The Grups. 1 Corinthians 4.

I know many of you won't know anything about grups (except, possibly the generational label). It's the word that popped into my mind as I read 1 Corinthians 4. For those of you too young, too old, or too smart, to have watched the original Star Trek series on television, grups is a word coined by the writer of an episode called "Miri." Grup is a contraction of grown-up. Miri is in the center of the group of boys and girls in this picture, who were a cross between the "lost boys" in Peter Pan, and "Lord of the Flies."

In the Star Trek episode, the grups are feared by the children, which makes any connection between the episode and chapter 4 of this letter, almost exclusively in the domain of my mind. And now in yours. But I like the sound of the word, and chapter 4 is about grown-ups.

Yesterday, we looked at what Paul was saying about resolving the divisions in the church at Corinth. I characterized that as "grow up!" If you had any doubt about that, today we read Paul saying, 'live like me, grown up.' And Paul decides to send Timothy who, as a faithful son, must be doing that too. "I'm sending a grup."

A couple of random thoughts on this passage. First, Paul can be a harsh disciplinarian. Verses 6-13 drip with sarcasm, and then Paul says in verse 14,"I am not writing these things to shame you, but to correct you as my dear children." That correction is vigorous to say the least. He later asks if he should come with a whip. Somewhat related to this, we get a couple of indications that Paul's relationship with the Corinthians is a rocky one. "It's a minor matter to me if I'm judged by you..." and "Some have become arrogant, as if I was not coming to you..."

A third thought -- stewards are to be judged according to their faithfulness. We are all stewards, so adjust your thinking and actions accordingly. A final thought, what would it mean for Paul to come demonstrating the kingdom of God in power?

Oh yeah, one more thing. Punishment for the grups and anyone else who got out of line was invoked by chanting over and over again, "bonk, bonk."