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Daily Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 4:8-20 (21)

But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power. — 1 Corinthians 4:19-20

Many today, including Christians, seem to have an unabashed thirst for amassing power, particularly in terms of our current political landscape. Yet the truth is that even those who believe themselves to be standing for a more loving and just world know that very little gets accomplished without power.

In speaking to the community at Corinth and talking about those who have become filled with arrogance, Paul contrasts power with talk. He makes clear that the ultimate measure of the community and its leadership is not in their talk but in their power.

For Paul, power does not lie in the eloquence or persuasiveness of speech nor in brute strength or military might. Power, for Paul, is derived from God in Christ. Moreover, power, as he will later say in 2 Corinthians, can only be made perfect in weakness. The question that Paul raises then, to the community at Corinth as well as to us, is not about the validity of power but rather the validity of the source of one’s or a community’s power.

How about you? What really is the source of your power? Lent beckons us to ponder the question: is the one who was powerless even unto death the source of our power? Perhaps before we find another thing to do or cause to champion, it would be worth asking ourselves what is the source of our power? Is it Jesus? For nothing more and nothing less than the kingdom of God is depending on it.