1Cor 4:19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will ascertain not the speech of those who are puffed up but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in speech but in power. 21 What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod or in love and a spirit of meekness?
According to Paul's word in verse 21, was he happy or unhappy, angry or meek? I would say that in this chapter he is unhappy and happy as well, angry and meek as well. This definitely does not mean, however, that Paul is twofaced. Rather, it reveals that a genuinely spiritual person can be meek and then immediately become angry. In fact, a spiritual person can be meek even while he is angry. If you are not spiritual, it may take a few days for your anger to subside. But the anger of a spiritual person can vanish instantly. The faster your anger disappears, the more spiritual you are. Paul was a person who could be angry one moment and happy the next. If we do not know how to be angry in a proper way, we cannot be genuinely spiritual. In fact, we cannot be truly human either. Instead, we shall be like statues, lacking human feeling. When we are truly spiritual, we are genuine. We do not hide, and we do not pretend. If we are political with one another, we shall conceal our anger. But a truly spiritual person will not hide his anger. We all need to learn from Paul to have a genuine spirituality. If we are truly spiritual, we shall not hide, we shall not pretend, and we shall not play politics. Rather, we shall have a genuine humanity and simply be what we are in Christ. This is the kind of life which can dispense the unsearchable riches of Christ into the believers. Those who possess this kind of humanity are qualified to be stewards in God's family. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 313-315. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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