(image courtesy: Unsplash)
Once upon a time, Woody from Toy Story was the favorite doll of Andy, his owner. Everything changed, however, with the arrival of a new action figure, Buzz Lightyear. As Andy started playing more and more with Buzz over Woody, Woody started experiencing sadness and jealousy. Being a doll without the flashy bells and whistles that Buzz Lightyear had with his space cadet suit made Woody feel like he was not enough to be liked by Andy.
We have all had our moments like Woody where someone or something has made us feel like we are not enough. I remember arriving at Stanford University to pursue my post-doctoral research and feeling terribly intimidated by imposter syndrome as I wondered if I truly belonged there. I still remember the words that someone told me during that time as they probed into my prior academic pedigree and essentially hinted that I was not smart enough after all.
A few years ago, after the death of a beloved family member, I began training for half-ironman triathlons for therapeutic rather than fitness reasons. When I shared my training and race experiences, I still remember the gaze of the person I was talking to as they looked over my physique and questioned if I was fit enough for such races.
We live in a world that constantly reminds us that we are not smart enough, fit enough, rich enough, etc. While there may be several external factors that make us feel inadequate, oftentimes our own thoughts are the ones that make us believe that our lives are not happy enough, our spouses and/or children are not good enough, our jobs don’t pay enough, or we are not liked enough by those we value.
In 1 Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul responds to feelings of inadequacy in light of the categories of people who felt like they were not enough in the Corinthian church.
Am I ENOUGH?
“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.” 1 Corinthians 7:17 [ESV]
The first group of people in Corinth were concerned about marriage. They were saying that those who are married are inadequate. They believed that everyone needed to become an ascetic. This came from succumbing to a Greek philosophical worldview. At the same time, some people were seeking pleasure in relationships outside of marriage as they felt like they were not happy enough.
Our world and the culture around us keep reminding us, even through social media, that we need to work harder, try smarter, get better jobs, seek more pay, and do more, more, more, and more. This can leave us depleted and exhausted at the end of the day despite the promise of self-fulfillment by our own efforts.
However, the way of grace and of Christ is opposite to this way of seeking to be enough. In this verse, Paul uses the three crucial terms of “assign”, “called”, and “walk” (or lead the life in some translations). God has made each one of us in His image and has assigned us unique gifts and a unique calling. The word “calling” is used 8 times in this passage and refers to God calling us to a relationship with him through his son Jesus Christ which ultimately is what makes us enough as we walk in His ways. So, we do not need anything more than Christ and our calling through Him to make us enough.
Christ is ENOUGH
“18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. 20 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21 Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise, he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 7:18-22 [ESV]
Paul considers two other key groups of people in the church in these verses. One group of people was concerned with circumcision and the other group of people was concerned with the status of an individual as either a slave or a free person.
For a little bit of background, Philo, who was a first-century Hellenist Jewish philosopher, stated that in the later first century AD, circumcision was “ridiculed by many” and was regarded as barbaric and akin to castration by the Romans. Hence, Jews who were circumcised attempted to hide their identity to gain upward social status and mobility.
Another perspective on this is found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Gentiles who were uncircumcised when they were converted sought circumcision, not to attain social status, but to attain religious status as bona fide sons of Abraham. For them, it was not enough to just be called. They wanted more. They were not satisfied with the sufficiency of Christ’s work and felt as if they needed religious status and hence sought circumcision (even apostle Peter fell for this). The problem is that this position fosters legalism. It is a way of trying to keep the law to earn God’s acceptance. It was never the purpose of the law to do what Christ alone could do to satisfy God. Paul tells the circumcised and the uncircumcised along with the single and the married that you cannot do enough to merit God’s acceptance with some status or experience or blessing.
Moreover, when considering the next group of slaves, it was clear that slaves struggled to trust God with the problems they faced in the world. Their form of slavery was more like a form of servanthood. Paul knew that these slaves needed to trust in the power of the atoning work of Christ to help them obey him in tough times. They needed to believe that Christ was bigger than their greatest traumas and problems. Ultimately, they needed to believe that Christ’s work negates any comparison of whose life is easier or whose circumstances are better on earth.
On the other hand, those who were free felt like they had no personal satisfaction so were searching for this satisfaction apart from Christ. They wanted some sort of instant gratification when only Christ offers eternal satisfaction that goes beyond this world.
By using the term “called” repeatedly in this section, Paul is making a tall, universal claim that for all of us, everywhere, in any circumstance, CHRIST IS ENOUGH.
In Christ, I AM ENOUGH
“23 You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” – 1 Corinthians 7:23-24 [ESV]
Paul’s writing in these verses asks an important question. Has Christ called you by being in your heart and doing his work in your heart? If so, you are enough. If not, seek Christ and invite him into your heart.
Having accepted God’s call, Christians must accept that God accepts them as they are. Their conversion requires a change in lordships, spiritual values, and moral behavior, but not a change in race, gender, or social caste. Altering their status will not make them more acceptable to the God who justifies “the uncircumcised on the ground of faith and the circumcised on the basis of the same faith” (Romans 3:30 [ESV]), nor will it make them “more saved.”
“For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.” (1 Corinthians 7:19 [ESV]) But the law, in general, was still valid, and the commandments could be summed up as: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Romans 13:9; cf. Galatians 5:14).
What is the Law that Paul is talking about? Christ followers are called to love others, no matter who they are, or what they have done, or what they have or don’t have.
The question is not whether you are a Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised but whether or not you living a holy life. Whether married or single, slave or free, you must not fall prey to the sins originating from the desires of your heart because you are chasing something other than Christ to feel enough.
“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.”
– Jeremiah 4:4 [ESV]
Paul concludes by repeating the controlling imperative one more time with two modifications: (1) the phrase “in the calling” is replaced by “in whatever” and (2) the imperative is modified by the prepositional phrase “with God”. In essence, what he is trying to say is that:
IN CHRIST, YOU ARE ENOUGH.
Jesus who is the King of the world became worse than a slave or a thief on the cross. He did not shake free from his calling even though Satan tempted him. All so his death and resurrection can give us salvation. When we rest in that salvation and believe that our acceptance before God in Christ is enough, we can live freely. Regardless of your marital status, occupational status, or educational status, in Christ, you are enough. Christ is our beauty, righteousness, lover, and bridegroom.
Christ miraculously knows all our thoughts and still loves us and says that we are enough. No one can love us more than He does as He covenants His love to us although we have nothing to make us lovable. We don’t have to try or work so hard purely because of the grace and love of Christ. This is why Paul calls himself a slave of Christ and counts all things a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord who makes us all more than enough in Him.
View the full sermon here.
Reflection Questions?
Do I feel like “I am enough”?
What external factors make me feel like I am not enough? Are they social or religious or something else?
What internal factors make me feel like I am not enough?
Why is Christ enough? What am I missing in my understanding and experience of the sufficiency of Christ?
How can I remind myself that I am enough whenever I feel inadequate?