“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #37
“For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised” (1 Cor. 4:9-10).
Apostles are very honored in retrospect, which is safe to do now that they are all dead. Have we not built their memorials? Do we not have impressive churches with St. in front of Paul and Peter? Ah, but a living apostle would have trouble getting a call to be a pastor in such a church. Too much jail time on his resume.
This is all by God’s appointment. Men who have taken up a cross are men who overcome the world. They bring up the rear, and in fulfillment of Christ’s words, we find that they are first of all. They are a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men. Paul points out the disparity between the apostles and the church in Corinth—the apostles are fools, but they are wise. The apostles are weak, but they are strong. The Corinthians are honorable, but the apostles are despised. Paul didn’t use scare quotes, but if he did, they would be around “wise,” “strong,” and “honorable.” In the very next chapter, we find that one of them had his father’s wife. In the next chapter after that, we find that some of them are screeching at each other in the courts of the unbelievers. In that same chapter, some of the Corinthian men had to have it explained to them that Christian men don’t get to visit the sacral prostitutes. Their worship services were bedlam. Wise, strong, and honorable, aye.
But this means that it must be possible for professing Christians to behave in a despicable manner, and yet without forfeiting the kind of honor that the world bestows. Let us not wonder at this because there are probably hundreds of examples of it within a twenty mile radius of your house.