We have an intuitive dislike for a boastful person, since it seems they think a little too highly of themselves. And since that’s the case, intuitively we tend to shy away from directly bragging about ourselves. Instead, we find other less direct ways to boast. One of those ways is by identifying ourselves with someone else and then building that person up. This is, as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 3, boasting in men. 

It’s a danger that has plagued the Church since its youngest days. It has caused all manner of division within the body of Christ. However, there is another kind of boasting that builds up the body of Christ, rather than tearing it apart. There’s a kind of boasting that honors the Lord, and doesn’t grieve him. There’s a kind of boasting that will not only satisfy our own desires, but will bring glory to our King. Come on Sunday, ready to hear in 1 Corinthians 3 what the Lord has to say to us about our boasting.