“You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you.”
1 Corinthians 4:8

Corinth was a wealthy and powerful city back in Paul’s time.  In the Corinthian church people were fighting, getting drunk off communion wine and having sex with family members.  They worried about the physical comforts of life but their spiritual lives were a mess.  I think the church of North America has some of the same issues that the church in Corinth had.  We are physically comfortable and we don’t “need to” depend on God for daily survival.  Therefore, spiritual apathy has taken root and a lot of our churches are unhealthy.  

There are churches that preach making money more than giving to the poor. There are churches that preach political correctness over biblical correctness.  There are churches that preach comfort rather than living radically for God.

We all look at the third world with pity.  We feel sorry for them because they don’t have food, shelter or education.  What is interesting is that the Christians in those countries are on fire for God.  There are other countries where it is illegal to be a Christian.  Yet, many die or go to jail for their faith.

What would our church look like if we had to depend on God everyday for food?  What would our church look like if we met every Sunday knowing we go to jail if we got caught?

We pity the third world because we have so much that they don’t.  It seems that the third world has so much more spiritual vitality than us.  Maybe it is the third world that should pity us.