Paul's letters to the church at Corinth present some of the most pertinent, preachable ideas available to pastors. Perhaps this is because the Corinthian church sounds so much like a typical modern congregation - squabbling amongst itself, undecided about its path and purpose, theologically confused, at times enthusiastic but rarely in agreement over what to be enthusiastic about, and generally struggling with that same challenge that still confronts the church today: how to be the body of Christ on earth when you are composed of such faulty, sinful creatures as human beings.

One of the more persistently prickly issues that mainline/oldline/"sideline" denominations have rather studiously avoided is the whole quagmire of "spiritual gifts." While the modern church has been quick to assert th…