1 Corinthians 10:23-24 … Seeking to build UP (12/29/16)
“All things are lawful, but not all things build up.
Do not seek your own advantage, but rather that of the other.”
~ Paul (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)
This passage provides a deep-seated conundrum if there ever was one. For on the one hand it speaks to a Great Truth – namely, the Truth that man-made laws are essentially irrelevant to the truly Good Man; that we are not to do what is lawful, but rather what is Right – not to follow the mere whims and fancies of cultural norms or the vacuous expectations of others who are “in power”, but are instead to engage only those deeds that can sincerely be expected to bear the Good Fruit of Peace for one’s community &/or Joy for others nearby … Of course, on the other hand, this verse seems on its face to violate one of the Great Truths of Christ – namely, the Truth that we are to abide fully in “The Law”; right down to the faintest “jot or title” thereof (see Matthew 5:17-18) …
And yet this conundrum is actually no paradox at all, and certainly provides no contradiction – for “The Law” mentioned by Jesus has absolutely nothing to do with the laws of humankind (“Give to the Emperor what is the Emperor’s and to God what is God’s” ~ Jesus in Matthew 22:21), and in fact does not even pertain to any strict observance of the 613 religious laws of the Old Testament. For in fact, Jesus makes it exceedingly clear throughout his ministry that he came not to affirm those religious edicts, but to “fulfill” them – with the word translated in English Bibles as “fulfill” being the Greek word “pleroo” (Strong’s #4137); a word which actually means “to hone” or “to perfect” or “to bring to completion.” And this is exactly what Jesus did throughout his ministry: openly critiquing the vast majority of those 613 Old Testament edicts – constraining the ones that were too aggressive (e.g. Matthew 5:38-41, Matthew 9:14-15, Matthew 12:31, Matthew 16:6-12, Matthew 19:29 et al), staunchifying the ones that were too lax (e.g. Matthew 5:21-22, Matthew 7:15-20, Matthew 19:11-12 et al), and even outright dismantling & dismissing the ones that were immoral, irrelevant, &/or outdated (e.g. Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 8:3, Matthew 9:12-13, Matthew 11:20-24, Matthew 12:1 et al).
Essentially, Jesus did this to make sure that the people did as Paul was advocating here – namely, that they did what was Righteous instead of merely what was demanded by law; that they did what was Good instead of merely what was required by regulation; that they did what was Kind instead of merely doing what was obligated by cultural norm or convention.
And, unlike Paul, Jesus did this to encourage his listeners to seek not a personal advantage by avoiding trouble with the authorities &/or giving the least acceptable amount to others, but rather to in-Courage us all to maximize the benefit of the other by ignoring legal proscriptions that prohibited the same &/or giving above & beyond what was expected by rule or regulation (see Matthew 5:38-42 – where we are asked by Jesus to go the second mile, turn the other cheek, and give not only our tunic, but our cloak as well).
Amen … Let it be so.
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