the Church itself who may try to move the Church away from the foundation of Christ and risk its ruin.

At the same time all of this lecturing about the hierarchy of the Church in Corinth is going on, Paul is sending a message to the individual people in the pews. He is telling them each that they, as individuals, are temples of God. God laid the foundation for each of them when He created their souls. When they were born, their parents built upon the foundations. When they became young adults, they began to build on their own foundations. In this layer, Paul is warning the individuals of the Church of Corinth not to stray from their spiritual foundation in Christ. He is urging them to stay close to the Church where their spirituality can grow strong and sturdy. The second part of the passage serves as a protection for the individual. It guarantees that those who harm the faithful will not go unpunished and also tells the individual members of the Church at Corinth that they must take care not to destroy themselves with unholy thoughts or actions. They must keep their spirituality rooted firmly in Christ and not give in to the passing fads of spirituality which could be present in ancient Greece.

Another layer speaks to the Universal Church. The Universal Church was founded by Christ on the cross. Through His death and resurrection, He laid the foundation for our faith. Like the Church at Corinth, we all add something to this Universal Church, but we must be careful that what we add is helpful and builds on the foundation rather than takes away from it. On this level, the passage becomes a warning to those who hold and teach the faith to ensure orthodoxy and fidelity to the doctrine and dogma of the Church.

This passage is still very relevant to us today. The assertion that our body is a temple means that we must treat it accordingly. Just as we are to be good stewards of the earth, we are to be good stewards of our bodies. We must ensure that we are taking care of ourselves physically as well as spiritually. We must also be mindful of how we build up our lives, and make sure that we are centered on Christ.

In the end of the passage, Paul calls us all to holiness. He wants us all to know that holiness is not just for the Priest, Bishop, and Pope, but for every last one of us. Prayer should not be reserved just for Sunday, but should be a part of our everyday lives. We are all called to be holy because each one of us is founded in God and by God. Let us always try to do our best to live accordingly.