I Corinthians 7:27 That means that if a man has a wife, he should not seek to be free of her; and if he is unmarried, he should not look for a wife. 28 But if you marry you do not sin, and if a girl marries she does not sin. It is just that those who get married will have the normal problems of married life, and I would rather spare you. 29 What I am saying, brothers, is that there is not much time left: from now on a man with a wife should live as if he had none — 30 and those who are sad should live as if they weren’t, those who are happy as if they weren’t, 31 and those who deal in worldly affairs as if not engrossed in them — because the present scheme of things in this world won’t last much longer.(Complete Jewish Bible)
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One of the catch phrases in AA is "Fake it till you make it." I suppose that's one way of saying the "live as though" that Paul is talking about in I Corinthians. It takes a lot of trust to live "as though" God will forgive the old you and support you along the journey and enable you to create a new future. I suspect Paul was not inviting the Corinthians to irresponsibility or to ignore reality, but to make the things of God a focusing priority--to live "as though" we belong to God alone.
What if we started with just a few minutes a day living "as though" only the things of God mattered? What if we then increased that time each day and gradually carved out a longer and longer time lived "as though" we were alone with God, "as though" we grieved for nothing or rejoiced over nothing and "as though" we owned/possessed nothing and had no responsibilities to attend to---if we were for that time simply available to that God? To trust that in doing so God would make use of us in the way that best accomplished God's purposes. Do I trust God enough to "fake it till I make it" and grow into what Paul calls an "undivided devotion to the Lord?"
Lord Jesus, so fill us with trust in you that we can live "as though" the anxieties of life no longer consume us and we can live immersed in your presence--at least in this moment. Amen.
Tim Kellgren, '71
Retired Pastor of Elim Lutheran Church, Petaluma, Calif.
I Corinthians 7:27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28 But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that.
29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,
30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions,
31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. (New Revised Standard Version)
What if we started with just a few minutes a day living "as though" only the things of God mattered? What if we then increased that time each day and gradually carved out a longer and longer time lived "as though" we were alone with God, "as though" we grieved for nothing or rejoiced over nothing and "as though" we owned/possessed nothing and had no responsibilities to attend to---if we were for that time simply available to that God? To trust that in doing so God would make use of us in the way that best accomplished God's purposes. Do I trust God enough to "fake it till I make it" and grow into what Paul calls an "undivided devotion to the Lord?"
Lord Jesus, so fill us with trust in you that we can live "as though" the anxieties of life no longer consume us and we can live immersed in your presence--at least in this moment. Amen.
Tim Kellgren, '71
Retired Pastor of Elim Lutheran Church, Petaluma, Calif.
I Corinthians 7:27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28 But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that.
29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,
30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions,
31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. (New Revised Standard Version)
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