Preaching in Sin-City

After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. (Acts 18:1 NASB)

This seemingly innocent verse hides a few mysteries.  The verse begins a new chapter, and for many of us, that forms all break we need.  But the preceding events took place in Athens, where Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy.  Later on in 18 we learn that they find him in Corinth.  Why leave Athens?  There was no riot, no plot to kill Paul, nothing mentioned by Luke suggests a reason.  Not that there has to be one, it's just contrary to the initial purpose of being there in the first place.

Of course, while waiting in Athens, Paul was ministering, arguing in the market, and even spoke to the assembly on the Aeropagus.  He had been busy, yet didn't draw the ire of the people as he did in other cities, or at least it wasn't mentioned by Luke.  Yet he leaves for Corinth.  There was either something in Athens to be left behind or something in Corinth that drew him.  Athens, the ancient city of Greek culture, was at least well ruled and calm.  It wasn't a Roman colony but was thoroughly Greek.  The Jews there seemed unconcerned about what Paul was preaching, and no multitude of them is even mentioned, either for or against him.

But Corinth is a unique port city.  It too is ancient, but its location in Achia made it very unique.  In those days of dangerous nautical travel, it formed an overland option which made moving merchandise safer; the path around the peninsula could be avoided by moving it a short distance over the narrow "neck" where Corinth sat.  It was unique in that it had two ports, one on the Adriatic, and one on the Ionian Seas.  Between these two sat Corinth.  Corinth had been an ancient city, but then destroyed in one war and then another, and then totally rebuilt as a Roman Colony (here we go again).

But as the wealth of the city grew from the trade traffic, so did the vice and avarice.  Wealth bred excess, and excess bred a lowering of values and virtues.  The city was known in Paul's day as hedonistic and vicious.  So, why go here instead of steady stately Athens?  Paul says in Romans that where sin abounds, so grace abounds all the more (Romans 5:20), not to say sin was a good way to gain more grace, but to say that grace always triumphs over sin.  But, on the other hand, where sin was plentiful could be found a good place for grace to also be plentiful.  Perhaps Paul saw Corinth as an opportunity.

What about my place?  I live where many people do not go to church, or if they do, to a church of a "different gospel", other than that of the Scriptures.  In this small place can be found drug trafficking, human trafficking, suicides, home invasions, and corruption in government.  And rather than being wealthy, this place is considered economically depressed; so we have all the vice with twice the hopelessness.  If sin can abound in such profuseness, then can't grace increase to an absurd degree?  Why not?

But as Corinth had issues after the grace abounded (required two letters from Paul, and is doubtful even that fixed it), so issues will be the result as well.  Paul spent 18 months in the city just to get it grounded, and even then it suffered from internal conflict and personality squabbles.  It's not that grace solves all problems, it that it ushers in an age of change.  It doesn't complete the work of becoming holy in one fell swoop (like we wish it would), it begins the process of struggling out of the chrysolis.  Without the struggle, our wings of faith and total reliance on our Master don't form correctly.  Unlike the butterfly, we do need help; we need to struggle, but we also need help through it together.

So I imagine that in this place, there will be and is now a dire need for growth in faith and grounding in Scriptures.  Something I was raised in, but which is missing here because it was never a part of life as it was for me.  I have the stories people here are missing.  I have a treasure that isn't mine to hoard, but must be spread all over to everyone who shares my faith.  I am a storyteller, so I have stories to tell.  Only mine don't start with "Once upon a time..."  They mostly begin with, "And it happened..."  It might help to work on my "Jewish" accent so I can tell the stories with the proper sounding perspective, as they are mostly stories of Jews.