Horizons — Listen as if the other person might be right

United through Christ, Bound to Each Other: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians
Rhonda Mawhood Lee’s Horizons Bible Study
Lesson 1: 1 Corinthians, Chapters 1 and 2

We are so influenced by our society, aren’t we? Our cultural values shape how we evaluate what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable, even in the church. 

“I’m conservative,” said one person. “I need to find a church that reflects my views.” 

“I looked for a church that is progressive,” said another person. 

Our political views can shape how we think a church should be. We saw this clearly during the height of COVID. Churches divided over whether to hold worship, wear masks during worship, or hold worship without masks. COVID stripped away manners, revealing divisions that persist.

The Corinthian church was no stranger to cultural influences. The Jews brought expectations of what the church should be, and so did the pagans. The Corinthian society valued wealth, sophistication, erudite speech and clawing one’s way to the top. The Corinthian church comprised people from all walks of life: former pagans, Jews, and those who believed in the Jewish God but did not convert. The Greeks and philosophers desired wisdom and well-reasoned speech, while the Jews wanted miraculous signs. The church itself was divided into factions. 

We might think that Paul would begin his letter to the Corinthians by telling them how wrong-headed they are. Instead, Paul reminds them that Christ has brought them together:

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2-3)

We don’t make it into the church because we have passed tests or hold certain views. God brings us together, and our focus is to be on Christ. Paul encourages us to turn our attention to Christ.

Paul begins his letter focusing on Christ and invoking God’s grace and peace on the small church. Paul gives thanks for the grace that God has given them in speech, knowledge and spiritual gifts. 

Paul then launches into the radical, counter-cultural message that God chooses what is weak and despised in the world – the crucified Christ – to bring about God’s purposes. God did not choose the expert or the people with amazing credentials because we tend to see only their qualifications. God chose what is foolish in the eyes of the world to reveal God’s self. God chose ill-spoken Paul to be an ambassador of the gospel, the fractious Corinthians to be a community of faith. 

God chose the cross, which strips away the things we value, so we can experience the power of grace and sacrificial love. At times, we can only experience God’s presence and love when we realize our helplessness or our need for God. A young woman whose father died told me, “I never prayed so hard or felt so close to God as when my father was ill. My soul was bare, and God came to me in my distress.” 

In every age, the crucified Christ is an offense to cultural norms. Christ chose the way of humility, emptying himself of all the status that was his before his incarnation (Philippians 2). 

Years ago, a church facilitator working with a session on future priorities urged us “to listen as if the other person may be right.” Instead of thinking about our response while someone else was speaking, we were to set aside our certainties about what “should” happen. 

I serve on a presbytery committee that assists churches going through conflict. One of our guidelines is “listen as if the other person might be right.” It is a path of Christian humility that lowers tensions and makes room for surprising blessings.

In the midst of the disharmony in the Corinthian church, Paul directs our gaze to Christ, blesses and gives thanks. What could happen if we did the same?

You can purchase the PW/Horizons Bible study book through the PC(USA) Church Store.