Rethinking Your Relationship with the Culture (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live 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 goods, [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. 

I. Perspective from Titanic's Deck

What if tomorrow morning when you woke up, it was April 12^th, 1912, and you were greeting the morning from a crew member's room on board the RMS Titanic, as she made her way across the Atlantic, bound for New York City? Scheduled to arrive on the 17^th, you would be the only person on board the ship who knew that the voyage would never be completed; that, in just a few days, Titanic was going to sink, and 1500 of her passengers would perish in the Atlantic's icy waters.

But think with me about how you would spend those final days. If for the sake of this exercise, we said that you were somehow unable to warn anyone about the coming disaster, what would you do with your time? Here's a few things you probably wouldn't do. First, you probably wouldn't, like many other crew members, worry so much about the working conditions and pay. Second, you probably wouldn't, like some of your coworkers, get consumed with the workplace politics or class dynamics of everyday life on the Titanic. Third, you probably wouldn't, like many other crew members, be jockeying to move up the ship's employment ladder. Of course, for three days, you would still need to pay for things, you would still need to interact with other people (both passengers and crew), and... you would still be expected to do your job, and to do it well. But knowing what you alone would know about the ship's fate, would give you the kind of perspective that enables a person to truly understand what is and is not important.

II. The Passage: “As Though They Had None” (7:29-31)

As we return to Paul's ancient letter to this church in the southern Greek city of Corinth, I wanted to jump ahead a bit and consider the passage we just heard read for us: chapter 7, verses 29-31.

If we look back to where we left off in our last study, to verse 17, and you begin to skim down through those verses, you may be able to sense what Paul is doing there: he's cautioning these Christians about making significant life-choices, choices that they may believe are necessary for them now that they belong to God through Jesus. You may recall that we talked about this mind-set in regard to things like marriage and divorce and singleness. When we get to verse 25, this conversation is extended to those who are betrothed; that is, they are engaged to be married, but this ancient arrangement was much more binding. So what should these engaged individuals do now in light of their new, eternal standing in Jesus? Well, Paul's recommendation is to remain as they are, but with the qualification that re: to marry or not marry, neither decision is any way sinful. But it's these everyday questions that bring to the surface bigger and deeper principles, principles that Paul unpacks throughout this chapter. One of those places is verses 29-31.

Now, to make better sense of this passage, let's use three phrases from the text to go deeper and unpack Paul's mindset here. Beginning at the end, look with me at the final words of v. 31.

So, first, consider with me the phrase, “this world is passing away”. The Apostle John would later make this same declaration in I John 2:17. But what might Paul mean by this statement? Using the context, I think this final phrase of the passage is linked to the opening phrase of the passage. Look back at verse 29... This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. Why has the time grown short? Because (v. 31)... the present form of this world is passing away. (or as Eugene Peterson renders it in his The Message paraphrase, “This world as you see it is on its way out.”)

Again, notice that Paul calls it in verse 29 “the appointed time”. What does that mean? It means God has appointed or decreed that the days of this present age are numbered. In the New Testament this is not a unique statement. A few chapters later in this same letter, Paul will remind the Corinthians that those living after the birth, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Christ are those “on whom the end of the ages has come” (10:11). The Apostle Peter made an equally definitive statement when he wrote, “The end of all things is at hand...” (I Peter 4:7). This is why the early church used the language of the Hebrew prophets and called this age “the last days”. But please don't think 'doom and gloom'. As Paul expressed it in another letter, “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11)

So these bookends in vs. 29 and 31 remind us about what should be the 'Titanic' perspective of every genuine follower of Jesus: “the appointed time has grown very short”, for Jesus Christ is coming unexpectedly, like a “thief in the night” (I Thess. 5:2). And when he does, this age, this world, will come to an end. But I also want us to consider another phrase here. Consider...

Second, the repeated phrase, “as though”. What exactly does Paul mean when he says “as though” in verses 29-31? As you may have noticed, it's a phrase he repeats five times in three verses, so we know it's key to understanding the passage. I think one thing we can say is what he doesn't mean by the phrase. The context makes that clear when we look at his first example at the end of v. 29: “From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none...” Since Paul has just provided, in this same chapter, countless instructions for husbands and wives, instructions for honoring Jesus Christ in your marriage, the phrase cannot mean 'go live like a bachelor' and 'ignore or neglect' your spouse. So then... what exactly does he mean?

I think if you look at all five of these “as though” phrases, keeping those 'last days' bookends in mind, it's reasonable to conclude that Paul is writing less about actually doing or not doing certain things, and more about how we do certain things; about our mindset; about our priorities; that is, are we asking, “Is my mindset about the everyday, are my priorities, are they really shaped by God's “appointed time”; by the fact that... “the present form of this world is passing away”?

Therefore, husbands should not live for a kind of 'romantic redemption', as if marriage was the greatest good and somehow a source of ultimate contentment. No. Even marriage is passing away, and will one day give way to the only marriage that will truly last, the only marriage that really can offer ultimate contentment: the marriage of Christ and his bride, the Church. We could apply this same principle to the other statements here: this perspective reminds those who mourn, those who grieve, that tears of sorrow are also passing away; that such things will not characterize the world to come. In the same way, this perspective sobers those who rejoice in terms of recognizing the difference between earthly happiness and eternal joy, and which one we desire more. Don Carson comments on the next phrase, in the second half of verse 30, reminding us that, “Some people find their pleasure and identity in the acquisition of things, but Paul writes, “[let] those who buy something, [buy] as if it were not theirs to keep” (7:30). Exactly so. It is not that there is no place for purchasing things, any more than there is now no place for marriage. But how can we attach overweening importance to things we cannot bring with us?”

But let's apply this to our third and final phrase: (v. 31) “those who deal with the world”. If we hold on to that idea of an “end of the ages” mindset, how might we understand the final example, given at the beginning of verse 31: [Let] those who deal with the world [live] as though they had no dealings with it. The word translated “deal” here is a word often used in the sense of 'making use of something'. So what might Paul have in mind here when he speaks about having an “end of the ages” mindset while dealing with or making use of the present world?

Well, he must assume that Christians, genuine disciples of Jesus, will, in fact, be socially, voc-ationally, commercially, recreationally, and politically involved in the world. But his point is that their involvement in the world should not be understood in a worldly way; not in a way that sees earthly things (even good things) as ultimate things. Instead, followers of Christ should do so with an “end of the ages” mindset, knowing that “the present form of this world is passing away”.

III. Jesus as Our Destination

Brothers and sisters, how can these words not challenge us to rethink our relationship with the culture in which we live? By culture I mean, in general, how we live together in a particular way, in a particular place. To unpack that a little, I just used words like socially, vocationally, comm-ercially, recreationally, and politically in terms of our involvement. In all those ways, can't we as disciples of Jesus, also be tempted? Tempted to believe that this 'Titanic' will just go on and on? Tempted to believe that life 'on board' is the only real kind of life? What should change when we accept that this culture, all of it, will one day sit, as it were, at the bottom of history's cold, dark, silent ocean? “...the present form of this world is passing away”.

Think carefully. What should it look like to value our careers as though there was no value in our careers? What should it look like to manage our finances as though our finances were not worth managing? What should it look like to be involved in politics as though you were not in any way involved in politics? What should it look like to follow the news, to participate in sports (or have your kids participate in sports), to create art, to build institutions, to advance science, to establish traditions, as though not one of those things, in and of themselves, ultimately mattered?

Paul is describing a tension, isn't he? He's not describing someone who is so presently-minded that he or she has lost sight of eternity; or someone who is so eternally-minded that he or she cares nothing about the present. As I suggested at the outset, life on board a doomed ship does not mean we don't live our lives in everyday ways. It simply means we are not engrossed in, we are not clawing for, we are not clinging to, we are not defined by even the good things. As Don Carson went on to share, “We cannot, we must not, be entirely engrossed even in... God’s gracious gifts, if those gracious gifts are tied to an order that is passing away.” On board Titanic you still make your bed in the morning, but you don't do so because it makes you feel better, or to be respected by others, or simply not to get written up. You make your bed, because there is a value (albeit limited) in making and having a made bed. And that value must be understood in light of life beyond this 'Titanic'; in light of the One who gives eternal life... who is Life.

For anyone who embraces Him and his saving work in faith, there is reassurance that one day Jesus Christ will scoop us up out of the icy waters of a shipwrecked world. But He is more than just our lifeboat. He's also our true destination. Friend, please think about this in practical terms: is the journey of your life defined by Jesus as your destination? That's exactly what Paul is describing here for his readers. He isn't simply emphasizing the reality of rescue. He's reminding them what they've been rescued for. Both our life 'on board' and our future life 'on land', are tied together by the fact that Jesus is the Captain. Please take a moment and think of Him. Reach out to Him. Rejoice in Him. If you've lost the perspective He died to give you, confess that. If you're struggling to live in that tension, confess that. Jesus rose again, defeating Death, not so we would simply muddle through this life, consumed with or overwhelmed by the culture. He lives so that we might live. Give thanks for this, disciple! Pray for eyes that see and a heart that remembers. Or pray for the first time, in light of so great a rescue, and so great a Rescuer. Let's do that, as we go the Father through the Son, through him who loved us and gave himself for us.