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1 Corinthians 3:1-4 – Keeping It Real
To simultaneously give hope and challenge, there’s an old adage that says you can “rise above your raisin’ (i.e., raising).” This means that each individual is not chained by their past but instead is charged to improve their future. Our fate is not fastened to the misfortunes of others.
As with most proverbs, there is a contrary thought. Counter to that is the warning “Don’t get above your raisin’” which warns against pride and snobbery. Today that sentiment is reworded as “keeping it real.” That means not forgetting your roots, where you came from, your people. For some it is a sincere attempt to not allow fame and fortune to change who they are. For others “keeping it real” is a cover for ignorance or for acting contrary to cultural norms.
Spiritually speaking, we are to “rise above our worldly raisin’” and we need to “keep it unreal.”
1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NASB (1) And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. (2) I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, (3) for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? (4) For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?
The real reality is not necessarily the one we see, but the one that will last for all of eternity.
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