Sermon Starters: Half-Way Christians

Title: Half-Way Christians
Context: B. H. and Dorothy Phaup Holiness Emphasis Series, Southern Wesleyan University
Text: 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:3
Prayer

Introduction: The Church at Corinth

• A tale of two pastors and two groups in a congregation - Paul and Apollos
• Paul's letters are "clean up on aisle 6" - Corinth was messed up
• Ironically, the wrong group thought it was spiritual, thought they had greater spiritual knowledge. We know because it's Paul's side of the argument that ends up in the Bible.
• The problem is that they are "skin--y." Nothing wrong with skin or flesh. It's just weak. Your psychology professors might talk about the swirling chemicals in your brains or your amygdala or your medula or your cerebellum. You have these impulses.
• God made the impulses--but sometimes they target the wrong thing. When Paul talks about being carnal (think carnivore) or "fleshly" or "in the flesh," he's talking about Sin controlling our impulses and desires. Some translations have moved away from this language, but IMO you can't really get a good sense of what Paul is talking about if you don't see this connection.
• The church at Corinth is showing its fleshiness because of jealousy, envy, and strife. Not because of conflict. Conflict isn't bad if it doesn't break. In fact it can be very constructive. Illustration.

Point 1: The Default Human
In our default state, we can neither understand spiritual things and we certainly can’t live the life God wants us to live.

• The word "unspiritual" or "natural" here is difficult to translate. It is basically something like "soulish." I'm always tempted to translate it "the merely animal person." This is a person without the Holy Spirit, a person truly in our default, natural state.
• There are lots of "merely animal" people out there. I preached recently on John 3 and argued that this is why it is important to be born again--you are walking dead until you are born from above, a "merely animal person."
• Such a person doesn't think like Christ. They may be truly intelligent, but their assumptions and way of thinking will be way off. Take an economics class you take here and one they might take at Clemson. The science is the same. The law of supply and demand is the same. But the spiritual person looks at every person as important and valuable, while the "merely animal" person may look at the big picture of economies and not give another thought to some "unimportant person" who gets run over by the machinery of capitalism.
• Such a person cannot act like Christ. Tonight we're going to look at Romans 7. I'm going to disappoint you by showing you that it's not talking about a Christian--"the good I want to do I don't do and the bad I don't want to do I do."

Point 2: The Spiritual Goal
Our goal is to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” and not a spiritual loser.

• I used the word "loser" to wake you up. It is very popular right now--indeed I fear I will not be able to persuade you tonight--simply to accept that Christians are spiritual losers. We just can't live the way God wants us to live.
• But what would it look like? What would it look like for the Corinthians?
• 1 Corinthians 13 - the solution to the Corinthian problem is love. Did you ever notice that this chapter is wedged smack in the middle of Paul's discussion over spiritual gifts? It looks like some people thought they were better than others because of the spiritual gift they had.
• 1 Corinthians 10:31 - some of them were rubbing their freedom in the faces of others who believed they shouldn't do certain things. This was also not loving. 
• Paul sums it up by saying, do what brings glory to God. Illustration.
• The 2 examples from 1 Corinthians above basically add up to the love command--love God, love neighbor (cf. Matt. 22). This is what holiness looks like.

Point 3: Half-Way Christians
Too many of us are stuck in the flesh, and need to rely on God to get out of our skin-controlled faith.

• How? The answer is very simple. We can't--not in our own power. Only God can do it.
• We have to get plugged in. Holiness is what happens when God plugs himself into us. I always think of Guardians of the Galaxy here. More on that tomorrow night.
• The first God-empowered step is total surrender. Total surrender right now in our culture seems complicated. More on that Wednesday morning.

For Now...
Ask yourself. What haven't I surrendered to God?