Hundredfold Discipleship in 1 Corinthians 13—Part 2
September 18, 2006
Dear Friends
Last week we starting looking at Hundredfold Disciple in 1 Corinthians 13. We pick here with the third quality described in the chapter.
Quality #3: “I give my body to be burned.†Once again, this is not metaphorical language. Believers have been burned alive from the crucifixion until today. The historian Tacitus relates the following account of a persecution in Paul’s day by Nero.
Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames. These served to illuminate the night when daylight failed.
I’ve had a few minor burns in my life; mostly on my hands, arms or feet. I have even burned my tongue a few times on hot food. The one thing I can tell you from my limited experience is that there are few things that hurt as much as getting burned. Imagine the faith it takes to voluntarily give yourself to be burned alive as did Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego rather than betray your faith.
If a Hundredfold Disciple will chose death by burning rather than the betrayal of their Lord, how much more will they gladly give up their lives in the face of common, everyday betrayal; namely those things which deprive the Lord of our praise, worship, time, service and energy?
Quality #4: “Is not boastful or conceited . . . never rude and never seeks its own advantage.†(NJB) The distinction focused on here between a Hundredfold Disciple and the rest is self- centeredness. Boasting, conceit, rudeness and putting our own needs ahead of others are a sure sign of immaturity in Christ. Discipleship without humility is like trying to compete in a horserace on foot—you are not going to get anywhere fast and may get trampled in the process. We need to put to death our “self†and replace it with Christ.
Under the Law of Moses, a person was commanded to put their neighbor’s needs on par with their own needs. Christ gave his disciples a new commandment that they put their neighbor’s needs above their own. While an “everyday, common household†disciple may try to put these concepts into action, it will not manifest itself in everyday practice. Mess with one of our pet peeves or idiosyncrasies and all of a sudden seeking advantage comes to the fore. Push one of our hot buttons and rudeness appears from no where. It takes a very strong person in the faith to honestly and sincerely always seek the well- being of others and know that God is the source of all strength.
Quality #5: “Does not take offence or store up grievances.†Do you know believers who are offended all the time for the slightest little thing? How about someone who never forgives? It is so hard to function around them because you are always walking on egg shells. They will either get offended with some new perceived slight or dredge up some long past offense. This is so tremendously detrimental to the furtherance and spread of the Gospel. It hinders a fully-functioning, loving ecclesial environment where people can grow in grace, righteousness and knowledge of the Lord. People will not want to be in a place where they are placed on egg shells.
The Hundredfold Disciple has some very thick skin. As active disciples for the Lord, they are well aware that they are setting themselves up for criticism just as their Master was criticized. They are focused on the “big picture†and are so selfless that personal insults are quickly forgiven and forgotten. All of those slights—perceived or real—will be taken care of by the Lord. Forgive as we have been forgiven. Suffer yourself to be wronged. In the long run, God will make everything right. It is not worth our time or effort to take our efforts off of fruit-production for the Lord to worry about such things.
Again, we are not suggesting that this is easy to do. This is a quality of someone who can produce a bumper crop for the Lord and, as such, something we should all strive to attain.
Have a great week,
