The 2nd chapter of the first letter to the Corinthian church makes Paul’s final point in his three-fold case for being committed to the foolishness of the cross instead of the whims of power, prestige, and wealth that Roman society had conditioned the Corinthians to value as ultimate (2:1-5). His last point here revolves around his own example of what a life lived for Christ looks like—though, he is excessively intentional to emphasize that Christ, not Paul, is the one who deserves the credit...

This text is one of those tunes on the radio that gets too much playtime, but nevertheless proves to be a real earworm. How often have you heard “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with the Lord” (paraphrase, v.8)? The thing about earworms though, is that often you find yourself humming the tune but not engaging with the meaning of the words. Making sense of this command to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly, requires one to closely reflect on the text and context of Micah...

This last half of Chapter 1 elaborates on Paul’s diagnosis and prognosis of a divided Corinthian Church. Mainly, he lays out his argument from the first half of the chapter more explicitly, and explains further why those in the Corinthian church should not fight and bicker over who baptized who, and/or about who is more deserving of admiration and service amongst the church leaders. Verses 18-31 contains two parts of Paul’s threefold argument: first, he emphasizes the transvaluation of values...