I was looking at my books the other day. I have quite a lot of books. Most pastors do. In fact, you can often tell where pastors have been by the trail of books they leave behind.
When I began my minister here at BKCC last year, that's the one thing I found already in the pastor's office: books. Most were on the bookshelves, but a few were on the floor, in a not-very-straight line that led out the door, down the hall, outside, and down the street. I'm telling you, if you want to know where one of your former pastors is today, all you've got to do is follow the trail of books. It will lead you right to them.
I have actually got rid of many of my predecessors' books, and even some of my own. Yes, I admit it, I've left my own trail. But there are so many that I just can't get rid of, books that I've read more than once, books that I think I might like to read again. Books about church history and theology. Biographies and writings of some truly great saints: Martin Luther, John Calvin, St. Francis, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Oscar Romero; and also books by John Muir, Anne Lamott, Malcom X, and the Freedom Writers. (I heard in the news that someone back east was arrested for not returning to the library their copy of the Freedom Writers Diary--but don't worry, I have my own copy.)
I have books of sermons and books that tell you how to preach--some of them are even useful. Of course, I have bibles and commentaries. I have books on prayer, books on youth ministry, books on church transformation. I have books that I don't completely agree with but still find interesting, like The Secret. I have some of my favorite novels, like Brave New World, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Life of Pi. I have books on nature, an old Boy Scout Fieldbook, and even my old Boy Scout Handbook.
I have gained a lot of knowledge from all these books over the years. The knowledge I gained from many of them enabled me to be ordained into Christian ministry; and as an ordained minister, this knowledge has granted to me certain rights, like the right to officiate at weddings, for example. And I'm always trying to learn more, to further expand my knowledge, through reading books and attending classes and workshops. In fact, in order to maintain my standing in the region, I am required to learn more. That's because the regional church recognizes that increasing in knowledge is a good and useful thing.
The apostle Paul had a lot of knowledge. He was trained as a Pharisee, which means he had studied extensively the scriptures, and the regulations and customs of worship. And then, he received a direct revelation from Jesus, which added to his knowledge.
Much of this knowledge, Paul shared through his teachings and his ministry. He shared his knowledge through the letters he wrote, like the letter to the Corinthians. So how strange is it, that he says: "Knowldge puffs up"?
That would be like your algrebra teacher spending weeks and weeks trying to get you to memorize the quadratic formula, and when you finally get it down, he says to you: "you show off." It would be like your English teacher forcing you to memorize a passage of Shakespeare or Chaucer, but when you recite it perfectly, she says to you: "Great. But what good is that going to do you?"
That's what happens here: Paul had taught these people, these Corinthians, all about the faith. Paul imparted to them quite a bit of knowledge. The Corinthians, excited by what they have learned, say to Paul: "Hey! We have knowledge!" ... and Paul replies back to them: "Knowledge makes you arrogant."
Fortunately, Paul explains. "Knowledge by itself," he says, "is meaningless. It can even be dangerous. For knowledge to be good and useful, it must submit to love--love for God, and love for one's neighbor. For knowledge to be good and useful, it must be used to serve God, and to serve others."
Or, to put it another way, I think Paul is saying that no matter what knowledge we have--whether it comes from books or teaching or experience--and no matter what rights we have as a result of that knowledge, we must always consider what is good for all: what is good for our neighbors, what is good for our community, what is good for the world around us. Community takes precedence over individual rights! Do what builds others up! Even if you have knowledge--even if you have the right to do something--the way of Jesus calls upon you to give up that right if it's not in the service of God and neighbor.
I think of people who take it upon themselvbes to exercise their right to free speech. Yes, we have that right, a right that I cherish and taht I would strongly defend if ever it were threatened. But how often do you hear someone say something rude or offensive, something that is intentionally so, something that they say only to tear someone down or provoke a reaction? We hear it on the street, at work, at school; we hear it on talkradio. You tell someone, "hey, you shouldn't say that, it's not nice," and they respond, "I can do whatever I want; it's a free country." But just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should.
The law gives you the right to say what you want; but not all speech is useful for building up. Not all words are spoken in love. Followers of the way of jesus will give up that right--and I'm not talking about a law that takes away that right--but followers of the way of Jesus will voluntarily refrain from exercising that right if doing so is for the good of the community.
The situation the Corinthians were in was not so different. In ancient times, much of the food that was sold in the marketplace--and especially much of the meat--was food that had been dedicated to various idols, or which came from animals that had been sacrificed to various idols. To participate in an act that honored false gods was a big no-no for the earliest Christians.
However, the Corinthians knew that those false gods and idols didn't really exist, which of course meant that the foods' dedication to them was meaningless. With this knowledge, they felt that it was OK to eat the meat.
Paul says that, yes, it is OK, except: "What about the believer whose faith isn't as strong, whose knowledge and understanding isn't as great, and who sees you eating that meat? It might be enough to destroy their faith. So, even though it is OK to eat, it is better to refrain, for the sake of those who don't yet have that knowledge." Remember: think of others, not just yourself.
It just so happens that one of the first real-life lessons I remember receiving in this came at the very end of my fifth grade year, on my very first boy scout outing. We were driving along the Angeles Crest Highway, a caravan of several vehicles navigating the mountain roads on our way to Mt. Baden-Powell, a mountain that was named--for those of you who don't know--after the founder of scouting.
Anyway, after driving for awhile, the cars in which we were riding all pulled over to the side of the road. Wondering if we were at the trailhead, we got out of the cars.
Turns out that we were not there yet. We had pulled over becasue some rocks had fallen onto the road. They weren't big roacks--the largest was considerably smaller than a bowling ball--and we could have easily swerved around them. Instead, we stopped, and our leaders invited us to help clear the rocks off the road--which, of course, we did.
The strange thing is, I don't recall questioning why we were doing it. Nobody asked "why," nobody complained that it wasn't "our job" to do this, no one ever griped about road crews or "what do we pay our taxes for." We just figured that this was what scouts do--acts of service for the good of others, good deeds that we certainly didn't have have to do, but which we did anyway. And of course, in thinking that, we were right.
I went back to Mt. Baden-Powell last summer with several of my closest friends. We all met when we were in scouts, and all of us became Eagle Scouts. And just yesterday, I went on a hike with one of those friends in the Santa Monica mountains. The lessons we learned about duty to others has stuck with us. We don't often find rocks in the road; but we do usually end the day with a few extra pieces of trash in our packs that weren't there when the day began.
That's just what scouts do. And it's just what followers of the way of Jesus do as well. We don't boast in our knowledge, we don't abuse our rights or exercise them in ways that are not helpful to others. Instead, we seek out the common good, and we look for ways that we can benefit those around us, and the world God created.
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