Called

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints
• Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
• You are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ
• God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son

Applying the Word to My Life:
Paul knows exactly who he is writing to.

He knows about the factions and the arguments. He knows believers are dragging each other into court. He knows about the sexual scandal everyone seems strangely proud of. He knows some of them are getting drunk at the Lord's Supper. By the time he gets through this letter, he will even have to remind some of them that the resurrection is real.

This church is a mess.

And before Paul corrects a single thing, he tells them who they are:

"Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints."

That feels backwards to me.

I tend to think sainthood belongs at the end of the process. Get the sins under control. Become more disciplined. Pray better. Love people better. Finally get enough things right, and maybe someday "saint" starts sounding a little less ridiculous.

For me, most days I have trouble imagining the word applying to me at all. Some days even "good Christian" feels ambitious.

But Paul doesn't wait for Corinth to become worthy before calling them saints.

Because worthy was never the requirement.

They are not sanctified because they finally got themselves together. They are sanctified in Christ Jesus. He is the one doing the sanctifying. And they are not called saints because Paul has reviewed their lives and decided they qualify. They are called to be saints while there is still an enormous amount in them that needs changing.

The call comes first.

Then comes the long work of learning to live like the person God has already called you to become.

That pulls together something we have been circling for the last few days. A rulebook could never be long enough to manufacture love. Mary did not change the world by building an impressive resume; she said fiat. She gave God her yes.

I think holiness begins in much the same place.

Not with doing something great enough to make ourselves worthy of God, but with allowing God to do something in us. Saying yes when He calls. Saying yes again when He corrects us. Saying yes after we fail. Saying yes while there are still parts of our life that look a lot more like Corinth than we would like to admit.

A saint isn't someone who no longer needs correcting. A saint is someone who keeps saying yes anyway.

Every saint I can think of began there. Not finished. Not worthy. Not already holy enough to deserve the name.

Called.

The difference is what happened after they heard it. That's the part we get to decide for our own lives too.

My Response for Today:
Today I'll stop waiting until I feel worthy and just tell God yes.