Reading… and Thinking

What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

— 1 Corinthians 15:32-34 (ESV)

The 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is Paul’s great treatise on resurrection – how Jesus is the first-fruits, and we will be raised at his coming, and will be given immortality, and also that Jesus will rule the world and conquer every enemy in his Kingdom, until all are defeated and he turns the Kingdom over to his Father. This is the Christian hope.

So why, in the middle of this tremendous exposition of the doctrine of resurrection, does he take this side trip in the verses quoted above?

Well, the believers in Corinth had multiple problems. They had serious morality issues, the conduct of their worship was unacceptable, and they also had at least one doctrinal problem – no longer firmly believing in resurrection as their hope. Hence this chapter. But Paul is still conscious of the moral issues, and here he links them together.

It doesn’t matter if you are fed to the lions for being a Christian, Paul says, if the dead aren’t going to be raised. In that case you’ve given your life for nothing! You might as well overtly give your life to pleasure – who knows whether we’ll die tomorrow? OK, that much is in keeping with the rest of the chapter. Note that he builds a link between doctrine and behavior. If you believe in resurrection, you will not behave in the “let’s eat and drink” mode.

But what’s with the next part? Is this related to resurrection? It certainly is related to his point about doctrine and moral behavior being linked. He seems really harsh – were they really passed out drunk? Did they truly have no knowledge of God?

We know that there was shameful behavior going on among the believers there. Paul is here linking this behavior back to their faith. If they really knew God, they would believe what He has promised (resurrection) and they would no longer engage in sinful behavior. And very interestingly, Paul suggests that bad company has a role in this. They were in a drunken stupor, so to speak, regarding their understanding of God, their faith in His promises, and consequently in their behavior. They were hanging out with the wrong people. That is, people who had no faith in God. This influence diluted their own faith, and bad behavior followed.

What lesson can we take from these verses? No one would readily say, “Oh yeah, that’s me all right.” We think of ourselves as better than that. We might look at ourselves and ask some probing questions. Who do I hang out with? Are they faithful? Do they engage in immoral behavior? Do I? Are there symptoms in my life of the “eat and drink” philosophy?

And also: How solid is my understanding of the resurrection? Is my sole hope the return of Jesus, his raising the dead, and immortality in his Kingdom? If not, do I really know God and His promises?

Paul tells us that the two sets of questions are inseparable. What we believe, doctrine if you will, drives our behavior!