Restores My Soul

Historical Context

Paul wrote this letter to the church he had founded in Corinth. He sent it from Ephesus, in the middle of a long argument about the resurrection of the dead. Some inside that congregation were saying the dead would not be raised. Paul traced out where that idea led. If it were true, he said, faith was empty and everyone was still stuck in their sins. People might as well eat and drink, because tomorrow they would die.

Right there, in the middle of that argument, Paul quoted a saying already known among Greek speakers, one linked to the poet Menander. Right after it, he told the church to wake up and stop sinning, because some among them did not even know God. He said he meant that as a rebuke.

Reflection

Bad company ruins good character, whether you notice it happening or not. Character rarely collapses in one dramatic moment. It usually wears down slowly, through the ordinary company a person keeps day after day.

You could read this as a question about who has your ear every day: not the people you occasionally hear, but the ones you eat with, work alongside, and talk to daily. Whoever explains your world to you most often is already shaping what you believe and how you act, long before you decide to agree with them. Look at who has that kind of daily access to you, and ask whether their view of God is one you want shaping yours.