The Steinway in the Church Basement

In 2014, a small Baptist church in Macon, Georgia, discovered that the old piano sitting in their fellowship hall was a 1923 Steinway Model B, worth over $200,000. For years, children had stacked hymnals on it. Someone had set a coffee pot on the lid, leaving a permanent ring. A deacon had once suggested selling it for scrap to make room for folding chairs.

When an appraiser from Atlanta confirmed what they had, the congregation was stunned. They hadn't known what they possessed. They hired a restorer, built a climate-controlled space, and began treating that instrument with the reverence its craftsmanship deserved. Nobody needed a rule book telling them to stop piling coats on it. Once they understood its value, their behavior changed naturally.

Paul makes a similar argument in his letter to the Corinthians. He doesn't hand them a list of prohibitions. Instead, he reveals a truth they've forgotten — your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You were bought at a price, and not a small one. The blood of Christ purchased you, and the Spirit of the Living God has taken up residence within you.

The Corinthians kept treating themselves like surplus furniture. Paul wanted them to see the Steinway. When you truly grasp what dwells inside you and what was paid for you, you stop asking how far you can go and start asking how beautifully you can live.