"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?"
What the Corinthians had come to understand as being spiritual and mature were, in fact, exaggerations and misunderstandings. In other words, the Corinthians weren’t nearly as spiritual as they thought they were; and, they weren’t nearly as mature as they thought they were.
I'm reminded of the time a few years ago when my family and I attended the Southern Baptist Convention in Pheonix, AZ. We went a few days ahead of the meeting so that we could participate in the evangelistic activities going on all over that part of the state.
We handed out free, cold water on a popular hiking trail...I believe it was called "Camelback Hiking Trail" or something close to that...the water enabled us to show God's love in a tangible way and to connect people to a local Phoenix church by building bridges through kindness and service. I wish you could have seen my daughters (who were a bit younger then) with bottles of water in hand asking, "Would you like some free, cold water?"
As people traveled up the trail, most of them would say, "No, I’m fine." But on the way back down, most of them desperately took the water! Each bottle had labels containing contact information for the church we were working with—Mountain View Baptist Church—and John 4:14 that says "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
I was privileged to talk with one man who received a bottle of water. He asked who we were and why we were doing what we were doing. I explained that we were with Mountain View Baptist Church and that we were giving away water as a tangible expression of God’s love. He was very complimentary and talkative. If you can believe it, I didn’t do most of the talking...in fact, he talked 95% of the time in our 20 minute conversation.
As the gentleman talked, it was apparent that he was familiar with Christian terminology, but he had different definitions for the terms. He talked about Christ, salvation, creation, peace, faith, love--all good Christian terms and concepts. Knowing that Arizona is a breeding ground for New Age beliefs, I asked him, "What’s your path?" In other words, I was asking him where he was headed with his beliefs?...What did he hope to realize in the end? He replied immediately that he was a "Zen Christian."
I wanted to speak his language as I sought to clarify what he had said, so I asked him, "So you’ve merged the Zen Buddhist and Christian philosophies? How’s that working for you?" He went on to explain that Zen Buddhism and Christianity are one and the same.
I don’t have time to detail our conversation completely, but when I turned our focus back onto the historical, factual, biblical "Jesus Christ and Him crucified," he became so angry that he began using profanity. He said, "I’m old enough to be your father. I’ve trained men to kill on the battlefield. I’ve watched as men died in war. I’ve had broken marriages. I was a 'Jesus Freak' in the early-70s and traveled all over the country evangelizing. Don’t even begin to think you understand where I’m coming from."
So I said, "So you were a 'Jesus Freak' in the early-70s...you’ve evangelized all over the country...so how did you or why did you move from the simple message of the historical, biblical Jesus to Zen Buddhism?"
You might be wondering why I’m telling you this story, but I tell it now because of the answer the man gave at that point. I asked "How did you or why did you move from the simple message of the historical, biblical Jesus to Zen Buddhism?" He said, and I quote: "Because I grew up!" He said, and I quote (except for the profanity): "You’re just a kid...and if you’ll ever grow up and give up your doctrines and whatever else it is that you think you believe, you’ll understand what I’m saying."
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I was hearing the very same argument that Paul had to contend with and that precipitated the writing of 1 Corinthians. "The message of Jesus is fine...for beginners; but when you grow up, you move on to higher thoughts and higher things!" And in the belief that people become more "connected" to God through nature worship or philosophies such as Zen Buddhism, people are functionally "disconnected" from God because they’ve moved away from "Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
As people traveled up the trail, most of them would say, "No, I’m fine." But on the way back down, most of them desperately took the water! Each bottle had labels containing contact information for the church we were working with—Mountain View Baptist Church—and John 4:14 that says "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
I was privileged to talk with one man who received a bottle of water. He asked who we were and why we were doing what we were doing. I explained that we were with Mountain View Baptist Church and that we were giving away water as a tangible expression of God’s love. He was very complimentary and talkative. If you can believe it, I didn’t do most of the talking...in fact, he talked 95% of the time in our 20 minute conversation.
As the gentleman talked, it was apparent that he was familiar with Christian terminology, but he had different definitions for the terms. He talked about Christ, salvation, creation, peace, faith, love--all good Christian terms and concepts. Knowing that Arizona is a breeding ground for New Age beliefs, I asked him, "What’s your path?" In other words, I was asking him where he was headed with his beliefs?...What did he hope to realize in the end? He replied immediately that he was a "Zen Christian."
I wanted to speak his language as I sought to clarify what he had said, so I asked him, "So you’ve merged the Zen Buddhist and Christian philosophies? How’s that working for you?" He went on to explain that Zen Buddhism and Christianity are one and the same.
I don’t have time to detail our conversation completely, but when I turned our focus back onto the historical, factual, biblical "Jesus Christ and Him crucified," he became so angry that he began using profanity. He said, "I’m old enough to be your father. I’ve trained men to kill on the battlefield. I’ve watched as men died in war. I’ve had broken marriages. I was a 'Jesus Freak' in the early-70s and traveled all over the country evangelizing. Don’t even begin to think you understand where I’m coming from."
So I said, "So you were a 'Jesus Freak' in the early-70s...you’ve evangelized all over the country...so how did you or why did you move from the simple message of the historical, biblical Jesus to Zen Buddhism?"
You might be wondering why I’m telling you this story, but I tell it now because of the answer the man gave at that point. I asked "How did you or why did you move from the simple message of the historical, biblical Jesus to Zen Buddhism?" He said, and I quote: "Because I grew up!" He said, and I quote (except for the profanity): "You’re just a kid...and if you’ll ever grow up and give up your doctrines and whatever else it is that you think you believe, you’ll understand what I’m saying."
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I was hearing the very same argument that Paul had to contend with and that precipitated the writing of 1 Corinthians. "The message of Jesus is fine...for beginners; but when you grow up, you move on to higher thoughts and higher things!" And in the belief that people become more "connected" to God through nature worship or philosophies such as Zen Buddhism, people are functionally "disconnected" from God because they’ve moved away from "Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
The same happens inside local churches sometimes...as professing Christians get too big for their britches, believing they have a direct line to God that others aren't spiritual enough to have. One of the ways that such a spirit is detectable is by the results of their presence and involvement. Paul said, "For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?" When professing Christians get too big for their britches, they bring strife with their presence like a garbage truck brings stink down the street.
In Proverbs 6:17-19, Solomon named seven things that God hates: "Haughty eyes [that's pride], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.” Did you catch that last one? "...and one who spreads strife among brothers." Once again, one of the ways that such a spirit is detectable is by the results of their presence and involvement.
You know, I think my mother was right...again.
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