Everest: The Gorgeous Day

On May 31, 1934, Maurice Wilson's last journal entry read,
"Off again, gorgeous day. "

In the winter of that same year Wilson, an eccentric Englishman with no mountaineering or aviation experience, took off to conquer Mt. Everest.  With reckless abandon Wilson's plan involved crashing his small plane onto the slopes of Tibet.  From there, he would proceed to climb Everest.

(Should your strategic plan ever involve "crashing a plane", please reevaluate)

Hopes soared for this eager adventurer but as fate would have it Wilson's hopes eventually soured. Everest proved cruel and unforgiving as that 'gorgeous day' turned tragic.

Save Maurice Wilson, no one wanders upon Everest lightly.  Quite the opposite, with great intention mountaineers of all stripes have planned and executed the ascent.  With great care and preparation people from all walks of life have successfully made the climb.  

Much the same with church unity.  

A gorgeous ideal can quickly turn into a muddled, spiritually morbid experience.  Even so, with great preparation, commitment, and care gospel-centered unity is possible.  We can ascend this Everest.  In fact, we are commanded to do so.  As churches are comprised of people of all stripes, she is charged to unite as the body of our risen Lord.

Toward this glorious end, Paul gives would be climbers certain footholds in 
I Corinthians 1-4.  

Paul’s Starting Point: Unite in the power of Christ’s cross

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God

I Corinthians 1:18

The contrast is anything but static:

The path to destruction holds no wanderers.

Slumbering in darkness and actively intent on their rebellion,

the living are truly dead.

 

The path to salvation holds no wanderers.

Awakened by divine power and actively intent on the Spirit,

the living are truly alive. 

For one the cross is incomprehensible, for the other indescribable.

For one the gospel is folly, for the other it is sheer glory. 

For one daily death, the other daily life. 

Paul’s Proposal: There are only TWO types of people 

Paul invites the various Corinthian factions to consider an undeniable truth.  On any given day, on any given continent there are only two types of people: those actively oriented toward death and those actively oriented toward life.  So, of which group do you belong? 

Effectually Paul asks, do you seriously want to raise factious banners to Apollos, Paul, and Cephas when - in fact - you are all the same?  

Please recognize that Paul carefully dismantles any opportunity for the staunch, critical, overbearing spirit that creates “otherness” among the body of Christ.  Rather than the “otherness” naturally generated by our flesh and perpetuated throughout lesser forms of unity, Paul draws the universal church together by reminding her of our “oneness” in Christ.   

Paul’s Persuasion: Beware the divisive nature of pride

Putting pride in the crosshairs, Paul continues to challenge divisions within the church.  Note the outline below. I Corinthians systematically deconstructs the foundation of human pride: first by subverting human striving (1:19-25) and then by inviting readers to consider their own experience (1:26-2:5).

• Unable to grasp Truth, human postulating is frustrated (1:19-21)
• Unable to find Truth, human seeking is frustrated (1:22-25)
• Consider your status, nobodies saved in Christ (1:26-31)
• Consider my ministry, a nobody used by Christ (2:1-5)

Paul reinforces a unifying reality: 

apart from the cross, no man generates New Life.

Indeed, God himself has literally put us in Christ (1:30).  Jesus Christ is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption.  In this overarching reality, all flesh is silenced for no man can boast (1:29, 31).  

The cross brings unchecked pride to its knees.  

The cross curtails all manner of factions and lesser forms of unity.  

The cross bridges our differences, placing us in one family, the family of God.

The cross whispers into our souls, inviting us into something much larger.   

The cross causes the church to teem with anticipation and opportunity. 

The cross causes the church to brim with possibility rather than negativity.

As we ascend Everest, let our unity in the Lord Jesus Christ be where the church, the very people of God, begin not where we end.  May what separate the Body of Christ theologically or culturally be embraced and understood within the context of "oneness in Christ" not "otherness in our flesh".  And until the risen Lord return, may we be found faithfully working for the unity that will be manifested in glory for this, and this alone, will be most glorious.  

Grace and Peace