Video: All things are yours

Every few weeks, I'll talk to someone who's nervous about some of the "things we're into." They're nervous about essential oils. Vitamins. Supplements. Or even some of the things I've taught about laying on of hands or frequency.

Here's why: they assume that everything we know about God can fit into a tight theological box. One with nice corners. Tidy seams. Even a bow on top. 

Truth is bigger + better than all of that. 

In fact, I don't even think that truth is founded inside of theological constructs like propositions and statements and confessions. Truth is found inside of those, but it's not grounded there. Each of those boxes all point to something larger. 

You, truth is not found in a package of tidy words, truth is found in a person. In fact, ruth is a person; truth is embodied in a person; and all truth belongs to that person (John 14:6).

Who has the unique angle on truth?

This isn't a new issue. Church people have debated it for millennia. Paul tackles this idea of WHO or WHAT has the angle on truth  in a well-known passage in 1 Corinthians. It seems that the church in Corinth was fighting over which teacher they should follow- which teacher had greater insight and revelation. It was probably well-intentioned; they wanted to make sure they were "safe."

(In our culture it would be something like: which podcast, which televangelist, which author do we read...? What books do we ascribe to? Yes, we do the same things... there are Christian bookstores who've banned books by Christian brothers and sisters because they don't mark the bounds of the theological box the same way as they do... So this is a real deal.)

In Corinth they drew the party lines... 

• Some were following Paul
• Others sided with Cephas (Peter)
• A bunch of them liked the skilled orator, Apollos

It's interesting that these leaders never chose sides, they never sought to gain their own following, they never created this debacle... The people did.

In effect, some loved the former Pharisee who had a blast of grace (Paul); others felt a camaraderie with the former fisherman turned preacher (Peter); a bunch like the flash and sizzle of the smooth talking teacher (Apollos). They were all lining up and choosing sides. 

Sound familiar?

Truth is bigger +  better than your box

Paul chastised them and told them to stop picking sides, because they were all thinking too small. They thought they had access to one leader only. In reality, they had access to all three. Each of these leaders (and all the others they had) carried a unique deposit of the Kingdom of God which they could impart to the church.

They were all given to them as gifts by God. They didn't need to choose between door #1, door #2, or door #3. All three of them were theirs.

By the way, notice that maybe- just maybe- they got something backwards here. It's seems subtle but it's HUGE. They had the idea that, "I belong to Paul..." Or, "I belong to..."

All three of these leaders belonged to them- and more! Way more belonged to them, in fact.

 I love how he ends this rebuke. He says (1 Corinthians 3:21-22, NLT), “For everything belongs to you— whether Paul or Apollos or Peter..."

(Yes, there it is- everything from these three leaders belongs to you... but there's more!)

He continues, "... or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”

Did you catch what Paul just did? He said that if any Bible teacher says it, you can take it. It's yours. That means you don't have to choose between Rob Bell OR Francis Chan (who wrote two opposing views on hell). You don't have to choose between John Piper OR Joel Osteen. You don't have to choose between the pragmatic "big box" church down the street that has everything from laser light shows and fog machines OR the Episcopalian Church stepped in hundreds of years of tradition. If you find truth in any of these, it's yours...

But Paul went further. He said that everything else belongs to you, too. The words he uses are amazing- 

* He says if discover anything about life (zoe = biology, how the body works), it's yours.

* And if you learn anything about thanatos (death, the process of aging... and dying...), that's yours, too.

That is, if you learn anything about health and wellness... anything at all... then take it. It belongs to you- it's already yours. So, back to where I began here... that includes everything from laying on of hands (which we see in the Bible) to essential oils (also in there) to reflexology (might be insinuated to be there) to mindsets to anything else about health & wholeness. 

Think about it... 

Does medical science belong to Jesus? Yes. What are they going to possibly discover that He doesn't already know about? He invented the body, right?

What about art and creativity- things like poetry and film and sculpture? Of course, because what's more like the Creator than to be creative?

Does astronomy belong to Jesus? Yes! David even tells us that the Heavens declare His glory (see Psalm 19:1).

Interestingly enough, Paul also includes this present life and the future. In effect, he says wherever you discover truth it's yours. You don't have to fear it or reject it, because all truth comes from one place- whether it's...

• spiritual truth
• health truth
• financial truth
• business truth
• relational truth
• _________ truth

It's all yours... 

Truth serves you

When something belongs to you, it serves you, right? Particularly when it's a possession. 

My car is mine and exists to serve me. To enhance my life. To expand my horizons. To take me places I need to go. To help me do it faster and with greater ease. 

My house belongs to me. It exists, too, to provide things I need. Shelter. Warmth. A place to connect with family and friends. A sense of stability. 

The truth that's out there is not to shake you. It's not to rattle you or break apart your foundations. It's there to, get this... to serve you...

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Want to go deeper? You might like the free healing eBook- 24 pages + 7 of the best videos from The Healing Workshop: https://www.overflowfaith.com/p/healing-free-ebook-offer