2 Corinthians 4:7

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels..."



Part of the reason I haven't spent much time here is because I'm trying to minimize myself. This passage is among the most beautiful in the New Testament. I took the liberty of studying the Greek, and I noticed some emphasis to the word "earthen" is added to mean "frail." Think about that for just a second: "We", meaning all of us, believers, those who are saved... "have" Something in our possession, something that belongs to us, or (in the Greek) something we wear, or something that is a part of us, "this treasure" that word is actually referring to the container, not the item. a "treasure" is something that holds something of value. In this context, our body is "the treasure." That is new to me, so I would really have to think about what that exactly means. My first inclination is earthen is describing the kind of treasure we are, as the vessel, which brings me to "earthen." Earthen, or clay, is frail, and barely useable. I used to believe this was referring to filthy toilets, comparing our worth to the treasure we hold, but it's clearer that what this refers to, especially in the context of the passage, is our own frailty. what is valuable is what we hold, not what the container looks like, or how the container is presented. Our culture has become obsessed with packaging, so much, in fact, that many companies make millions by simply altering the way an item is packaged, and reselling it as the latest and greatest. Any successful marketing firm will tell you that packaging is what sells a product, and unfortunately, many evangelical churches have adopted this model. The Gospel is something more unique and beautiful, that it goes beyond "selling itself." The Gospel wasn't intended to "sell itself." The Gospel was intended to pierce the hearts of those who respond to truth, not buy in to any gimmick. We, as Paul stresses in this passage, should always remember that.