Paul is writing to the Corinthians because he has heard of difference in the congregation. He is distressed that the congregation of believers is rent with schisms, and I see our congregation in the reading. Partly, this divisiveness may be understood on differences in the conceptions of how a pastor is to relate to the parishioners and how that was affected by the Covid-19 quarantine.
Ironically, however, their tendency toward divisiveness was also fueled by the way the Corinthians perceived the workings of the Holy Spirit among them. The problem lies in what the Corinthians, and this congregation, have made of their diversity on many fronts. And now we have to distinguish proper diversity from schisms and from divisive subgroups within our community of faith.
As we look at this passage, we can see that we bring our own experiences to these differences. We can, indeed, express our faith in a broad and liberating spectrum of choices and situations. But Paul has tried to increase the scope of considering moral reckoning by saying that we must also consider whether the projected action is indeed “helpful” to others. Against that background, Paul bluntly simplifies by saying in v. 7 that the point of our different gifts is to help or to serve the community. Paul’s appeal to “let all be done for edification” is an elaboration of the notion of doing all things, even glossolalia, in such a way as to be helpful, to seek the common good.
