The alternate city: a counter-cultural community

1 and 2 Corinthians

Rev. Dwight Yoo

How we are different

Attitude toward Community - 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

The world  has two  extreme ways of dealing with community. One is radical individualism. My way is the right way. No responsibility towards others. There is also the worship of community. People seek out a tribe, a place to belong. Like high school: jocks, nerds, rockers, etc. This  continues into older years: hipsters,   classy, emo, etc. This develops into pride and segregation between socio-economic divisions. We end up only hanging with people who are like us. We will do anything to  stay acceptable in our group. The fear of rejection drives us in these communities.

God is a triune god. There is community in our God. We are not meant to live self-absorbed and self-centered lives. We are meant to step into the community of God. But we are also not meant to worship the group, posse, or tribe. We are all sinners under God. Regardless of race,  social, economic  differences we are one family in Christ.

For christians, we start knowing of our sins. We are acceptable  because of Christ. It is not performance based. We practice radical love, radical acceptance. This  is the type of community we are called  into.

Attitudes toward sex -

Corinth was a place that worshiped sex. It was a place filled with temple prostitutes. It dehumanizes  our interactions with the opposite sex. We treat people as just a place for pleasure instead of loving them. On the other hand, we can't be prudes. Sex is a beautiful gift of God. It is bot a dirty thing. It a wonderful thing to only be  shared in marriage.

Attitudes toward money - 2 Corinthians 8:1-4

Money is not our security. The church in poverty gives more. This is very counter cultural. When hard times come, we tend to hang onto money. Or money gives us a sense of worth. We want to drive bmw's, live the good life, so people will know that we are somebodies. Christ  came and gave so that we might be rich.  We can be radically generous.

Christians are supposed to be like a model home. In front of developments, we have these houses that show what it would be like to move into that development.  When people come into the community of Christ, they should have a foretaste of the city of God. Our communities should give visitors a sense of longing...to go  to the city of God with us.

How to proceed

To pray for growth into Christ-likeness
To pray for and commit ourselves to community

Total church -