1 Corinthians 6
5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? 3 For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,[a][b] so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[c] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”[d]
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
In this passage there is a very strange story but one that we should pay attention to. A man has begun to have a sexual relationship with his father’s wife. This was probably not his mother but his step mother. However, the surprising part was not just the relationship but the church’s reaction to it. Not only was there no condemnation, they seem celebratory of this relationship. Wow, look at how tolerant we are! They are not simply scared to challenge them, they are celebrating the relationship.
Perhaps they were amazed at how they had drawn such broken people into their community or they didn’t want to be known a judgmental church, or they had completely lost their moral compass. Either way, they had lost their holy distinction and become like the people they were trying to reach and rescue. Sometimes it is helpful to have someone from outside your context looking in and bringing clarity; Paul is shocked.
So, what should our relationship be to sin and immorality and how do we know what is right or wrong? This may seem like a pointless question, after all we all have an innate idea of what is good or bad. However, that moral compass can shift depending on culture, context and personality. Like the puppy I was talking about yesterday, we can be trained. What we tolerate, we imitate and eventually celebrate.
Paul believes that the Church should be set apart and holy. His message was not that we should all just be more loving but that we are literally dead due to our sins and need to be spiritually resurrected into new life. As followers of Jesus, who have entered into the Kingdom through the gate of faith, trust and repentance, we must strive to live by the values of the Kingdom. Of course, we will all make mistakes. This is not a call to perfection but progress. Our hearts yearn for earth to be like heaven and that is reflected in our approach to life. When brokenness feels so natural, healing can feel unnatural And so he encourages us to support one another to keep living holy and healthy lives.
Where are you vulnerable to the shifting tides of sin and what does it look like to live a holy life in todays culture?
